Campaign

Macquarie, Australia’s ‘drill baby drill’ bank

Last updated: July 2026

“Macquarie is the predominant financier of oil and gas [fracking] projects in the Northern Territory…their support has been critical.”

– Alex Underwood, Beetaloo Energy CEO

Macquarie is a key financial backer of an enormous new high-risk fracking venture in the heart of Australia’s Outback: the Beetaloo Basin.

If Macquarie continues to pour hundreds of millions into Beetaloo fracking, the Basin risks becoming not only one of the world’s largest fracked shale gas basins, but one of the largest gas fields ever developed.

A fossil fuel development of this size is outrageous. Starting large scale extraction and combustion in the 2030s would be actively choosing a path of catastrophic climate breakdown.

Macquarie is leading us down this path, but it doesn’t have to.

As CEO, Shemara Wikramanayake has the power to shut Macquarie’s door to the gas frackers for good. In fact, her reputation as a climate leader depends on it.

In 2023 Shemara Wikramanayake made TIME Magazine’s TIME100 Climate list, described as a climate “Titan”, leading Macquarie “where she works to prioritize green finance.”

“There’s just a lot of change we need to do to stop our planet from burning.”
– Shemara Wikramanayake, November 2022

One thing Macquarie can do to “stop our planet from burning” is to stop pumping hundreds of millions into what could become one of the world’s biggest fracking developments.

Take action: Tell Macquarie to Stop Beetaloo – Don’t Frack the Outback!

Take Action

Email Macquarie’s CEO – Don’t give the Beetaloo frackers another cent!

This email will be sent directly to Macquarie’s CEO, Shemara Wikramanayake.

You can edit the email, but we ask that you please be civil in your correspondence. The concerns we are raising with the CEO are legitimate and serious, requiring urgent attention by the bank. This should not be a moment to abuse or ridicule the CEO, such actions would not be in service of our aims and would not align with Market Forces’ values.

Thank you for taking action!

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Dear Shemara Wikramanayake,

I am writing to express my deep concern and frustration at Macquarie’s continued financial support of Beetaloo fracking – a development that risks becoming not only one of the world’s largest fracked shale gas basins, but one of the largest gas fields ever developed.

As CEO, you have the power to shut Macquarie’s door to the gas frackers for good.

I call on Macquarie to:

1. Rule out any further financial support to companies involved in fracking or fossil fuel infrastructure development in the Beetaloo Basin.

2. Adopt and publish robust fossil fuel exclusion policies consistent with a credible 1.5°C-aligned transition pathway.

3. Commit to ending finance for any client pursuing new or expanded coal, oil and gas projects, and require all fossil fuel clients to present time-bound, science-based transition plans aligned with the Paris goals.

It is outrageous that a bank which claims to be a climate leader, and whose CEO is celebrated globally for prioritising green finance, continues to provide crucial funding and investment into new fossil fuel projects that are entirely incompatible with a safe climate.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has made clear: there is no room for new gas fields like Beetaloo if we are to avoid catastrophic climate impacts. One of the biggest threats to the goals of the Paris Agreement is the rapid and unprecedented expansion of global LNG.

The International Energy Agency has warned that the world remains on track to reach a catastrophic 2.5°C-3°C of warming based on current pathways. Gas, specifically, is now the fastest growing source of emissions in recent years, overtaking coal.

Fracking the Beetaloo could unleash some of the largest untapped gas reserves in the world, locking in tens of millions of tonnes of emissions every year. Financing such expansion not only jeopardises our collective ability to meet the climate goals of the Paris Agreement, but also exposes Macquarie to serious greenwashing and reputational risks – particularly as public opposition and regulatory scrutiny continue to grow.

Macquarie cannot credibly claim to be a climate leader while funding companies whose entire business models depend on developing new fossil fuel projects. As you have said, “There’s just a lot of change we need to do to stop our planet from burning.” [1]
One of the most basic changes Macquarie must make is to rule out any further finance to companies pursuing new and expanded fossil fuel projects.

Continuing to bankroll fracking in the Beetaloo Basin is unacceptable and wholly inconsistent with Macquarie’s climate commitments.

I request a formal response to this letter, outlining what immediate steps Macquarie will take to end its support for fracking in the Beetaloo and ensure all future financing aligns with climate science and community expectations.

[1] Meet the CEO: Shemara Wikramanayake (discussion with UNSW Chancellor David Gonski), University of New South Wales, November 2022, https://www.unsw.edu.au/business/our-schools/agsm/about-us/the-business-of-podcast/meet-the-ceo-shemara-wikramanayake

Yours sincerely,

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TOOK ACTION: Macquarie email action - June 2026

Macquarie, the ‘millionaire’s factory’ is f***king our future*

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Beetaloo is marketed by the fracking companies as one of the world’s largest and most significant shale gas reserves, containing 200 to “500 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of discovered and prospective gas resources.”*

While these figures are prospective, should Beetaloo hold this much gas and it be extracted and burned, Beetaloo would become not only one of the world’s largest fracked shale gas basins, but one of the largest gas fields ever developed.

Macquarie’s clients, Beetaloo Energy and Tamboran Resources are prospecting fracking companies that have been exploring and drilling in the Beetaloo Basin for years.

Accessing remote sites, drilling and testing wells, and scaling a development of this size is extremely expensive – yet both companies have no business operations outside Beetaloo and no current revenue streams.

That makes them reliant on debt and equity funding to keep progressing their projects – and Macquarie has been providing both.

Macquarie is not a passive financier. It is playing a central role in propping up the companies driving Beetaloo fracking:

As of May 2026, Macquarie is the largest shareholder of Beetaloo Energy and has been financing the company for more than 15 years.
In April 2026, Macquarie added $15 million to an earlier $65 million financing package the bank arranged for Beetaloo Energy’s pilot fracking project.
In September 2025, Macquarie loaned $90 million to Tamboran Resources as part of a $180 million deal to develop its Shenandoah South pilot gas fracking project in the Beetaloo.
In December 2024, Macquarie provided a $35 million loan to Tamboran Resources to “support [Tamborans’s] ongoing development activities,” all of which are focused on exploiting Beetaloo gas. Macquarie also owns shares in Tamboran as of a December 2025 filing.

Take Action – Tell Macquire’s CEO to get the frack out of Beetaloo!

*fracking

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