Ignore local community protests, says Gina Rinehart CEO while standing in front of landscape community protests protected. 

Kimberley residents protested outside the News Corp Australian Bush Summit event sponsored by mining billionaire Gina Rinehart. They called on Ms Rinehart to respect the region's nature and raised concerns about Ms. Rinehart's mining company, Hancock Prospecting, and its application for five mining exploration licenses on her Kimberley stations.  

Instead of listening to the local community, CEO of Hancock Iron Ore Gerhard Veldsman used his presentation to castigate ‘Net-Zero’ as an “absurd energy policy” and dismissed “noisy, minority activists” as people who should be ignored. 

Kimberley residents protest outside the Australian Bush Summit. Photo: Wendy Mitchell.

Environs Kimberley executive director Martin Pritchard, who attended the event, said:  

“The Australian Bush Summit in Broome was clearly being used by Ms Gina Rinehart to platform her anti ‘Net-zero’ campaign. A video made by the right-wing Advance lobby group was played and there was a significant attack on renewable energy.” 

“Ironically the backdrop to the speakers was a large photograph of James Price Point on the Kimberley coast where Woodside planned one of the biggest LNG refineries in the world which they abandoned in 2013 after 5 years of protests in a campaign driven by Broome locals,” Mr Pritchard said. 

James Price Point, proposed site of Woodside's LNG refineries - abandoned after years of protests, backdrop to the Australian Bush Summit. Photo: Environs Kimberley.  

“Ex-NT Chief Minister and Hancock Agriculture CEO Adam Giles was surprised when I told him that the only reason, they could use that beautiful photo was because of ‘noisy, minority activists’ who protested the gas refineries and forced Woodside to abandon the project there,” he said. 

“I asked Mr Giles if he accepted the science on climate change and he said he did, but that he didn’t believe in net-zero. When asked what he thought could solve the problem of too many emissions, he could only say, ‘I’ve got my thoughts about it’. He dismissed CSIRO and BoM modelling showing that the Kimberley would be unliveable if the current emissions trajectory was maintained, by saying ‘that’s a load of shit’ and walked off.” 

“Given that pastoral stations owned by Ms Rinehart in the Kimberley are likely to be significantly impacted by climate change, Mr Giles’ dismissal of temperature modelling appears to fly in the face of good business sense which would be to plan for foreseeable risks,” said Mr Pritchard.  

Broome residents at the protest made it really clear there would be fierce opposition to Gina Rinehart opening up the Kimberley to mining.  

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.

Gina Rinehart at Australian Bush Summit in Broome

Community call to protect the Kimberley from environmental destruction

Community members held a protest this morning outside the Australian Bush Summit event in Broome where Gina Rinehart was giving a video address.

Ms Rinehart has two pastoral properties in the Kimberley – Liveringa and Fossil Downs – both abut the National Heritage-listed Martuwarra Fitzroy River. Her past calls to take 325 billion litres/year of water out of the river have been met with stiff resistance from the community and Traditional Owners.

More than 43,000 people sent submissions to the WA government in 2021, calling for the protection of the river and groundwater from the type of development proposed by Ms Rinehart.

Concerns have been heightened recently with Ms Rinehart applying for five mining leases on her pastoral interests in the Kimberley.

Community protesting asking Gina Rinehard to not trash the Kimberley. Photo: Environs Kimberley.

Conservation group Environs Kimberley Executive Director Martin Pritchard said:

“The Kimberley is known the world over for its breathtaking landscapes, free-flowing rivers and intact tropical savannahs. The type of development that has been proposed by Ms Rinehart in the past is totally inappropriate and would see the bulldozing of tens of thousands of hectares.”

“The half-a-million visitors that come to the Kimberley every year don’t come to see farmland and mines; they come to see natural landscapes and experience the ancient culture.”

Mr Pritchard said there was also concerns about the critically endangered sawfish that have died on Liveringa station in recent years:

“Liveringa station appears to be a deathtrap for critically endangered sawfish, with 57 known to have died since 2018. We are calling for the artificial infrastructure on the waterway that appears to be trapping these endangered animals to be removed and the site rehabilitated.”

Regarding the applications for mining leases, Mr Pritchard said:

“We’re calling on Ms Rinehart to withdraw these mining leases; we don’t want to see the Kimberley turned into the next Pilbara. If Ms Rinehart doesn’t withdraw these leases then we call on the Cook government to reject them: they extend over waterways and are in the National Heritage-listed area of the West Kimberley – it’s no place for mining.”

The WA government’s new national parks around the Martuwarra Fitzroy River and Margaret River, which are jointly managed with Traditional Owners, are still awaiting final completion. The community is concerned that the finalisation of part two is being held back by Ms Rinehart on Fossil Downs.”

“We want to see the national parks along the Martuwarra Fitzroy River completed without delay, and if Ms Rinehart’s company is holding this back, then we call on the WA government to take back that part of the pastoral lease through compulsory acquisition,” Mr Pritchard said.

“Much of the land proposed for the next part of the national park is useless for cattle and not required as part of the pastoral lease. Ms Rinehart is renting this land from the citizens of Western Australia; she needs to take a responsible approach to the environment and make sure we have decent conservation parks along the Martuwarra Fitzroy River and Margaret River.”

Help protect the critically endangered freshwater sawfish here.

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.

As Woodside seeks approval to develop the Browse offshore gas field near Broome, documents obtained by Greenpeace under FOI have revealed that the tourist hotspot was subject to “unbearable” aircraft noise during the last wave of offshore construction.

During the construction phases of the Prelude and Ichthys offshore facilities, a helicopter arrived or departed approximately every twenty minutes during the peak of the activity, with military-style choppers frequently operating outside curfew hours, even on public holidays.

If Woodside’s Browse facility gets approval, Broome can expect far worse.

“Not only is Woodside’s Browse a disaster for our climate and for WA nature, but it will create absolute helicopter hell for residents in Broome,” said Environs Kimberley Director of Strategy Martin Pritchard.

“This is just one more reason why Woodside’s Browse project can’t be allowed to go ahead. We need federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek to protect our beautiful Kimberley coast and Broome’s multi-million dollar tourism industry, and to stop Woodside in its tracks.”

Proprietor of the Broome Hire Centre and local tourism operator Don Bacon said Woodside’s helicopters were too damaging for tourism: “Tourists come to Broome for the relaxed holiday feel - why would they holiday here if they are going to be assaulted by a pre-dawn chorus of military style helicopters? This can’t be allowed to happen. The town’s main industry is tourism; industrial noise is not compatible with a thriving visitor economy here. We want Broome to be Broome, not to turn it into Karratha!”

BACKGROUND:

In July 2017, the Prelude FLNG arrived in WA waters, some 475 kms north of Broome. Eighteen months later, on Boxing Day 2018, it became operational. Inpex also started producing at the neighboring Ichthys facility that year.

Construction and mining workers at both of these offshore facilities need to travel there by helicopter from Broome. The initial stages of setting up these facilities are particularly labour intensive and require large numbers of helicopter movements.

“As the offshore facilities are progressively hooked-up and commissioned, the number of workers and vessels required offshore will gradually reduce,” Inpex wrote at the time. “This transition will also see an aligned reduction in the number of helicopter flights operating out of Broome.”

Over those two years, noise complaints in Broome went through the roof. Airservices Australia data, released exclusively to Greenpeace Australia Pacific, show a tenfold increase in complaints from Broome in 2017-18 compared with other years.

It is little wonder that this happened. Helicopter traffic regularly peaked at over 1000 flights per month in that period. That’s 33 per day, and if all those flights had been crammed into daylight hours, it equals one flight almost every 20 minutes. Unfortunately, much of the traffic occurred at night or early in the morning, making the noise particularly disruptive, according to complaints.

No other time has come close to matching this. Throughout much of the period, starting in June 2017, when PHI began flying its helicopters out of Broome, helicopter flights made up a third of all traffic at Broome airport.

The helicopters used are twin-engined models that are significantly larger than joyflight tourist helicopters also seen in Broome.

Greenpeace has obtained copies of complaints made in Broome during the construction period. Highlighting the extent of the issue, the complaints included the following statements:

• “It's 6 am on Saturday morning and I have been awake since about 5am this morning due to the continuous loud helicopter noise, which has also woken my small children.”
• “These aircraft fly over early every morning and then fly in and out all day.”
• “Helicopter noise from Broome airport is so loud it woke me up. It drones on and on, before sunrise, in the day and now after 11pm at night. Can't sleep at night, can't sleep in in the mornings, can't concentrate in the day with these incessant periodic noise events. Health hazard.”
• “I have had tourists telling me they won't be coming back to Broome next year if this is how it is going to be, too bloody noisy.”
• "Sick to death of living in what feels and sounds [like] a war zone."
• “The impact of these helicopters is immense and it's really unbearable to hear those blades over your house. I contacted these cowboys and the airport in the past but now they don't take my calls anymore.”
•  “The helicopters are using my place as a navigational point. They should be flying somewhere else instead of right over my house.”
•  “The airport is very close into the Broome township. The helicopters make unacceptable noise levels near residential areas. When is the helicopter base going to be moved?”
• “Why do the helicopters sound like they are just driving up and down for an hour, its very noisy and if its not at 7-9pm its 5.45am-6.45am its very annoying and being a shift worker either end is hard to sleep. I cant wear and shouldn't have to wear earplugs.”
• “Would like to lodge a complaint for helicopter noise last twenty minutes or so, just sitting there on the runway, also excessive noise from helicopters early in the mornings taking off and returning as well as training ones on Friday nights.”

If Woodside’s Browse facility gets approval, Broome can expect far worse.

Woodside’s proposed project will dwarf what is already in place in terms of both scale and complexity - and that will mean a sharp rise in helicopter traffic.

“The complexities of projects like Browse are myriad,” the AFR has reported, “and they stretch way beyond the technical, geological and geographic.”

Woodside’s Browse operation is massively bigger than what is already in place, and will triple local production. At 11.4 million tonnes per annum, Woodside’s Browse operation is more than double the combined capacities of Prelude and Ichthys (3.6 MTPA and 1.6 MTPA).

Woodside’s project will exist in waters as deep as 700 metres, more than twice as deep as the 250 metre waters where the existing projects operate.

This will all, of course, also require a workforce that is significantly greater than was previously used.

The airport says 45,000 per year are already transported by helicopter to work on oil and gas facilities.

Unfortunately for residents, tourists and tourism operators in Broome, the approval of Woodside’s project will mean many more helicopters - in the short term, and in the long run.