A protester locks on to a gate that is part of Santos' Narrabri CSG project. Credit:Dean Sewell A Santos official, whose name is redacted, also asks in a separate email if there's "any chance we could get copy of Minster's second reading speech so we know what we are likely to be asked about?". About an hour later, Mr McDermott sends the draft speech before Mr Roberts delivers it to the house. Sue Higginson, principal solicitor at the Environmental Defenders Office NSW, said it was "quite alarming" the parliamentary speech on the new anti-protest laws – which include jail terms of up to seven years for "interfering" with CSG or mines and raised some fines tenfold – should be released in advance to anyone. "Why should a government minister think that changes to laws of a general application should be of interest to one particular party?" Ms Higginson said. Mr Roberts said Santos had been provided with the speech draft "less than two hours prior to the legislation's introduction as it did not involve commercial in confidence or business-specific provisions".

Part of the Narrabri gas project in the Pilliga State Forest. Credit:Dean Sewell "Second reading speeches are not privileged documents, and ministers are entitled to consult as they wish on how legislation will be explained to Parliament", he said. However, Greens MP David Shoebridge said such speeches "are considered very sensitive until read in Parliament" and he had not heard of them being circulated in advance before. "When these [anti-protest] laws were presented to Parliament many observers were struck by how much they read like a wish-list from the big mining companies, now we can see that's exactly what happened," Mr Shoebridge said. "Santos has been working hand in glove with the government to develop a policy and legislative response that furthered their corporate interest," Mr Shoebridge added. "Of course Santos would want this, but why on earth did the Baird government play along?"

Adam Searle, opposition's energy spokesman said the tougher laws on protests, passed in March, were "an attempt by the government to engage in culture wars". "It's still smarting from the fact that the gas industry in this state was derailed by people power," he said. "This is the political blow back." A spokesman for Santos said the company "maintains strong and close relations with all our stakeholders across all jurisdictions in which we operate, including communities, governments and regulators". He said the emails included "details of repeated incidences of trespass and unlawful acts on the construction site that threatened the safety of workers, activists and the environment". Fairfax Media sought details of any recent political donations made by Santos to the Liberals or Nationals.

According to 350.org, a climate action group, Santos was the second largest donor among fossil fuel companies in Australia to the two parties and Labor nationally over the 2012-13 to 2014-15 years. It donated $357,129 to the two Coalition parties in those three years, based on data released by Santos. Some of the emails dealt with media coverage, including the BBC. "Despite the efforts of Santos, APPEA (the industry lobby group) the journo is committed to Narrabri and not Gladstone or Qld," one email sent on Australia to Mr Pryke and Mr McDermott said. It added that "police have been alerted". Mr Roberts said that as the Narrabri gas project "was a strategic energy project for NSW", there would "naturally be a high level of engagement" with the company. The emails released did not include its links with other stakeholders, including community and environmental groups, he said. The prospects for the CSG field moving to a larger production phase could hinge on a key decision in the state's Land and Environment Court expected on Monday. Loading

EDO's client, community group People for the Plains, has asked the court to find Santos' Leewood CSG wastewater treatment plant near Narrabri to be unlawful because it was approved without an environmental impact statement and without the public being given the chance to comment. A loss for Santos could result in further delays and higher costs for a project that its major partner CLP has already written off its share as worthless.Follow Peter Hannam on Twitter and Facebook.