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

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.

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.”