Destinations > Paradise Lost?

Issue: January 2009

Words by Ian Glover Photos by Andrew Gregory

Click here to read the article as it appeared in the magazine

The incredible beauty and diversity of the Kimberley region could be under threat from mining

To us, the four-wheeled adventure drivers, the Kimberley is one of this country's legendary destinations. Even mentioning the name brings back evocative memories in all of us, even those who haven't been there yet, whether it be the rich red of shallow coastal cliffs in stark contrast to the turquoise waters around Cape Leveque, the lush majesty and priceless Aboriginal rock art of Mitchell Plateau or even just a stroll down Cable Beach with your loved one at sunset. It's one of our special locations, but it may be all about to change. The Kimberley coast in particular may soon look like Port Kembla.
The initial problem lies in the sea about 400km offshore, where Japanese giant Inpex and Australia's Woodside want to exploit one of the largest natural gas reserves in the world. The shortest and least expensive way to process the gas is by piping it to refineries built on the Kimberley coast.

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But that's only the tip of the iceberg. According to informed locals, there are proposals to mine bauxite on the Mitchell Plateau. Hundreds of hectares cleared for mine sites, the roar and clatter of mine machinery 24/7, tarred roads for trucks the size of three-storey buildings to take ore out to a tarred Gibb River Road (there are plans already to tar the GBR 'because the tourists want it' - excuse my cynicism, but do the powers that be know something we don't?), or worse, a railway to the coast at Broome or Derby. The Bouganville Archipelago has possibly the richest bauxite deposits in the world, and it's in the cross-hairs of the mining companies. What's bauxite used for? Aluminium production. How's all this sounding? There's iron ore in the islands off the Buccaneer Archipelago, and zinc and copper lodes in the Kimberley inland. It all reads like a BHP share prospectus, and is akin to mining the coral of the Great Barrier Reef to make concrete. William Blake's 'dark satanic mills' in the Kimberley? We must all work together to make sure this never happens. Quickly.
Let's look at the proposals in detail. Originally, Inpex (30% Japanese Government-owned) wanted to establish a 12mtpa (million tonnes per annum) gas plant on the Maret Islands off the Bonaparte Archipelago. The Maret Islands are a very important breeding ground for the endangered green and flatback turtles, and though I'm anything but a tree-hugger, I think that's an important enough reason not to do it, and so do others. After vociferous opposition from Broome-based opponents of the scheme, the company has decided to pipe the gas all the way to Darwin for processing.

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