Concerns are mounting in Broome about the threat to Scott Reef off the Kimberley coast from Woodside’s Browse Basin proposal for 50 oil and gas wells around the iconic marine biodiversity hotspot.

This morning a gathering of locals requested Kimberley Member of Parliament Divina D’Anna convey their concerns about the proposal to the WA Minister for the Environment Matthew Swinbourn and Premier Roger Cook.

“The community clearly doesn’t want Woodside’s damaging, risky, polluting project that would send most of the gas overseas. There’s only a downside to this proposal for West Australians and our globally significant coastlines,” said Martin Pritchard, Executive Director of Broome-based conservation group Environs Kimberley.

Broome residents gathered to voice concerns about Woodside’s Scott Reef plan. Photo: Wendy Mitchell.

The proposal is under assessment by the WA EPA, and the Cook Labor Government is expected to make a decision in early 2026.

“Scott Reef off the Kimberley coast is a marine biodiversity jewel of the Indian Ocean and is one of Australia’s most important offshore oceanic reefs,” said Mr Pritchard. The reef is a haven for 900 species of fish, 300 coral species, 1,500 species of invertebrates and 29 species of marine mammals including the endangered pygmy blue whale. Sandy Islet, a sandy cay at Scott Reef, is the nesting ground of 1,000 genetically distinct green turtles, any damage to the islet could be catastrophic for the species. If oil and gas is extracted from underneath the reef, Sandy Islet is expected to sink and would no longer be suitable for green turtle nesting.

Locals hold handmade signs asking for protection of Scott Reef. Photo: Wendy Mitchell.

“A major oil spill would be catastrophic for marine life at Scott Reef and we have a nearby example of the Montara oil disaster from 2009 which devastated the West Timor economy and seaweed farmers’ livelihoods. An oil spill of this magnitude is too much of a risk for Scott Reef and the Kimberley coast,” Mr Pritchard said.

The emissions from the Browse oil and gas project would be on a global scale at 1.6 billion tonnes of CO₂ according to Woodside’s reports. This would further fuel climate change which is devastating reefs globally, with the latest coral bleaching covering over 1,500km of the West Australian coast and reefs from Ashmore Reef to Ningaloo.

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.

Sale of decaying petroleum wells puts taxpayers at risk of funding cleanup in iconic Kimberley bay

Community groups say the Cook Government must take urgent action to protect WA taxpayers from a multimillion dollar cleanup bill for stricken petroleum infrastructure within a heritage-listed Kimberley bay, after the responsible company was sold off for a fraction of its original value. 

For years, community groups have called on the WA Government to force Rey Resources to clean up its decaying and corroding petroleum well infrastructure on the shores of King Sound, part of the National Heritage listed West Kimberley National Heritage Place. 

Photos of the degraded and partially inaccessible wells are available here.

Point Torment. Photo: Supplied.

Rey Resources’ latest quarterly update (see page two) confirms that a $400,000 deal to “dispose” of subsidiary Gulliver Productions, which owned three petroleum tenements that included the stricken wells in and adjacent to King Sound, has been finalised. 

Rey’s December 2024 quarterly report suggested there were yet to be met conditions (Page 3) as part of the deal to sell Gulliver to little-known overseas company China Guoxin Investment Holdings. Gulliver Productions was once valued at $4.8 million.

Documents obtained from the WA Mines and Petroleum department by Environs Kimberley through freedom of information laws revealed that in 2021, the three King Sound gas wells were corroding, there was oil staining on the ground, and a blow-out preventer was incorrectly positioned. The department identified 44 possible breaches in total, however it is unclear what, if any, remediation work has occurred since inspection. The 2021 inspection report recommended issuing seven “directions notices” to Gulliver Productions, which were not issued at the time for unexplained reasons.

Media reports this morning that the department recently issued one “directions notice” requiring the company to conduct cleanup works.

Groups working to protect the Kimberley are now calling on the government to take much stronger action to protect the WA taxpayer, and King Sound itself.

Stokes Bay. Photo: Supplied.

Environs Kimberley Executive Director Martin Pritchard said, “The Minister for Mines and Petroleum David Michael needs to take charge of this before we get into a ‘Northern Endeavour’ type situation. His department has allowed an obscure overseas company to take over petroleum leases for $400,000 that have potential clean-up liabilities of millions of dollars.

“We’re calling on Minister Michael to explain how taxpayers will not become liable for the clean-up costs. His department has already said that taxpayer liabilities for onshore oil and gas well clean-ups at two abandoned sites in the Kimberley amount to $2.9 million which is a significant underestimate in our view. See background below.

“Oil and gas companies appear to have free rein in the Kimberley to undertake exploration but it looks like existing legislation is failing to ensure that industry cleans up its mess. Millions of dollars of public funds are being spent on cleaning up the damage done by onshore oil and gas companies. Minister Michael needs to take charge here and stop this waste of taxpayer funds.”

Lock the Gate Alliance WA spokesperson Simone van Hattem said, “West Australians don’t want to see oil and gas companies destroy the majestic Kimberley.

“Right now, fossil fuels including fracking threaten the Kimberley, but this is a really good opportunity for the Cook Government to begin righting the wrongs that put this iconic region at risk.

“With the stroke of a pen, the Cook Government could make sure the threat of oil and gas in the heritage-listed King Sound environment is removed forever. It could make sure oil and gas never again threatens the water, land, and communities in this part of the Kimberley. It could be an important first step to banning fracking in the Kimberley altogether. 

“The Cook Government should permanently remove these tenements. They never should have been approved in King Sound region in the first place.”

West Kora. Photo: Supplied.

Background: A $1.5 million estimate for the ex-New Standard Energy well in the southern Kimberley was made in 2021 (source here) and $1.4 million for the Vienta-1 and Waggon Creek-1 wells near Kununurra (See page 44) Given the three wells that are now owned by Guoxin are located in a sensitive and relatively inaccessible coastal environment, it’s logical to assume rehabilitation costs will be much greater.

Western Australia’s vast treasures of tropical landscapes, coral reefs and abundant marine life, and the forests of the south-west, shape our identity. The emphatic wins of the Australian Labor Party in WA come at a time when the challenges to the very things that are part of our DNA in this great State have never been greater.

West Australians and the nation issued a sweeping rejection of extreme right-wing politics, nuclear power and unrelenting attacks on nature. Instead, they have voted for action on climate change, real protection for nature and a clean energy future.

Scott Reef – coral wonderland at risk from oil and gas industrialisation. Photo: Alex Westover.

Meanwhile, climate change is in full force and sandgropers are paying billions of dollars to tackle the crisis. The lack of rainfall in the south-west is desperate. Another six months of low rainfall will be devastating for already parched rivers, creeks and aquifers. Perth doesn't have enough rainfall to reliably provide water to its 2.3 million people. Billions have been and are about to be spent on making seawater drinkable. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on repairing flood-damaged roads, bridges, homes and infrastructure following the January 2023 floods in the Kimberley's Fitzroy Crossing. Forest collapse began in earnest after last year’s five-month dry spell in the south-west summer.

Fitzroy Crossing bridge collapsing in the biggest flood in WA's recorded history. Photo: Andrea Myers.

The science is unequivocal; emissions from burning fossil fuels are driving us towards an unrecognisable WA devoid of forests, coral reefs and tropical savannah, not to mention the increase in temperatures. More days over 35° and 40° are about to make life much more challenging, even dangerous, especially for the very young and old. According to the CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology, Fitzroy Crossing is headed for 225 days over 40 degrees by 2090 if we keep burning fossil fuels at the same rate. The conservative International Energy Agency has said that no more new fossil fuel basins can be opened if we are to have a safe climate.

The Albanese government knows this is happening. The choice it faces now is whether to greenlight Woodside and unleash billions of tonnes of carbon emissions by extending the North West Shelf project to 2070, drill and kill Scott Reef, and frack the Kimberley, or have the courage to reject these retrograde industries to protect our climate. The wrong decisions would cause untold damage to our climate-stressed forests, reefs and water.

World’s most intact tropical savannah under threat from climate change. Photo: Damian Kelly.

Younger generations can see and understand what’s happening as they flock to political parties and candidates who vow to fight for the interests of a future climate that will render the world habitable, will Albo heed them?

Will his government keep our climate safe, reject the North West Shelf extension and invest in the biggest rollout ever of clean energy and green industries? With two terms of government ahead for an Albanese government, what will be the fate of future generations resulting from its decisions?

This is the week that will determine the Albanese government’s bequest to future generations.

This will be your legacy, Prime Minister.

Martin Pritchard has been working on conservation in Western Australia for 25 years and is the Executive Director of Broome based conservation group Environs Kimberley.

Hundreds of community members gathered for the premiere screening of Corals’ Last Stand here in Broome this week. Corals’ Last Stand by documentary filmaker Jane Hammond, tells the story of the Kimberley marine treasure, Scott Reef and the challenges it faces as Woodside, BP, MiMi and Petrochina threaten the reef system with a proposal to extract oil and gas from beneath it. The story is narrated by West Australian author Tim Winton, accompanied by musician John Butler and a host of leading conservationists from Western Australia including EK's Martin Pritchard who secured the boat and went out to Scott Reef with them.  

The night also featured a screening of A Crude Injustice, another film by Jane Hammond, which tells the harrowing story of the Montara oil spill that occurred in 2009, off the Kimberley coast. The uncontrolled spill lasted for over 74 days in the Timor and reached as far as the coast of Indonesian Timor, devastating marine life and seaweed farms in its path, damage that has still not fully recovered. The Montara oil spill disaster is a timely reminder that when things go wrong in oil and gas extraction, they can go very wrong.  

Hundreds of Broome residents turn out for screening of Corals’ Last Stand. Photo: Wendy Mitchell.

The campaign to save Scott Reef is gaining momentum, with people from across Australia getting on board to protect the magnificent marine life there from the damaging effects of drilling for fossil gas. Scott Reef is a biodiversity hotspot in the Kimberley and should not be jeopardized for profit, nor should the Kimberley coast line be put at risk of a spill. Keep an eye out for further events in Broome as the fight to Stop Woodside and Save Scott Reef continues.  

To see if there is a screening happening near you check out: https://www.coralslaststand.com.au/screenings 

Or registered to host a screening for friends and family: https://www.coralslaststand.com.au/book-a-screening  

A petroleum company’s attempts to offload stricken oil and gas infrastructure on an environmentally sensitive peninsula within the National Heritage-listed King Sound for a fraction of the value it was estimated to be worth should ring alarm bells for the WA Cook Government.

Environs Kimberley and Lock the Gate Alliance say the situation highlights the risks the fracking industry poses to the unique Kimberley region.

Deteriorated and inaccessible by vehicle: the causeway to the Point Torment well site. Photo: supplied.

Rey Resources is attempting to offload its Kimberley-based assets and 100%-owned subsidiary Gulliver Productions to an overseas company called China Guoxin Investment Holdings, after writing down the value of its assets from nearly $5 million to about $400,000. In response to this announcement, the ASX sent a series of questions to Rey probing the company's financial situation was sufficient to warrant its continued listing and expressing uncertainty over “the group’s ability to continue as a going concern.”

Documents obtained by Environs Kimberley under Freedom of Information reveal that in 2021, the three King Sound gas wells were a mess, with oil staining on the ground and wellhead corrosion, among 44 possible breaches departmental officials identified. It is unclear what, if any, remediation work Rey has undertaken since inspection. 

Environs Kimberley and Lock the Gate Alliance fears there is a significant risk that if Rey Resources successfully offloads its assets, they will be abandoned and the hefty rehabilitation bill will fall to the WA taxpayer, as has recently occurred with New Standard Energy and Advent Energy projects in the Kimberley. The stranding of these wells resulted in multi-million cleanup bills and potentially “profound” ecological damage.

Rey Resources' cleared drill pad at Point Torment. Photo: supplied.

Shortly before announcing this planned “disposal” deal to the ASX, Rey Resources also lodged a state petroleum exploration application to clear grid lines more than 3000 km long for seismic testing across a 5058 km2 tenement near Derby and south east of its existing wells in the Kimberley. Under current WA rules, these tenements are able to be fracked, should Rey apply to do so. This tenement is included in the proposed offload deal. 

Environs Kimberley recently wrote to the Foreign Investment Review Board, urging it to reject Rey’s attempts to offload its subsidiary and Kimberley assets. This followed letters to WA Mines and Petroleum Minister David Michael expressing concerns over the company's plans. 

Environs Kimberley Executive Director Martin Pritchard said, “It was a reckless decision to allow drilling for oil and gas in the mangrove lined flats of King Sound in the first place. The cost of cleaning up the mess left behind in this remote and sensitive location will run to millions of dollars.

“The Department of Mines and Petroleum has let the drill sites deteriorate to the point where one of them is now inaccessible by vehicle and they’ve had to chopper in staff to investigate. 

“The department seems to let these oil and gas companies get away with poor management without consequences. The Petroleum Minister David Michael needs to take charge of the situation to make sure taxpayers aren't footing the clean-up bill for another oil and gas company. 

“It’s really clear that fracking in these areas would be an absolute disaster when the government departments can’t manage three wells and make companies accountable for poor practices.”  

The Stokes Bay well site. Photo: supplied.

Lock the Gate WA Coordinator Claire McKinnon said, “No oil and gas company should ever have been given permission to drill in an area as environmentally significant as the National Heritage listed King Sound.

“Rey must be forced to fund the decommissioning and closure of all the wells on its tenements. The WA taxpayer must not be left to once again pick up the clean up bill for an oil and gas company.

“This concerning situation shows why it’s so important that the Cook Government ban fracking in the Kimberley. 

“The high cost of unconventional gas extraction means it’s likely that if a fracking company was able to get a project going in the Kimberley, it would result in the drilling of many hundreds if not thousands of wells. 

“This sorry situation shows the Cook Government is not up to the task of adequately regulating a mere three conventional wells, let alone thousands of frack wells”.

Oil and gas companies are on notice following Buru Energy’s latest disastrous drilling project in Western Australia’s Kimberley region.

The company revealed today that its recently drilled oil exploration well, 'Rafael Shallow', near the Manguel Creek system that flows into the National Heritage listed Martuwarra Fitzroy River, has found no oil. 

Buru Energy's Rafael Shallow well site.

The announcement today that the $5 million plus well was dry, as well as no social license for oil and gas, serves as a warning that the Kimberley is too risky to invest in.

Environs Kimberley Acting CEO, Martin Pritchard said: “The time for oil and gas in the Kimberley is over, the community doesn’t want it, it’s too damaging to the environment and climate and the financial risk is not worth it.”

"The Kimberley can be powered through renewable energy, this is the future where there are guaranteed returns on investment.

This dry well serves as a warning to oil and gas companies and investors, don’t even think about bringing this polluting industry here, move to renewables, make a safe bet and don’t ruin the Kimberley."

Manguel Creek – a culturally and ecologically significant creek system with springs that flow into the National Heritage listed Martuwarra Fitzroy River.

Woodside’s Browse oil and gas drilling plan for Scott Reef rejected by EPA

Oil and gas multinational Woodside’s Browse Basin project at Scott Reef with joint venture partners BP, Japan Australia LNG and PetroChina has suffered a huge blow after being rejected by the WA Environmental Protection Authority (EPA).

Congratulations to the EPA for a sensible first step in rejecting a terrible proposal.

Scott Reef. Pic: Alex Westover

The EPA have said the company’s plans to drill 50 oil and gas wells around the globally significant Scott Reef off the Kimberley coast has unacceptable impacts on endangered Blue Whales, be a threat to endangered Green Turtles, and risk pollution and oil spills at the highly biodiverse and fragile reef, according to reports made public today. The EPA considers these risks too high.

Scott Reef is a marine biodiversity hotspot that supports 29 marine mammal species including endangered Blue Whales. Nine hundred species of fish have been found at the reef and 1,500 species of invertebrates, including soft and hard corals, sponges and crustaceans. It is also a hotspot for sea snakes, including the elusive Dusky Sea Snake, which hasn’t been seen since 2002.

Save Scott Reef protest in Broome. Pic: Alex Westover.

“This proposal to drill 50 oil and gas wells around Scott Reef off the Kimberley coast, one of the most important marine hotspots in Australian waters, would be rejected out of hand at the Great Barrier Reef and Ningaloo, so it’s not surprising the WA EPA has rejected it,” said Martin Pritchard, Director of Strategy at Broome-based conservation group Environs Kimberley.  

The WA EPA has been assessing this proposal for 5 years and, in a letter to Woodside, it has been reported that there could be unacceptable impacts on endangered Blue Whales, Green Turtles and the reef itself,” said Mr Pritchard.  

Woodside withdrew its controversial plans for $80 billion LNG refineries on the Kimberley coast at James Price Point in 2013 after fierce opposition from locals and protests across the nation.

“The risks of destroying one of the world’s great coral reefs with oil and gas drilling are clearly too great, and we’re calling on Premier Roger Cook and Environment Minister Reece Whitby to also reject the threat to Scott Reef,” said Mr Pritchard.

It is understood that Woodside now has an opportunity to respond to the EPA, which will make its recommendation to the State Government. Both the State and Federal Governments will then make final decisions on whether or not the Browse project and drilling at Scott Reef can go ahead.

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