TRADITIONAL CUSTODIANS AND ENVIRONMENTALISTS URGE MCGOWAN TO PROTECT THE KIMBERLEY FROM FRACKING
Mangala woman Carla Banks speaks at a protest against fracking in the Kimberley on Sunday. Credit: Damian Kelly.
GERARD MAZZA.
Premier Mark McGowan was asked by Traditional Custodians and environmentalists to halt plans for gas fracking in the Kimberley during his visit to Broome on Sunday.
Anti-fracking protesters gathered outside a Community Cabinet meeting attended by the Premier and his cabinet ministers.
Fracking, short for hydraulic fracturing, is a method for extracting fossil fuels. Fracking involves drilling into the earth and using a mixture of water, sand, and chemicals to fracture rock surfaces and access gas inside.
The WA Government banned fracking across 98% of Western Australia last year but still allows exploration permits for existing oil and gas field leases in the Kimberley.
According to conservation group Environs Kimberley, plans by the company Black Mountain to frack near the Fitzroy River at Noonkanbah would emit 1.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, equivalent to the amount of pollution caused by half a million cars over a year.
Mangala woman Carla Banks attended Sunday’s protest because of concerns for her country in the Edgar Ranges area. Ms Banks told Ngaarda Media her country is under threat from fracking plans by a company called Theia Energy.
“It is my father's mother's country,” said Ms Banks. “She was a Mangala a woman. It's just so magical that it's untouched land. If we're gonna get fracking and all these chemicals drilled into our land then it'll destroy it.
“[Our old people] kept it protected and we want to keep it protected. We don't want no poison chemicals and polluted water. We want to save our water.”
Ms Banks is calling on the Premier to intervene.
“We need to strongly get the message out to Mark McGowan to help us,” she said.
“If he can stop tracking down south, he can surely stop the fracking here, up north in the Kimberley, especially at the Edgar Ranges and Noonkanbah.”
Protesters in Broome on Sunday. Credit: Damian Kelly.
Martin Pritchard, Director of conservation group Environs Kimberley, told Ngaarda Media that fracking developments in the Kimberley would pollute groundwater, damage the landscape and warm the climate.
“What we've found from climate scientists is that if the Kimberley was fully fracked then the amount of carbon dioxide pollution that would come out would be more than double what Australia has agreed to under the Paris agreement,” said Mr Pritchard.
“Not only will it have massive emissions, but also we'd be looking at hundreds, if not thousands of oil and gas wells through the landscape. We're very certain that people don't want to see the Kimberly industrialised in that way.”
A state government spokesperson said in a statement that a 2018 inquiry by the Environmental Protection Authority found the environmental risk from fracking in WA is “low and manageable”.
They said the State Government accepted the recommendations of the enquiry.
“This science-based policy ensures fracking is not permitted in over 98 per cent of Western Australia. This includes the vast majority of the Kimberley, including the Dampier Peninsula and public water source areas,” they said.
“Across the two per cent portion of the State where it can occur, for the first time, traditional owners and farmers will have the right to say yes or no to fracking production on their land.
“This is a balanced and responsible policy that supports economic development, new jobs, environmental protection and landowner rights.”
The spokesperson said the McGowan government is committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
In 2021, the International Energy Agency stated there can be no new fossil fuel developments if the world is to reach net zero by 2050.