Tenders for the use of surface water for irrigated agriculture in the west Kimberley were sought by the State Government in 1997, without community consultation, the criteria tailored closely to the needs of Western Agricultural Industries.

EK visit to Shamrock Gardens 1998.

Public meetings held by WAI to promote their proposal were conducted under the auspices of the Office of Major Projects located within the then Department of Resources Development (now the Department of Industry and Resources) even before the successful tenderer had been selected. Following the selection of WAI and the signing of the initial Memorandum of Understanding between WAI and the State Government, we have continued to oppose irrigated agriculture in the west Kimberley.

During the past half a century or more, several ideas to establish irrigated, monoculture crops in the west Kimberley have fallen by the wayside. The failure of the Camballin venture, due primarily to pest pressures, proves how unsuitable this type of land use is for the region. No comprehensive studies into the social, cultural, economic and environmental implications of the proposal to grow cotton in the district have yet been undertaken.
MORE : Agriculture in the West Kimberley – A calendar of events (pdf 35kb)

Irrigated cotton at Shamrock Gardens, south of Broome 1998.

EK believes that broadscale irrigated agriculture is unsuited to the west Kimberley and would have serious adverse impacts on the health and biodiversity of the pindan woodlands and nearby coastal region through: landclearing; excessive water extraction; replacing native bush with a monoculture; the spraying and leaching of numerous pesticides; and the possible proliferation of genetically modified organisms.
MORE: 'What's wrong with cotton'(pdf 246kb)

It would encroach on country valued highly by the Karajarri traditional owners and irreversibly change the nature and culture of the region.
MORE: Karajarri brief (pdf 191kb)

Cotton colonises the bush.

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Throughout the campaign, we have attempted to inform and engage the public through the media and events such as the very successful 'Cotton on Trial' public forum held at the Broome Courthouse, October 2001.
MORE: 'Cotton on Trial-Draft Transcript'(pdf 227kb) and
'Why is Cotton Not on?' (pdf 15kb) Pat Lowe prepared this paper for presentation at the above forum.

The cotton proposal, which requires the privatization of land and almost the whole of the area's groundwater resources, originally included a scheme to dam the Fitzroy River and two of its tributaries and to channel the water south to irrigate the cotton fields. The open-cut, clay-lined channel would be approximately 600 kilometres long, with a road on either side, and would bisect the West Kimberley. Waste through evaporation would be enormous.

The original proposal included up to three dams: one on the Fitzroy River at the magnificent Dimond Gorge, home to remnant population of endangered species and two more on the Fitzroy's tributaries, at Leopold and Margaret River Gorges.

The water would have been used to irrigate up to 225,000 hectares of land for cotton farming. The money to finance the dams would have come from large corporations, and control of the river and would have fallen into their hands.
MORE: West Kimberley Irrigation and Dam Proposal map

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OUR CAMPAIGN

Environs Kimberley initiated a massive campaign against the damming of the Fitzroy River. In alliance with the Australian Conservation Foundation, Conservation Council of Western Australia and the traditional owners of the land that would be affected by the proposal, we brought the plan to the attention of the Australian public.

EK designed and produced bumper stickers, T-shirts and a postcard. The card, funded by ACF, was used in a postcard petition campaign. We also made numerous media statements and appearances. We worked with broadcasters and film-makers, including John Hughes and Donna Cameron, producers of the documentary ‘River of Dreams’.

We held and addressed public meetings. We contributed to articles, including a big feature by ACF in Habitat magazine. We joined the Water and Rivers Commission’s La Grange Groundwater Committee, a local advisory group which takes part in the water allocation process. We became an associate member of Bandaralngarri, an alliance made up of the different traditional owner groups of the Fitzroy River country. We met the proponents. We lobbied and held meetings with politicians and put our point of view as forcefully as we could.

CAMPAIGN SUCCESS! BUT IS THE FITZROY SAFE?

As a result of the campaigners’ combined efforts, the proponents publicly withdrew their proposal to dam the Fitzroy River. Many people therefore believed that the Fitzroy was safe. However, the proponents made it clear that they still needed the Fitzroy’s water. Instead they intended to collect it either through a series of barrages (smaller dams) and/or through recharge of the aquifer. The engineering works required for either of these proposals was never made public. However the WA Government ratified the amended plan when they signed a variation to the MOU in 2000.
MORE: Memorandum Of Understanding (pdf 44kb)

Further variations to the MOU occurred over the next few years, until in 2004 the WA Government led by Labor’s Geoff Gallop refused to sign yet another variation.

Within months of this refusal, a new proposal to build a 3700 km canal taking 200 gigalitres per year of Fitzroy River water south to Perth was being promoted by Australian construction company Tenix. The WA Governemnt responded by established an Independent Panel to assess the economic and environmental merits of the proposal. Meanwhile, WA Opposition Leader Colin Barnett gave the canal his total support then took it to the voting public at the state election in February 2005. The defeat of Barnett’s Liberals was partially attributed to the canal by almost all political commentators.

In 2006 the re-elected Labor Government released the report of the Independent Panel. It poured cold water on the canal proposal, labelling it economically, socially and environmentally unsustainable.
MORE: Summary of Expert Panel Findings (pdf 26kb)

Campaign success!

DON’T BE FOOLED. THE FITZROY RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES STILL NEED OUR PROTECTION!

THE COTTON CAMPAIGN CONTINUES

Cotton trials continued at Shamrock Gardens until 2003 and on a property near Broome until 2005, assisted by the WA Department of Agriculture. Shamrock Gardens and Nita Downs Stations were sold in 2004, but carried a condition that the previous owner could lease back a portion of the land to grow cotton. This will be valid until 2009.

Meanwhile in late 2004 the WA Government legislated to bring in a moratorium on the growing of genetically modified crops in WA, including cotton. The existing cotton trials in the Kimberley were granted an exemption. Increasing pressure has been placed on the Government by the pro-GM lobby to rescind the ban, particularly those pushing for cotton to be grown in the Ord. A government review of the moratorium is currently taking place.
MORE: GM Cotton (pdf 103kb)

EK has joined forces with other environment groups in northern Australia who are similarly concerned about the push north by cotton companies who have run out of both land and water in southern Australia.
MORE: Cotton Flier - the great northern cotton takeover! (pdf 230kb)

PUSH TO DEVELOP THE FITZROY RIVER CONTINUES
In order to be pro-active and promote a more ecologically and culturally sustainable path of development for the Fitzroy River Catchment and Canning Basin, EK, the KLC and ACF jointly organised the Kimberley Appropriate Economies Roundtable. This major 3-day event was held in Fitzroy Crossing in October 2005 and was attended by over 100 Traditional Owners, Indigenous and government body representatives, scientists, environmentalists and researchers. Since the event the three organisations have continued to work together to follow up on the Roundtable recommendations as well as release the forum proceedings.
MORE: Kimberley Appropriate Economies Roundtable Forum Proceedings

In January 2007 the Prime Minister announced that a Taskforce would be set up to investigate options for expanding agricultural development in Northern Australia. Pro-development Senator Bill Heffernan was made Chair of the Taskforce and given $20 million over a five year period to lead the investigations. He immediately started promoting the idea that southern farmers should be encouraged to move north to where water is more abundant and has talked about turning the Kimberley into a major food-exporting region to supply Asia.

In March 2007, EK and the Australian Conservation Foundation launched the Kimberley Freshwater Campaign with the aim of securing long-term legal protection for the Fitzroy River in a way that is consistent with Traditional Owners’ rights and interests. Not long after the launch WA Liberals and Opposition Leader Paul Omodei announced that, if elected in 2009, he would pursue a 20-year plan to dought-proof WA with water from the Fitzroy River, establish large-scale irrigation schemes along the river, dam the upper reaches and pipe water to Perth. EK, ACF and the KLC immediately rubbished the proposal as both irresponsible and ill-conceived.
MORE: Fitzroy River campaign pamphlet (August 2007) (pdf 1.45Mb)
Ask the WA Premier to protect the Fitzroy River by sending the snip-off section in this pamphlet to Environs Kimberley. We will send it on to the Premier.
Campaign pamphlet copyright note: Imagery copyright - Commonwealth of Australia - Geoscience Australia, 2000. Map Copyright - EcoMap, 2006.

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