New national environment laws: some wins, but a big fail for the Kimberley on climate

The new national environment laws, announced today and set to be passed by the Federal Parliament, include some improvements such as making forest logging subject to the new Act and closing loopholes for land clearing in the Great Barrier Reef catchment, but overall the improvements are not enough to stop the steep decline in nature, particularly in the Kimberley.

The Greens managed to stop the ‘water trigger’ assessments for fracking being handed to the states and territories. They also helped prevent the fast-tracking of oil and gas projects.

“The Greens managed to save some of the furniture, but there’s a massive fight ahead to ensure that the National Environment Standards are strong and that regional plans don’t allow the fast-tracking of industrial projects and land clearing across the Kimberley,” said Environs Kimberley Executive Director Martin Pritchard.

The Kimberley's Danggu Geikie Gorge. Photo: Adam Monk.

“What we don’t want to see is the new Act just handing powers to the WA Government, given the Cook Government’s track record on weakening the state’s Environment Protection Act and bringing a development Czar who can override environmental assessments and wave them through without rigorous scrutiny,” Mr Pritchard said.

“The new national environment laws are a once-in-a-generation reform, and the Albanese Government has squandered the opportunity to bring oil and gas projects under emissions scrutiny in the new Act,” he said.

“The Kimberley is the only region on the continent that hasn’t had mammal extinctions, and it has the largest, most intact tropical savannah in the world, but it’s going to be the most impacted by climate change – the new act does nothing to mitigate that.”

“The recent National Climate Risk Assessment is showing the Kimberley will be uninhabitable on current climate projections. This would mean Traditional Owners, who’ve lived here for thousands of years, will be climate refugees, yet the new environment Act will not look at the climate impacts of fossil fuel projects.”

Threatened bilbies. Photo: Damian Kelly.

“Fitzroy Crossing, which already has 67 days a year over 40°C, is projected to have 225 days a year over 40°C by 2090 on current emissions projections.”

“The Kimberley has two of the largest climate threats in the country – Woodside’s Browse Basin proposal at Scott Reef, and Black Mountain’s Valhalla fracking proposal in the Martuwarra Fitzroy River catchment. These projects won’t be captured by the new laws, and that’s a travesty for nature and people in the Kimberley.”

“What these new laws show is that it is still going to take massive people power to protect the nature of the Kimberley.”

Help protect the Kimberley by becoming a member of Environs Kimberley here.

Header photo: The Kimberley's Martuwarra Fitzroy River. Photo: Wendy Mitchell.

Our future is at stake: new alliance representing northern Australia calls for urgent action on National Climate Risk Assessment

A new conservation alliance has called for urgent action to phase out fossil fuel exports as today’s National Climate Risk Assessment shows that large areas of Australia’s north will become unlivable due to climate change.

Four groups, which have formed the Northern Australia Conservation Alliance, say Australia’s first National Climate Risk assessment confirms that Northern Australia risks being turned into a fossil fuel and climate sacrifice zone.

In a joint submission to the Senate Committee on the National Climate Risk Assessment, the groups say the global ecological and cultural treasure of northern Australia faces an existential threat from climate change within less than two generations.

The Climate Change Authority says based on current global commitments, the world is on track to see 2.9C of warming this decade. The report warns that under a +3.0°C scenario, there will be a 423% increase in heat-related mortality for Darwin compared to current conditions.

Wallabies in the Kimberley flood of 2023. Photo: Andrea Myers.

Recent research has found that much of Northern Australia could experience “near unlivable conditions” should global temperatures increase by around 3 degrees, and that this could become a reality within 40 years. These kinds of extreme conditions are currently found only in 0.8 percent of the planet, mostly in the Sahara.

Sea level rises could inundate large portions of Australia’s northern coastline and will have profound impacts on First Nations communities and their traditional connections to Country. One study previously demonstrated that over 50% of First Nations respondents to a survey in Arnhem Land would have to consider relocating in the future due to climate change.

The groups are holding the Inaugural Australia’s Great North conference in Garramilla / Darwin this week on Thursday 18 and Friday 19 September. The conference will include a keynote address from Peter Garrett AM on why Australia’s future will be decided in the north.

Martin Pritchard, Executive Director, Environs Kimberley said:

“This report is devastating news for the Kimberley. It is clear that if we don’t phase out fossil fuels as quickly as possible, then according to the science areas of the Kimberley will become uninhabitable. This could mean the end of more than 60,000 years of occupation by First Nations people in areas of the Kimberley, if they become climate change refugees and can no longer live on Country.”

“This is not just an environmental issue, it's a human rights issue and we’re calling on the Albanese government to act accordingly by refusing new gas proposals like fracking in the Kimberley and Northern Territory.”

“Places like the Kimberley’s Fitzroy Crossing which already has 67 days a year over 40°C will be unlivable if it gets to the projected seven and a half months over 40 by century’s end. The Kimberley will be like a place from a Mad Max movie, desolate, desert-like and devoid of people.”

Fitzroy Crossing bridge collapsing in the flood of 2023. Photo by Andrea Myers.

Kirsty Howey, Executive Director, Environment Centre NT said:

“This report confirms what we’ve all feared, that the Northern Territory is sleep-walking into an unlivable future due to climate change.”

“It’s hard to hear that the places we call home will no longer exist. We’re talking about whole communities being wiped out because politicians and gas companies see the north as a sacrifice zone."

“While the gas industry pushes ahead with some of its most polluting projects in the Territory, we’re heading for a future that is unlivable and unequal.”

“If we don’t change course, we could be the last generation to raise children in Darwin, which research shows will become unlivable due to climate change.”

“The data shows we simply can’t afford toxic projects like the Middle Arm gas hub, fracking in the Beetaloo, or plans for the world’s biggest carbon dumping project off Darwin.”

“Instead of taking responsible action, we’ve got a Territory government that’s embraced climate denial and cut our emissions and renewable energy targets.”

Alex Vaughan, Policy and Advocacy Officer, Arid Lands Environment Centre said:

“Communities like Mpartnwe - Alice Springs have just sweltered through one of its hottest years on record. In the last year we had more than three months of average temperatures over 39 degrees, so it’s hard to think it can get a lot worse.

"The human, environmental and economic costs of failing to act on climate change are incalculable in northern Australia.  The solutions to these climate crises must be led by communities in the north.”

Bronwyn Opie, Director, Cairns and Far North Environment Centre said:

“Cyclone Jasper showed us what this risk looks like for Far North Queensland — nearly two metres of rain fell over just a few days, power was cut to 40,000 people, and the entire community of Wujal Wujal had to be evacuated. This was followed by a heatwave, compounding the disaster and leaving communities to recover without power or cooling.”

Sign the petition to ban fracking in the Kimberley here.

Kimberley Traditional Owners Rally with Hundreds at WA Parliament Demanding the Cook Government Expand Fracking Ban to the Kimberley as EPA Decides

More than 500 West Australians have rallied outside WA Parliament in Perth today with Kimberley Traditional Owners, demanding the Roger Cook Government permanently ban fracking in the state’s Kimberley.

Hundreds rallied to ask the Cook Government to ban fracking in the Kimberley. Photo: Wendy Mitchell.

The community is also calling on the Cook Government to urgently reject Texan company Black Mountain Energy’s twenty-well “Valhalla” fracking project in the West Kimberley near Derby, which is undergoing state and federal environmental assessment. 

“Valhalla” is the most progressed of any fracking proposal in the state and would involve the drilling of 20 test wells in the heart of the Kimberley’s Martuwarra Fitzroy River catchment. Black Mountain Energy has stated they want to send fracked gas from the Kimberley to the Pilbara. This would lead to thousands of oil and gas wells across the globally famed natural landscapes of the region.

A photo at the rally showing Mt Hardman Creek, a Kimberley waterway in the vicinity of proposed fracking. Photo: Nick Doyle.

The WA EPA has decided on its recommendation to the Minister for the Environment, Matthew Swinbourn, and is currently preparing its advice to send to him.

Today’s rally is the most significant show of opposition to fracking since 2018, when the McGowan Government permanently banned fracking in the Perth, Peel, Southwest, and Dampier Peninsula areas of the state, but inexplicably not the rest of the Kimberley. 

Hundreds rallied at WA Parliament. Photo: Martin Pritchard.

Mangala Martu Traditional Owner Nuriah Jadai said:

“We have a responsibility to look after our Country in the Kimberley. When the Country is alive, our culture is alive. The land means so much more to us than money.”

“Fracking for oil and gas threatens everything that’s important to us. We do not want to risk our springs and waterways with toxic chemicals and radioactive wastewater, and we don’t want to see our Country cut up and industrialised.

“The Labor Government keeps saying there’s a veto for Traditional Owners, this is not true. There is no veto for test fracking, and the government hasn’t put any legislation in place for a veto.

“We’re calling on the Premier Roger Cook to ban fracking on our Country in the Kimberley, like his government has done in the southwest of WA. Are we not as important as the people of the southwest?”

Mangala Martu Traditional Owner Nuriah Jadai holds a frack free Kimberley sign at the rally. Photo: Nick Doyle.

Janet Holmes á Court, prominent West Australian and supporter of the arts said:

“The Kimberley is a place like no other, cherished by West Australians and the nation. To allow it to be turned into a fracking gasfield would be sacrilege. The Premier Roger Cook needs to ban fracking in the Kimberley, it’s the most destructive industry I’ve seen proposed for the place.”

Janet Holmes á Court addresses the rally. Photo: Reifanzo Photography.

Environs Kimberley Executive Director Martin Pritchard said:

“There’s never been an opportunity like this for Premier Roger Cook and his Labor Government to ban fracking in the Kimberley. The community doesn’t want it, the vast majority of Traditional Owners don’t want it, and with fracking banned in the southwest of the state, it would be easy to extend the ban to the Kimberley.

“Surely the Labor Government is not going to open the Kimberley to this polluting and highly destructive industry and threaten the $500 million tourism industry, which supports hundreds of jobs in the remote region?

“If the Cook Government doesn’t ban this industry, then we’ll have no choice but to campaign hard in the seat of Fremantle again and extend that to other seats across the metro area at the next election.

“We’re not going to sit idly by and let the Kimberley be industrialised.” 

Voters urge the Cook Labor Government to ban fracking in the Kimberley. Photo: Nick Doyle.

Lock the Gate Alliance WA spokesperson Simone van Hattem said:

“West Australians love the Kimberley: its stunning waterfalls, gorges, beaches, and unique wildlife. People come from all around the world to visit the majestic Kimberley, generating hundreds of millions for a thriving tourism industry. 

“Destructive gas fracking poses a serious threat to the Kimberley. Full-scale gas fracking would mean thousands of gas wells, sucking billions of litres of water and risking catastrophic pollution and contamination.

“We’re calling on the Cook Government to ban fracking in the Kimberley. This is the moment for Premier Roger Cook to protect one of WA’s greatest natural and cultural treasures from being transformed into a frack-well pockmarked wasteland, like the gas and oil fields of the ruined Texan landscapes where Black Mountain is from.”

Photo: Reifanzo Photography.

Background:

Black Mountain Energy's 20-well Valhalla project proposal would be the first fracking operation anywhere in WA since the WA Government lifted the moratorium on fracking in 2018. If approved, it could open the door to thousands of gas wells across the region. Black Mountain Energy is comparing the Kimberley’s Canning Basin to the Permian Gas Basin in the US. The Permian has more than 190,000 oil and gas wells (see BME website here).

Photo: Nick Doyle.

Rally partners: 

The rally was organised by Environs Kimberley and Lock the Gate Alliance, in partnership with Seed Indigenous Youth Climate Network, Australian Youth Climate Coalition, Conservation Council of WA, and the Australian Conservation Foundation.

The Kimberley is renowned for its awe-inspiring landscapes, untarnished by industrialisation and urban sprawl, as well as the ancient living culture that continues to be practised here.

These are the mainstay of the economy, providing more than half a billion dollars in revenue and a significant portion of the region’s jobs. Just as importantly, the intact condition of the Kimberley underpins residents’ wellbeing and supports the natural world, with healthy populations of rare as well as common animals and plants.

“The Kimberley is home to some truly unique and spectacular attractions...Tens of thousands of tourists flock to this area every year to enjoy an unforgettable outback experience amidst a breathtaking landscape,” Minister for the Kimberley and Regional Development, Stephen Dawson said.

While the description sounds idyllic, successive state governments have failed to act to protect the region’s crucially important attributes.

Less than 8% of the land in the Kimberley is in protected areas that prohibit landclearing, oil and gas extraction and mining.

If you’ve been following our work for a while, you’ll have seen that fracking for oil and gas is a huge concern, as well as the push by the Woodside Joint Venture to drill around Scott Reef. These are totally inappropriate industries for a globally significant region. Less well known are the other threats to the Kimberley’s environment – its freshwater, tropical savannah, intact coastline, marine parks, threatened species and national-heritage listed landscapes. We list some of the threats in the map below – excessive irrigation, bauxite mining, sand mining, heavy mineral sands mining, oil and gas extraction and fish farming are at our door.

A new concern is applications by Ms Gina Rinehart for mining exploration leases on her Liveringa Station and Fossil Downs pastoral lease and surrounding leases through her company ‘Central Pilbara North Iron Ore’. We don’t know what Ms Rinehart wants to explore for but we will vigorously oppose any damaging mining proposals.

Former Liberal Premier Colin Barnett said in 2009 that the future of the Kimberley was mining. “Just as the Pilbara was critically important to the development of WA from the'60s, over the next 50 years the Kimberley will play a similar role."

At the March 2025 election, the WA Labor Government under Roger Cook gave no new commitments to protecting the natural environment here. The proposals in front of them now will be a major test of their Kimberley credentials and show us whether they will follow Colin Barnett in his fixation on industrialising the Kimberley, or protect the Kimberley’s breathtaking landscape and environment.

Sign the petition to ask Premier Cook to ban fracking in the Kimberley here.

Following a recent announcement that a company called ‘Valperlon’ (VBX) has raised capital to progress its years-old bauxite mining proposal in the far north Kimberley, Environs Kimberley (EK) has called on the Cook government to rule out such destructive mining in the region.

EK Executive Director Martin Pritchard said, “The north Kimberley is one of the most intact tropical terrestrial, coastal and marine environments in the world. It is not just a State and national treasure, it is globally unique. 

“In 2021 EK made its submission to the EPA assessment of this proposal, recommending it be rejected. There are numerous compelling reasons why strip mining for bauxite in this region is entirely environmentally unacceptable, including threats to high conservation value monsoon rainforest patches and impacts from port development to the outstanding marine environment adjacent to the minesite - which is now a marine park.

Humpback dolphins in the north Kimberley. Photo: Martin Pritchard.

 “The Cook government must do what the Barnett government did ten years ago in relation to possible bauxite mining on the iconic Mitchell Plateau, south of this proposal.

 “Premier Barnett had the foresight to terminate the State Agreement that would have allowed strip mining for bauxite on the Mitchell Plateau. For exactly the same reasons, strip mining for bauxite further north near Kalumburu should also be permanently ruled out.

“The decision by the Barnett government to remove the longstanding threat of bauxite mining on the Mitchell Plateau via enactment of the Alumina Refinery (Mitchell Plateau) Agreement (Termination) Act 2015, clearly indicated the WA government’s strong view that bauxite mining is not an acceptable activity in the North Kimberley. 

“As Premier Barnett stated at the time, ‘The termination legislation will also prevent the making or granting of any mining or exploration tenement applications over the Mitchell Plateau area until the area has become a Class A National Park. The Government has also acted to protect adjacent areas from mining tenement applications through the creation of an exemption under section 19 of the Mining Act 1978.’”

“The thought of turning this beautiful region into another landscape ravaged by bauxite strip mining is mind-boggling. Bauxite companies have already laid waste to tens of thousands of hectares of jarrah forest in WA’s south west. Such a disaster must not be inflicted on the north Kimberley.”