Call for protection of Roebuck Bay and Kimberley coast from invasive threat by foreign vessels
Broome-based conservation group Environs Kimberley is signalling the alarm over catastrophic threat risk from foreign vessels bringing invasive species to Roebuck Bay, Broome’s cherished natural asset and the world-famous Kimberley coast. EK is calling for community consultation and an independent environmental risk assessment.
“Roebuck Bay is one of Broome’s most important community assets. Whether it's fishing in the Bay or on the shore, crabbing in the mangroves, exploring the seagrass and reefs or going for a swim at Town Beach, a vast majority of the people of Broome care deeply about it and the Traditional Owner connection is vital,” said Environs Kimberley’s Martin Pritchard.
The State and Federal Governments’ plans to give First Point of Entry (FPOE) status for the Port of Broome would mean foreign vessels could come directly into Roebuck Bay from overseas with the risk of bringing invasive species with them.
“Roebuck Bay has been relatively sheltered from invasive species because foreign ships must quarantine at another port first. We’ve seen disasters like the Black-striped mussel invasion in Darwin, requiring mass poisoning to control it. We don’t want that kind of disaster happening here.”
Marine invasive species can cost millions in damage and efforts to remove them, but once they establish themselves they can be impossible to eradicate.
Questions in the WA Parliament have uncovered marine invasive species at the Port of Broome, including White colonial sea squirt (Didemnum perlucidum), which is originally from the Caribbean. It is known to grow heavily over mussels and oysters and smother them.
Asian Green Mussel has also been found at the Port of Broome.
“We’re calling on the Federal Minister Catherine King and her State counterpart, Minister for Ports David Michael, to consult the community over their plans to open up Roebuck Bay to foreign vessels so that everyone understands the risks involved and can have a say. We’re also calling for an independent environmental risk assessment,” Mr Pritchard said.
“Both State and Federal Governments are putting the Kimberley coast at risk, an area known the world over as being intact. It is worth tens of millions of dollars in tourism revenue,” Mr Pritchard said.
Billion dollar flood – fossil fuel polluters like Woodside should pay, not taxpayers
The WA state government's mid-term performance review has revealed that the January 2023 floods in the Kimberley will cost taxpayers over $869 million dollars.
The announcement comes on a 45C day in Fitzroy Crossing.
Broome-based conservation group Environs Kimberley (EK) is calling on the State and Federal governments to recoup the cost from fossil fuel companies who have made billions in profits over the past year, while driving worsening climate impacts. EK is also calling on the WA and Commonwealth governments not to approve new gas projects in the Kimberley, including proposals by Buru Energy and Woodside.
EK Director of Strategy Martin Pritchard said, "The January 2023 floods have had a devastating impact on communities in the Kimberley’s Fitzroy Valley with many people losing all their possessions and homes. It’s now been revealed that this flood has come at a cost of what's likely to be over a billion dollars to taxpayers and private businesses.
"The State and Federal governments need to recognise that fossil fuel-driven climate change comes at an enormous cost to communities, taxpayers, private businesses and the natural environment and we know what and whom is causing this – oil, gas and coal companies."
The revelation of the enormous cost of the flood comes on a 45C day in Fitzroy Crossing with the next 10 days predicted to be above 40C. Fitzroy Crossing will be unliveable in the next 50 years with CSIRO and BoM data projecting 225 days over 40C a year if we continue on the current emissions trajectory.
“Catastrophic climate events like floods and heatwaves have been predicted for years and now we are bearing the enormous costs of burning fossil fuels while oil and gas companies like Woodside make billions in profits. There’s something very wrong with this picture and it’s clearly not sustainable for the environment nor taxpayers.
“We are calling on governments to firstly stop the damage by preventing new fossil fuel projects like Buru Energy's Kimberley onshore gas proposal and Woodside’s offshore Browse project and second, to instigate a ‘Climate Change Disaster Levy’ on fossil fuel companies that can be used to plan for climate change disasters as well as fund recovery work.
"Woodside has put a measly $750k towards flood recovery while making billions in profits and wants to open up more gasfields that will fuel climate change for another 50 years. They are throwing spare change at Western Australians suffering from floods, heatwaves and fires while pocketing enormous profits for themselves.
“We cannot open up any new oil and gas fields if we want a safe climate.”
Photo of Fitzroy Crossing bridge collapsing in 2023 flood: Andrea Myers
WA Premier takes axe to EPA instead of strengthening environmental protection
WA Premier Roger Cook’s proposed changes to the EPA would slash environmental protections that the West Australian community has spent over 50 years fighting for, according to Broome based conservation group Environs Kimberley.
“These changes would slash environmental protection for iconic places like the Kimberley at a time when its recognised we are in a nature survival crisis and there has been no consultation with conservation groups,” said Environs Kimberley Director of Strategy Martin Pritchard.
The proposed changes include stacking the EPA Board with more industry representatives, getting private consultants to rush through decisions and the removal of the public’s right to appeal decisions on the environment.
“This is straight out of the fossil fuel industry’s playbook, they’ve been trying to weaken our environmental laws for decades. It’s an effective privatisation of what is supposed to be an independent advisor to government on WA’s globally significant environment,” Mr Pritchard said.
“The Premier’s assertion that reforms are needed due to ‘green tape strangling development’ are disingenuous. Delays have come about due to the lack of resources and staff in the EPA and the WA government should take responsibility for that.”
“We’re calling for public consultation on any proposed reforms and that a primary emphasis be put on protecting the environment not rushing damaging developments through.”
“We need a stronger EPA and environment laws. What is currently being proposed is exactly what Liberal Premier Colin Barnett wanted and we can’t believe the Labor Government is willing to gut our environmental laws to fast track damaging projects.”
Support for Kimberley clean energy welcomed — and more must be done
Broome-based conservation group Environs Kimberley has welcomed the promised investment of $19 million for clean energy, including support for the Kimberley Communities Solar Saver programme.
“We welcome this announcement by the State Minister for Energy Bill Johnston and Commonwealth Minister for Energy Chris Bowen of support for clean energy in remote communities,” said Environs Kimberley Director of Strategy, Martin Pritchard.
The Kimberley’s heating climate, the result of burning fossil fuels, is a serious threat to people’s wellbeing and the environment, and more affordable clean energy is essential for the health of communities.
“There is a further opportunity to transition to clean energy much more quickly by replacing fossil-fuel burning with renewable energy. Horizon Power has already said that the Broome gas-fired power station can operate on 80% renewable energy. This would provide jobs, greatly reduce emissions, and be cheaper than to keep running on fossil gas.
Having 80% renewable energy in Broome is far better than what is currently being proposed by Buru Energy, who want to open a new gas field next to the Martuwarra Fitzroy River. This would inevitably lead to the industrialisation of the West Kimberley and a huge surge in methane and carbon pollution.
What we need now is for the WA Minister for Energy, Bill Johnston, to commit to the change before the current gas contract runs out in 2027,” said Mr Pritchard.
Photo: Broome Boulevard Shopping Centre Solar Installation
Photo Credit: Paul Bell
Kimberley’s Martuwarra Fitzroy River a step closer to protection
The National Heritage-listed Martuwarra Fitzroy River in the Kimberley is a step closer to being protected from Murray–Darling style irrigation. A policy position released by the Cook Government this week states clearly that no new extraction of surface water will be allowed.
“We welcome this historic announcement by the Cook Government, which supports what the community has been calling for over several decades: protection of the Martuwarra Fitzroy River from massive water extraction, and dams for agribusiness to irrigate cotton and other broadacre crops,” said Environs Kimberley Director of Strategy Martin Pritchard.
The Fitzroy River catchment has the most intact tropical savannah in the world and the Martuwarra Fitzroy River has been recognized as the last stronghold for the critically endangered Freshwater Sawfish. It also supports a major Barramundi population as well as Freshwater Prawns and other important fish species. The cultural heritage values of the river have been recognized by the Commonwealth Government, which put the river on the National Heritage list in 2011.
Martuwarra Fitzroy River - Damian Kelly
Environs Kimberley was formed to protect the river and adjacent tropical savannah from large-scale cotton crops, and has worked in partnership with Aboriginal groups since 1996 to keep it running free.
“More than 43,000 people called for the Martuwarra Fitzroy River to be protected from industrial agriculture and big pumps. The health of the river system depends on uninterrupted flows. It’s great to see that the Cook Government recognizes this. We know that any water pumped out reduces Barramundi and critically endangered sawfish populations.”
“We are still concerned about groundwater extraction. 100 billion litres are mooted as being available, which would allow the irrigation of 10,000 hectares. That is an unacceptable scale of land-clearing in such an intact and biodiverse landscape.”
We are keen to see more detail on the policies, including those concerning heritage and cultural rights, and we’ll support Aboriginal groups to ensure they obtain all the rights due to them as First Nations.
Work already completed shows that other, more profitable and less damaging industries are possible in the Fitzroy Valley. Such industries should be encouraged and supported.
We know that there are limited opportunities for jobs in large-scale irrigation, which causes massive damage, including complete destruction of tropical savannah by bulldozing and burning to grow cotton.
“The new economy provides the potential for sustainable jobs, including conservation of the world-class landscapes, which Aboriginal rangers are successfully working on. Carbon abatement, cultural tourism, bush foods and renewable energy are all industries that can work in the Fitzroy Valley, and there’s a strong interest in developing them.”
“We need to get behind these new industries, which are more appropriate for the landscapes and culture of the Kimberley,” Mr Pritchard said.
Cook government condemned for opening up proposed Nature Reserve and Martuwarra Fitzroy River in the Kimberley for oil and gas
The Cook government is opening up spectacular parts of the Kimberley to the oil and gas industry at a time when the science says we have to reduce carbon emissions. See petroleum release announcement here.
“We’re calling on the Cook government to withdraw this petroleum release and not put places like the spectacular Edgar Ranges and Martuwarra Fitzroy River at risk from the oil and gas industry.” Said Environs Kimberley Director of Strategy Martin Pritchard.
Edgar Ranges Photo: Environs Kimberley
“It’s like the Premier Roger Cook and Minister for Mines Bill Johnston don’t accept the science of climate change because we know that to have a safe climate, the International Energy Agency is saying we can’t open new oil and gas.”
The petroleum release areas cover the spectacular Edgar Ranges which have been proposed as a Nature Reserve by the WA government since 1991. The Edgar Ranges are of very high conservation value and culturally important.
According to the WA Government –
The Edgar Range is biologically and culturally extremely significant, it has a spectacular landscape and for decades has been recommended for conservation as a Class A Nature Reserve.
It is significant habitat for many mammal, insect and plant species and is known for Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby, Greater Bilby and Forrest’s Mouse, and is the only location for the endangered Edgar Range
Pandanus (Pandanus spiralis var. flammeus)21. It is where Torresian (sub-humid Kimberley) and desert species mix.
One hundred and twenty-one species of birds have been recorded there, including three of special significance to conservation – Princess Parrot, Peregrine Falcon and Major Mitchell’s Cockatoo.
Source: Department of Conservation and Land Management (1991) Nature Conservation Reserves in the Kimberley
Martuwarra Fiztroy River Photo: Damian Kelly
The Martuwarra Fitzroy River is National Heritage listed and is a Registered Aboriginal Heritage site.
“If the Cook government won’t withdraw this petroleum acreage release then the oil and gas industry must take a responsible approach and not bid for these areas.”
Cook government’s gas export opens gate for fracking in the Kimberley
Broome based conservation group Environs Kimberley has condemned the latest gas-related announcement by the WA government which encourages the development of a large-scale gas fracking industry in the Kimberley’s Canning Basin for export.
Changes to the domestic gas reservation policy restore the ban on export of on-shore gas sourced from the Perth Basin, while lifting the export ban across the vast Canning Basin covering much of the globally outstanding environmental and cultural values of the Kimberley.
The government’s new policy states, “For the Canning Basin, these gas resources are not connected to the existing pipeline network and as such a normal application of the WA Domestic Gas Policy applies, which requires gas project developers to make available 15 per cent of exports for the domestic market.”
Previously, the export of gas from the Canning basin was banned – putting ongoing attempts to frack and export gas from the region under a cloud.
The change in policy which was enacted without any media statement or consultation with communities across the Kimberley who would be affected by the decision.
‘This is a bad decision that has been taken without consideration of the impacts of a gas export industry on the Kimberley. The removal of the export ban from the Canning Basin paves the way for a pipeline to the Pilbara from the Canning Basin which would open the gate to thousands of fracking wells across the Kimberley.’ said Environs Kimberley Director of Strategy Martin Pritchard.
“This is exactly what Kimberley communities have been fighting against. Only last week we saw thousands turn out to warn Premier Cook against supporting a fracking industry in the Canning Basin. Kimberley people know that such an industry would contaminate water, make communities sick, destroy globally significant environmental values and place the Kimberley’s tourism industry at risk,’
‘Woodside does not have enough gas to feed its giant Burrup Gas Hub expansion in the Pilbara and Premier Cook has just opened the gate for them to source this gas by fracking the Kimberley,’ Mr Pritchard said.
‘Woodside has failed to get gas processing facilities built before at James Price Point due to a national campaign against it. Any attempt to frack the Kimberley for export would damage their corporate reputation in a much more significant way.
Previously the WA Government banned fracking in the Southwest, leaving communities in the Kimberley vulnerable to this destructive industry. Once again we are seeing government decisions that sacrifice the communities and environment of the Kimberley for the sake of gas industry profits. One thing can be sure, Kimberley communities will not stand for this.
The WA Government needs to look at the serious impacts of climate change globally and we’re calling on Premier Roger Cook to ban fracking and gas industrialisation in the world famous Kimberley landscapes.’
‘This policy change shows that the Cook government is failing to roll out renewables and is basing future energy needs on gas.’
Stop the Kimberley fracking pipeline
THE KIMBERLEY – ONE OF THE WORLD’S LAST NATURAL REGIONS
The Kimberley region is of global importance. The ecological and scientific values of one of the least spoiled and most extensive naturally functioning suite of ecosystems left on the planet are comparable only with areas such as the Amazon and the Antarctic. Its seas, myriad islands, coral reefs, mangroves, rainforests, savanna woodlands and rivers are home to an astonishing variety of marine and terrestrial wildlife.
Kimberley landscape - globally important Photo: Damian Kelly
The Indigenous cultural values of the Kimberley are outstanding; the Traditional Owners’ ancient connections to their country are unbroken to the present day. The region has a $500 million tourism industry based on its natural and cultural values.
GLOBALLY SIGNIFICANT VALUES UNDER THREAT FROM FRACKING
Despite its National Heritage-listed values, wetlands of international significance and nationally listed threatened species, the Kimberley is under threat from oil and gas companies wanting to open up the region to fracking.
If fracking got a foothold, the landscape would be changed forever, and this highly polluting industry would be a blight across the region, threatening its clean air, water, and reputation as a world-class tourism destination.
Texan-based fracking company Black Mountain Energy is aggressively pushing to establish gasfields across the region. It has applied to the Environmental Protection Authority to drill and frack 20 oil and gas wells in the heart of the Kimberley, 60km from Fitzroy Crossing.
EMISSIONS DOUBLE PARIS AGREEMENT CARBON BUDGET
Black Mountain has also been given a conditional green light by the McGowan Government to send gas overseas or interstate. Despite knowing that the climate crisis is escalating and the world needs to cut carbon emissions drastically, Premier McGowan is allowing plans to open up a new global-scale fracking gasfield to roll on.
Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency has said that no new fossil fuel basins can be opened up if we are to have a safe climate.
The McGowan Government’s approval and support for Woodside’s Scarborough project will lead to massive carbon emissions, but these will pale in comparison to the emissions that would come from the Canning Basin (see comparison in ‘Gas reserves North West Western Australia’ below’).
A report by Climate Analytics estimates the emissions from fracking the Canning Basin to be more than double the whole of Australia’s allowable CO2e emissions under the Paris Agreement[1].
KIMBERLEY PIPELINE FOR FRACKED GAS
The State Development Minister (previously Minister for Health) Roger Cook, told Parliament in June that the Federal National Party wanted to drag Australia back to the “dark ages of coal, climate change denial and taking WA’s economic future backwards”, and that the state government had a “green energy vision for WA.”. A few months later he granted Black Mountain Energy a conditional exemption from the domestic gas policy, which was developed to reserve gas for Western Australia’s future use.
Black Mountain would need to build a 1,100km pipeline from the Kimberley to the Pilbara at an approximate cost of $1.2 to $1.5 billion. Other petroleum companies with interest in the Kimberley (Origin Energy, Buru Energy, Rey Resources, Goshawk Oil and Gas and Theia Energy) would all be likely to follow suit, seek an export exemption and join the pipeline network[2].
Thousands of wells would have to be drilled and fracked to pay for a pipeline of this cost and scale. The Kimberley’s world renowned landscape would be turned into an industrial gasfield, like the ones that blight North America.
“Bringing North American Expertise to the Australian Shale Revolution” – Black Mountain Energy.
Is this what Australians want the Kimberley to look like?
SAVE THE KIMBERLEY FROM A FRACKING NIGHTMARE – LET’S STOP THE PIPELINE
The vast majority of Broome and Kimberley people, including Traditional Owners, are opposed to this toxic industry getting a foothold in the region. Premier Mark McGowan and State Development Minister Roger Cook need to hear from thousands of West Australians and people across the continent that the Kimberley must be protected from industrialisation, and that opening up a new fossil fuel basin for fracking will risk a climate-change catastrophe.
Broome people call to - 'Stop the Kimberley fracking pipeline' Photo: Damian Kelly
Email Premier McGowan – [email protected]
Email Minister Cook – [email protected]
Send a strong message calling on your local Member of Parliament and relevant Ministers to stop fracking the Kimberley by going to this link.
If you’d like to donate to the campaign to save the Kimberley from fracking, you can make a tax-deductible donation here
[1] https://climateanalytics.org/briefings/western-australias-gas-gamble/
[2] https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-07/kimberley-fracking-project-granted-wa-gas-export-ban-exemption/100520190
Origin Energy Kimberley foray – shareholders on notice
Oil and gas fracking company, Origin Energy, has been condemned by Broome-based conservation organisation Environs Kimberley for moving into the Kimberley.
Origin Energy, which is currently exploring the Beetaloo Basin in the Northern Territory for fracking, has announced its intention to partner with Buru Energy and invest millions in exploiting fossil fuels in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
“Opening up new fossil fuel fracking provinces is unethical, given the climate change crisis,” said Environs Kimberley Director Martin Pritchard. “Origin Energy, which publicly portrays itself as an ethical company, must move away from fossil fuels and fracking if it wants to be seen as a socially and environmentally responsible organisation.”
“Investors in Origin should be aware that Buru Energy has a documented history of well leaks, overflowing wastewater ponds and radioactive wastewater,” Mr Pritchard said.
The Kimberley has seen several companies invest hundreds of millions of dollars looking for oil and gas.
“ConocoPhillips, Mitsubishi, Hess, PetroChina and Apache1 have all explored in the Kimberley’s Canning Basin without success. In an increasingly carbon constrained world, Origin Energy is taking a huge gamble, given the opposition to fracking by many Traditional Owners and the community,” Mr Pritchard said.
“We will continue to support communities and Traditional Owners who oppose this risky, polluting industry. The McGowan Government has banned fracking in the South West, Perth and Dampier Peninsula areas. By allowing it to continue in the Kimberley and other parts of the state, the government is treating us like second class citizens. There are good reasons for banning such an industry, and the community has made it clear that fracking is unacceptable. Origin Energy investors must be made aware that fracking is not welcome in the Kimberley.”