Fossil fuel ad dumping risks Tour Down Under village
Adelaide City Council has voted to ban fossil fuel ads from council properties, raising the ire of the Lord Mayor and state government. Even the CEO is against the move.
Coal, oil and gas company advertisements and sponsors will be banned from council properties across the Adelaide CBD after a motion from councillor Keiran Snape was passed at Tuesday night’s Adelaide City Council meeting.
But the decision immediately raised the temperature of the state government and Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith with claims it will jeopardise the focal point village for the Tour Down Under. Even the council administration opposed the move saying it risked revenue streams.
“Effectively [this motion] aligns our policy around fossil fuel advertising with that of our wider council policy around climate change, noting that we have declared a climate emergency and have a climate strategic plan for 2030,” Snape told InDaily.
“We’re seeing a bit of an uplift in momentum around councils, around organisations, moving to divest from fossil fuels.”
Snape’s motion passed with five councillors in favour and four against but the Lord Mayor branded the move “virtue signalling” rather than making a real impact on climate change.
The ban starts from July 1, 2027, and council administration will create “transitions for sponsorship and advertising arrangements where necessary”.
Council CEO Michael Sedgman warned against approving the plan, saying the council received significant advertising revenue through advertising flags and banners, while major companies including BHP, Santos, Cooper Energy, Beach Energy and AGL have head offices within the CBD.
You might like
“Collectively the sector employs just under 2000 staff in the City of Adelaide, with an estimated further 4700 full time jobs supported by resources sector activity, including indirect economic flow on effects,” he said in a report.
“Council is legally able to adopt a policy position such as that set out in the proposed motion, however the policy would not be in line with council’s stated position to reinforce Adelaide’s position as the state’s central business district and amplify Adelaide’s reputation as a place to learn, work and base a business.”
A state government spokesperson slammed the decision, saying it “jeopardises the future of the Tour Village in Victoria Square”.
Santos has sponsored the annual Tour Down Under (TDU) event since 2010 and each year in January hosts the heavily branded Tour Village in Victoria Square for more than a week, the event attracting thousands of visitors to the CBD.
The Santos TDU, which is owned and operated by the state government, was awarded Australia’s Best Sporting Event at the 2026 Australian Event Awards earlier this month.
“This will significantly impact businesses in the CBD that stood to benefit from the 70,000 plus visitors which the village attracted during this year’s event,” a government spokesperson said.
“Adelaide City Councillors are elected to represent the interests of our capital city and they should be doing everything they can to attract people and investment into the city. Instead they are creating another obstacle for a major event that delivers precisely that.”
Stay informed, daily
Lord Mayor Lomax-Smith said it was “virtue signalling” and she was “not particularly supportive of performative motions”.
“I fear that if we try to encourage the state to remove Santos funding or sponsorship or signage, there’s a fair chance that we will lose activity on our streets,” Lomax-Smith said.
“If we are going to oppose sponsorships such as the Tour Down Under sponsorship, then I want to know the practical question that follows: How many millions of dollars of ratepayers’ money are we proposing to put in its place?
“If we want to be a leader in climate action, having bans on advertising is not going to cut the mustard.”
Councillor Arman Abrahimzadeh also opposed the motion and put forward an amendment that would see fellow councillors “not accept any hospitality offering (including tickets to events and races)” where an oil, gas or coal company is a sponsor.
But Snape told InDaily there would be “plenty of alternative local businesses” to fill advertising spots.
“If anything, it might help put Adelaide on the map as showing that we are a clean green city, and we do want your business,” he said.
The council decision follows Adelaide University’s decision to dump the Santos name from its engineering building more than 20 years after it was built as part of a $25 million sponsorship deal.
Last weekend, dozens of protesters rode through the streets of Adelaide on bikes calling for the state government to dump Santos as the TDU sponsor.
The City of Adelaide has become the fourth SA council to pass a motion banning fossil fuel sponsors alongside City of Mitcham, Charles Sturt, and Onkaparinga.
Santos was contacted for comment.
Want to see more stories from InDaily SA in your Google search results?
- Click here to set InDaily SA as a preferred source.
- Tick the box next to "InDaily SA". That's it.
