More than 17,500 Australians have made submissions to the WA Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) public comment period on Woodside’s controversial Browse gas project, calling for the rejection of the proposal to drill for gas around Scott Reef off WA’s Kimberley coast and pipe the gas to the North West Shelf export plant.

The remarkable national response from everyday Australians shows the proposal to drill over 50 oil and gas wells around the nation’s most important oceanic coral reef is completely out of touch with community expectations and should be scrapped. The WA EPA and Cook government must now reject Woodside's proposal and protect Scott Reef from industrialisation. The reef is already under severe stress from marine heatwaves caused by fossil fuel induced climate change, to industrialise and create more carbon pollution would see the end of this reef. 

Scott Reef. Photo: Nush Freedman.

The North West Shelf extension is still awaiting final federal approval.

The Conservation Council of WA, the Australian Conservation Foundation, the Australian Marine Conservation Society, Environs Kimberley and Greenpeace Australia together facilitated at least 17,500 community submissions to the WA EPA. 

 Environs Kimberley Martin Pritchard, Executive Director said: 

“The proposal to put 50 oil and gas wells, effectively industrialising one of Australia’s most sensitive oceanic coral reefs, is outrageous and completely out of step with community sentiment as demonstrated by the tens of thousands of public submissions that have been put in over the past 4 weeks on the minor amendments. 

“The community has stood up to Woodside’s industrialisation attempts before to protect the Kimberley coast at James Price Point and won. They don’t seem to have learned that lesson. We are not going to stand idly by and watch the oil and gas industry industrialise precious places like Scott Reef.

“The age of fossil fuels is over and we’re not going to allow Woodside and its joint venture partners BP, Mimi Browse and Petrochina to trash Scott Reef on the way out of the door.”

Sea snakes dancing at Scott Reef. Photo: Wendy Mitchell. 

 Conservation Council of WA Executive Director Matt Roberts said:

“Woodside’s revised Browse to North West Shelf Development proposal is an insult to the intelligence of West Australians.

"It fails to address the very real risks of oil spills, subsidence, and it increases  carbon emissions while exporting gas for private profits. The threats to the pristine ecology and the endangered pygmy blue whale, green sea turtle and dusky sea snake remain.

“The EPA made the preliminary decision to reject the Browse project because of threats to nature which have not and cannot be adequately addressed by Woodside. Alongside marine experts, we are of the firm view that the EPA should reject the revised proposal.”

Australian Conservation Foundation Climate Campaigner Piper Rollins said:

“You can’t put lipstick on a pig. The extraordinary community outrage over Browse demonstrates the total lack of social licence for Woodside’s Burrup Hub, including the controversial and still to be formally approved North West Shelf extension.

“Not only would this proposal harm Scott Reef and the many marine animals that live there, but it’s the same gas that would damage the 50,000-year-old Murujuga rock art if Woodside is allowed to build a 900-kilometre underwater pipeline to export the gas from its North West Shelf plant. 

“Woodside’s Browse proposal is incompatible with a healthy environment, a safe climate and the protection of the Murujuga rock art. Woodside knows it and the WA EPA knows it. This proposal should be unequivocally rejected.”

Scott Reef. Photo: Alex Westover.

Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) Fossil Fuel Campaign Manager, Louise Morris said: 

“More than 5,000 of our supporters added their name to our submission to the WA EPA to reject this proposal as of 5pm on the submission closing date. Adding their name to our concerns about the impacts of seismic blasting on marine life such as krill and the endangered pygmy blue whale that rely on the Scott Reef ecosystem and upwellings. 

“The WA EPA had already found the Browse proposal poses unacceptable risks to endangered pygmy blue whales, the green sea turtle and other threatened marine species; these minor  amendments do nothing to fix that.”

Geoff Bice, WA Campaign Lead at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said:

“Woodside’s revised plans are merely tinkering at the edges of what is a fundamentally problematic proposal, which fails to address the risk of subsidence at Sandy Islet, and hinges on a yet to be proven technology to mitigate the risk of a major oil spill — it is incompatible with the protection of the fragile Scott Reef.

“It’s unthinkable today that we would allow a multinational fossil fuel company to drill for gas on the Great Barrier Reef — we must not accept this at Scott Reef, home to vibrant coral, threatened species like pygmy blue whales and a critical green sea turtle rookery.

“Time and time again, Woodside has demonstrated it can’t be trusted with our oceans."

 Background on the process: 

The public comment period was in response to Woodside’s s.43A application to revise the Browse to North West Shelf Development, in response to the WA EPA forming a preliminary view in February 2024 that it would reject the project due to “unacceptable” risks to the environment, including threats many listed threatened species such as the Pygmy Blue Whale, Green Turtle and Dusky Sea Snake. 

The EPA will first make a decision on whether to accept the proposed amendments or not. They will then undergo a separate process to develop a report and recommendation to the WA Cook Government on whether Browse should proceed or not. It is expected that the EPA will accept the proposed revisions, but this will not be a decision about approval of the project or not.  

The Browse to North West Shelf Development  proposal traverses both State and Federal waters and will also require approval from the Australian Government under the EPBC Act.

The collaboration of environment groups and high profile Australians, resulting in 20,000 submissions, highlights the unabated risks to the environment and climate and widespread call for the rejection of the Browse to NWS proposal. 

• Scott Reef photos and other media assets are available via this link. 
• Photos and video from the National Day of Snap Action can be found here.
• Photos from the 2025 Woodside AGM protest can be found here.

Community members have staged a colourful protest at oil and gas developer Buru Energy’s annual general meeting in Perth today, accusing the company of a lack of transparency over its failure to refer its west Kimberley projects to WA’s environment watchdog. 

Groups working to protect the Kimberley are aware Buru Energy’s projects are at advanced planning stages, yet have not been referred to the state’s EPA.

Photos and a video of the protest are available here.

Buru Energy’s planned Kimberley projects include:

• Re-opening its polluting Ungani oil production facility and trucking oil through Broome or Derby for export;
• Opening a new conventional gas project, Rafael and producing LNG and condensate (light oil) for local use and/or export;
• Constructing new roads and pipelines;
• Potentially recommencing fracking at its Yulleroo gas lease near Broome.

Environs Kimberley Executive Director Martin Pritchard said, “Buru Energy’s planned projects would result in the fossil fuel industrialisation of the Kimberley - a region that is famous around the world for its pristine nature. These projects would also use massive amounts of groundwater and emit huge volumes of climate pollution.

“Buru Energy also holds the Yulleroo unconventional gas field, where it has previously fracked and has not ruled out fracking there again in the future.

“The Kimberley has the largest most intact tropical savannah in the world and our aquifers, wetlands and waterways are pollution free, we need to make sure we keep it that way and fossil fuel projects are not compatible with our region.

“A full EPA assessment should be conducted to properly consider the individual, combined and cumulative environmental and social impacts of Buru Energy’s stated fossil fuel industrialisation plans.”

The community protests outside Buru Energy's AGM.

Lock the Gate Alliance WA spokesperson Claire McKinnon said, “Buru Energy wants to industrialise the west Kimberley with fossil fuel projects yet none of the company’s drilling plans have been referred to the WA environment watchdog in over a decade.

“We’re really concerned Buru Energy’s oil and gas projects will go under the radar unless they are referred for assessment and full public scrutiny.

“Buru Energy’s planned oil and gas projects would have a devastating impact on the Kimberley’s unique environment. Buru Energy has already faced criticism for bulldozing so much habitat in the Kimberley for grid seismic testing that if the clearing was arranged in a straight line, it would stretch more than halfway around the world.”

Seeding Success is a native seed based project, run by the EK Sustainable Communities Team with Indigenous rangers and Traditional Owners across the Kimberley region.

Participants in the project build skills and capacity in identifying native plant species, understanding seed ripeness and viability, and documenting Traditional and local knowledge about the seasonality of seeding and growing.

Other activities include:

• advancing technical skills in native seed collection
• seed cleaning and the preparation of seed for the restoration, propagation and food industries
• the Seeding Success project works closely with the Wattleseed Collective and the Kimberley Community Seedbank to ensure maximum collaboration and benefit across all Sustainable Communities projects.

Ranger picking Goonanggi (cluster fig) Ficus racemosa, Gooniyandi Country.

Throughout 2024 and 2025, Nyangamurta and Karajarri rangers, as well as Bunuba Traditional Owners have participated in seed collection and training field trips to identify, collect and store the seeds of culturally important fruit species on their own Country.

In late 2024, participants travelled to Kununurra with the EK team on a Kimberley native seed industry exposure trip. On this trip, rangers and Traditional Owners participated in collecting, processing and storing seed on a large scale and learnt about the requirements of operating a successful seed enterprise.

Kununurra industry exposure trip: Amy Wright (Gelganyem Seed Operation), Holly Timperley (Environs Kimberley), Leesharni Thomas (Nyangumarta Rangers), Riley Shaw (Gelganyem Seed Operation), Venus Aspro (Nyangumarta Rangers), Mandy Shoveller (Environs Kimberley), Jacqueline Shoveller (Karajarri Rangers/Environs Kimberley).

In 2025, knowledge collected throughout the project, in addition to scientific knowledge provided by SKIPA (Society for Kimberley Indigenous Plants and Animals) members, will be used to publish a Kimberley Fleshy Fruit Guide. This will outline best practice guidelines for the sustainable collection, cleaning and storage of fleshy fruits for the Kimberley Seeds initiative.

Ficus species pluralis, commonly found across the Kimberley

Recording knowledge about edible species is important for Traditional Owners to keep cultural knowledge alive. It also opens the door to potential business opportunities in the bush food sector. EK will continue to work with rangers and Traditional Owners to clean and store native seed on Country, to an industry standard, and to promote a strong conservation economy in the Kimberley.

Venus Aspro (Nyangamurta Rangers) cleaning Kapok seed, Gelganyem Seed Operation

Partners: Kimberley Seeds Initiative, Kimberley Community Seedbank, SKIPA, Nyangumarta Rangers (facilitated by Yamatji Marlpa Aboriginal Corporation), Karajarri Rangers (facilitated by Karajarri Traditional Lands Association), Yawuru Country Managers (facilitated by Nyamba Buru Yawuru), Wiyi-yani u baali ganbawarra (Bunuba Women).

Funders: This project is supported by funding from the Western Australian Government's State NRM Program.

A Kimberley gas fracking proposal by Texas-based Black Mountain Energy (BME), via subsidiary Bennett Resources, has been declared a Controlled Action by the Commonwealth Department of Environment, based on the project’s potential impacts on four Matters of National Environmental Significance, including the so-called ‘water trigger’. 

Environs Kimberley Executive Director Martin Pritchard said the decision was the first time a shale or tight gas fracking project in Australia has been designated a Controlled Action under the EPBC Act and subject to a final approval decision by the Federal Environment Minister.

Protest at Marrickville Town Hall – the Prime Minister’s electorate calling for a frack free Kimberley. Photo: Environs Kimberley.

“We are delighted that, thanks to massive community pressure, the ‘Valhalla’ project’s impacts on the world-renowned Kimberley are now subject to a final approval decision by Environment Minister Plibersek, taking into account its impacts on water, threatened species, migratory species and the National Heritage-listed Martuwarra Fitzroy River.

“The proposal should have been rejected outright by the Commonwealth as ‘clearly unacceptable’ and we are very disappointed that the level of assessment set – ‘by preliminary documentation’ – is very low and could be completed very rapidly with little or no new information.

“We will now be working overtime to ensure that the assessment is as rigorous as possible and that the Minister ultimately makes the right decision.

Mt Hardman Creek flows into the Martuwarra Fitzroy River – Black Mountain is proposing to frack 2 wells within 1km of the waterway. Photo: Environs Kimberley.

“There are many aspects of this decision that are unclear in terms of what the proponent is now required to do and how the community can continue to be engaged, and also how this relates to the ongoing WA EPA assessment of the project, but we will work through that with the Department in coming days.

“Given the clear information provided by scientists and the evidence we have of the global climate crisis, including coral bleaching in the Kimberley and Ningaloo right now, to allow the opening of a new oil and gas province would be unconscionable,” Mr Pritchard said.

“The carbon emissions from these twenty test fracking wells are equivalent to putting 1.5 million cars on the road for a year, we’re talking tonnes of toxic chemicals pumped under extreme pressure underground with billions of litres of water and radioactive wastewater.

“This is an industry that should be consigned to the dustbin of history.

“Minister Plibersek and the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese need to stand for the globally significant natural and cultural values of the Kimberley before it is too late. In 2021 they committed to World Heritage listing for areas of the Kimberley where Traditional Owners wanted it. 

“History, and voters, will judge the Australian Labor Party incredibly harshly if they allow fracking in the world-renowned Kimberley.”

Premier Cook on election trail in the Kimberley – community calls for fracking ban commitment

West Australian Premier Roger Cook is on the election trail in Broome and has been greeted with a strong community call to extend the ban on fracking in the southwest of the state and the Dampier Peninsula to cover all the Kimberley.

While the WA Government under Premier Mark McGowan’s leadership promised veto rights for Traditional Owners and farmers over fracking in 2018, the promise has not been fulfilled and the whole process is creating significant division in communities across the region.

“There’s a simple answer to the whole question of the destructive industrialisation of the Kimberley through oil and gas fracking and that’s a ban on the industry like there is in the Southwest of the state,” said Environs Kimberley Executive Director Martin Pritchard.

The community protest at local Kimberley MP Divina D’Anna’s office called for the ban in light of the proposal by Texan fossil fuel company Black Mountain, to drill and frack 20 oil and gas wells in the Martuwarra Fitzroy River catchment.

The WA EPA is currently assessing the proposal and a decision will be required of the WA Government after the election.

The Kimberley community has vehemently opposed fracking for the past 12 years and concerns have been heightened recently with Black Mountain proposing a pipeline to an LNG refinery in the Pilbara.

“A recent report by climate scientists has shown the potential for 8,700 oil and gas wells across the region that would seriously undermine Australia's ability to meet its climate goals, surely the Premier Roger Cook doesn’t want to open the Kimberley to that,” Mr Pritchard said.

“What we have now is a completely different proposition to what the WA government based its lifting of the ban on fracking in the Kimberley in 2018. What we’re facing now is turning the Kimberley into Texas,” Mr Pritchard said.  

“The community wants a commitment from the Premier and the Labor party that the already existing ban on fracking in the Southwest of the state and the Dampier Peninsula be extended to cover the whole Kimberley,” Mr Pritchard said.

Surveying of over 1,000 people in the seat of Fremantle revealed 92% of voters want a ban on fracking and 72% are willing to change their vote for it.

“If its too risky for the Southwest then we shouldn’t be discriminated against in the Kimberley just because it’s been a safe Labor seat,” Mr Pritchard said.

You can send a message asking Premier Cook to ban fracking in the Kimberley here. 

Photo: Damian Kelly.

More than 120 Broome locals gathered yesterday at Entrance Point Reef to call for its protection.

As the community came together, barefoot kids delighted in discovering hermit crabs under the glowing sandstone cliffs near the opalescent water covering carpets of corals.

The Broome community standing together to protect their cherished place. Photo: Damian Kelly.

With a giant red crane looming ominously over the scene, Yawuru local Tony Lee spoke powerfully about the heritage importance of Entrance Point while Ngaire Pigram, creator of the two petitions to the WA Parliament requesting the protection of Entrance Point, called for a minute of silence to honour the place’s spirit.

“What they’re bringing here is destructive industry… you’re not going to be able to hear the reef talk any more,” they said fighting back tears.

“Don’t ever think you can’t stand up for Country. You all belong here because you’ve all felt this place and you know how special it is… let’s not give up.”

Ngaire Pigram and Kath White. Photo: Damian Kelly.

Hand-painted signs by local families asked Minister for Ports David Michael why he hasn’t answered more than 1000 letters requesting protection of the reef. Other signs questioned why there has been no study done on the more than 40 species of corals living at the site.

Amelia, Martin and Bonney. Photo: Damian Kelly.

The community also called on Hon. Peter Foster, Chair of the Standing Committee on Environment and Public Affairs whose electorate is the Mining and Pastoral Region, to respond to the signatories of the two petitions requesting the protection of Entrance Point Reef.

You can see more photos and read further coverage of the community action on ABC Kimberley’s facebook post.

Our community can still protect Entrance Point Reef - if you haven’t already, please send a letter to Minister Michael to protect the reef from industrialisation here.

Handy with a camera? Like nature? Does your dream career blend media skills with working in nature and supporting communities? You might be just the intern The Wattleseed Collective is looking for!

Wonderful wattleseed. Photo: Camera Story. 

Join the team this September-November and help tell the exciting story of the wattleseed harvest. We’re seeking an intern with a passion for media including filming and photography who wants to gain hands-on experience at the intersection of media and the conservation economy.

This experience will look amazing on your resume, develop your knowledge of wild harvests, social enterprises and it will develop your media skills.

Find out more and apply here.

Discover more about the wattleseed collective here. 

First shale gas fracking plan in Australia under Federal Environment Laws released - Faces Staunch Community Opposition in the Kimberley

A new plan to drill and frack six oil and gas wells in the heart of the Kimberley’s National Heritage-listed Martuwarra Fitzroy River catchment will face fierce widespread community opposition in the Kimberley to the environmentally destructive plan. 

The fracking project plans were released on 24th July by Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water for public comment.  

“This is the first shale gas fracking proposal referred under Federal environment laws. It will be the first test of the water trigger since amendments were made to include shale gas in December last year,” said Environs Kimberley Director of Strategy Martin Pritchard. 

Kimberley residents protest the fracking plan in Broome. Pic: Danny Estcourt.

Black Mountain subsidiary Bennett Resources, owned by Texan billionaire Rhett Bennett, plans to turn the Kimberley’s Canning Basin into a US style oil and gas field.

While this proposal is for six wells, the ultimate goal is to develop a global scale oil and gas field using the highly polluting fracking technique pioneered in the 1990s in the US.

“Black Mountain have said they need a pipeline to the Pilbara. If they got such a pipeline they’d need thousands of oil and gas wells to feed it and pay for it. We’d be looking at a landscape industrialised by the oil and gas industry like they have in Texas and across North America,” said Martin Pritchard, Director of Strategy at Broome-based conservation group Environs Kimberley.

“Fracking uses vast quantities of water laced with poisonous chemicals pumped at extreme pressures through wells that pierce groundwater aquifers. Wastewater returned to the surface has been found to contain radioactive materials as well as a legion of carcinogenic compounds. This industry is incompatible with the globally significant natural values of the Kimberley,” Claire McKinnon from Lock the Gate said.

Three wells have been test-fracked in the Kimberley over the past 14 years and all have had problems, including documented well-integrity failures.

Wastewater ponds have overflowed in the monsoon season, spilling onto floodplains and endangering the plants and animals of the Kimberley.

The wells are close to tributaries of the National Heritage-listed Martuwarra Fitzroy River, the last stronghold of the critically endangered Freshwater Sawfish, and is a highly popular Barramundi fishing mecca.

“The community is outraged that this is being inflicted on the Kimberley particularly given the climate crisis we are living in. If we want a safe climate future we know it is vital not to open new oil and gas fields especially at the scale we could see in the Kimberley,” said Yisah Bin Omar from Seed, Australia’s first Indigenous youth-led climate network.

Oil and gas company Woodside abandoned plans to build gas refineries costing $80-billion at James Price Point in 2013 after national protests and community backlash in the Kimberley.

“We don’t want to see a James Price Point situation unfolding again here, The Albanese and Cook Governments must take action now and rule out fracking gasfields in the Kimberley,” said Mr Pritchard.

Photo: Danny Estcourt