How an obscure consultancy firm is helping fracking companies influence traditional owners

Concerns have been raised about the consulting activities of Good Advice, which is working with gas company Empire Energy in the Northern Territory. Composite: Guardian design

In late August 2024, a curious letter arrived at the Darwin office of Benedict Scambary, chief executive of the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority (AAPA).

The correspondence was typed and written in corporate style but it was attached to four and a half pages of handwritten names and signatures of traditional land owners from across the Northern Territory’s Top End. A name that Scambary recognised was written on the back of the envelope – William John, a Mudburra Jingili man.