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.
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.
Woodside is a different matter. It's shortlisted locations on the Dampier Peninsula north of Broome, the north Kimberley coast and on Scott Reef, 450km north of Broome, for a plant with a capacity of 14mtpa, although it does have an economically viable, though obviously more expensive, option of piping to its existing plant at Karratha.
However, two new gas discoveries are emerging: the Conoco/Phillips/Karoon gas field near Scott Reef and the Shell/Nexus Echuca Shoals/Crux fields east of the Inpex discovery in the Browse Basin. This should make things even more interesting (and even harder to oppose).
At the moment, Woodside is in negotiation with the Kimberley Land Council, which is at present in favour of the 'development'. KLC CEO Wayne Bergmann, a Perth-trained lawyer born in the Kimberley, is articulate, intelligent and idealistic. Rather than view the gas project as purely a 'royalty grab', he wants the considerable money involved going to traditional owners to be used in setting up businesses and infrastructure to support Aboriginal people in an ongoing sense - long after the gas reserves have dwindled out. The KLC has spoken repeatedly to Aboriginal groups in the Pilbara who have suffered as a consequence of increased mining activities, despite getting healthy royalties, and is determined not to make the same mistakes as they did in formulating agreements. Wayne is arguing for Aboriginal equity in the project (in other words, representation on the Board of Woodside) but the recent State elections have dealt him a bitter blow. Where the previous Labour Government had given the KLC ultimate right of veto over the project, newly elected Liberal Premier Colin Barrett has rescinded that right, arguing (legalistically, quite correctly, but potentially disastrously for those who don't want development to go ahead) that no citizen, white, black or brindle, has the right of rebuttal where mining operations are concerned. (If gold or whatever was discovered in your backyard and someone took out a Miner's Right, you're out boyo -compensated, but out all the same!) Wayne has lost his negotiating ace. Both the WA and Federal Governments stand to make huge tax revenues if everything goes ahead by the way, and in September, Federal Shadow Minister for Energy & Resources Ian Macfarlane announced his approval of the LNG projects. (Should you wish to contact him, his e-mail address is: Ian.Macfarlane.MP@aph.gov.au)
The Save The Kimberley group is an independent organisation dedicated to educating the Australian and international community to the threat posed by multi-million dollar gas and large scale industrial development in the Kimberley, wanting to make sure the Kimberley is protected for the enjoyment of current and future generations. Kimberley abalone diver STK spokesman Peter Tucker sums it up when he says: "There need to be some areas of the world that should just be left; we're doing enough damage to the country as it is!" He also points out that much of the Kimberley coastline is largely unexplored; that very little scientific investigation has been undertaken in either floral or faunal areas. "Who knows what might be out there?" he asks.

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Not surprisingly, long-time Broome resident Malcolm Douglas is also up in arms about the proposals, and wants the Kimberley World Heritage listed, despite some of the ramifications in terms of public access that may result. "The Kimberley is as unique as Antarctica, and no-one's allowed to go mining there," he says. "The Kimberley has the last pristine, untouched savannah woodlands in the world - it's very different and very special...wilderness areas are going to be worth more than industrialisation in 100 years' time, so we must maintain them for future generations."
(In addition, the wilderness area film-maker is upset about the development of a 5-star 'camp' at the mouth of the Berkeley River on King George Sound, in the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf. Guests will be choppered into what was previously a completely undeveloped, pristine environment. It's all happening, folks.)
The LNG operation is the thin edge of the wedge. There are proposals for two major bauxite mines, one on the Mitchell Plateau and one at Mount Leeming, near Kalumburu. To make this happen, the mining companies are going to need two major ports, including wharves, shipping channels (probably requiring dredging) and turning basins. The possibilities for the Mitchell Plateau are Port Warrender, Walsh Point or MacGregor Point, while Deep Bay is the likely one for Kalumburu. These ports will all have conveyor belts, stackers, ship loaders, ore stockpiles, and of course, admin and maintenance facilities. What will also be required are two new power stations with high voltage transmission lines.
Proposed sites for the inevitable aluminium refineries include Broome, Derby, and one in-situ on the Mitchell Plateau. And the aluminium refineries would need onshore gas.
Another potential danger is the Admiral Bay zinc deposits, expected to produce 200 000 tonnes a year, all of which would be trucked to Broome Port, where the jetty would require extending and the installation of a bulk ship loader and a conveyor system would be mandatory.
For obvious reasons, we've initially concentrated on the visual pollution - ruination - of the Kimberley, but there are other adverse effects if this whole abomination of a concerted plan goes through.
As the STK group points out, there are four broad impact areas. The first is environmental. Woodside, for example, is expected to produce around 10 million tonnes of greenhouse gases a year - not just methane, which is the main component of natgas and has a global warming impact roughly twenty times that of carbon monoxide - and any plant will emit nasties like benzene (a carcinogenic), cyclohexane (which can damage the nervous system), ethylbenzene, toluene (which can damage the kidneys), NOx, carbon monoxide and volatile hydrocarbons. The only thing that pollutes Kimberley air currently is bushfire smoke.
The second is the effect it will possibly have on indigenous people. While Wayne Bergmann is confident the plants will produce real jobs for his people, overseas experience (say, for example, with Eskimo people in Alaska, who have already gone through this) would suggest that the employment opportunities are mainly menial and relatively few in real terms. And a lot of indigenous people realise this - not everyone sides with the point of view of the KLC. The fact is that few locals - white and black alike - will have the requisite skills to make up the workforce in a mining environment, meaning that the primary labour will be of the 'fly-in/fly-out' sort, more interested in strippers and pole dancers than the ongoing good of the community.
The third impact area is fairly obvious; the development of a major mining industry between the Buccaneer Archipelago, Mitchell Plateau and Cape Londonderry, and the fourth is the economic and social impact, and we can see examples of what happens here far closer to home - in the Pilbara. Service and hospitality areas are the first to suffer, because local employers can't go anywhere near offering the salaries the mines do. This in turn has an impact on tourism as quality of service and food declines. Home prices rocket (Karratha is a prime example), putting rental properties out of the reach of those not employed by the mining industry. Airline ticket prices increase as mining companies block book seats, meaning there are fewer for locals. Airline tickets to and from Newman, Karratha and Port Hedland, for example are more expensive and difficult to book than other regional areas.
"Tourism in the Kimberley relies on the wilderness and its natural beauty - that's what they come for, from all around the country and from overseas - to spend time in one of the world's last great wilderness areas," says Kevin Blatchford, who's owned and operated an extended tour vessel throughout the Kimberley coast for the past 15 years.
Which brings us to the question very few people seem to be asking. What happens when the gas and ore runs out? (The gas reserves, for example, have an estimated life of 40 years.) Certainly, companies and governments will have made a lot of money, but the tourist appeal and environmental integrity of the Kimberley will have been completely destroyed - forever. There are very few tourists breaking their necks to visit Port Kembla.

 

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