Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to talk about one of the world's most remarkable regions—the Kimberley, in Australia's north-west—and to celebrate the 25th anniversary and the work of Environs Kimberley.

The Kimberley is one of the most remarkable places on the planet. It has the world's oldest living culture. Aboriginal people continue to observe their responsibilities to the land, river, wetlands and seas, as they have done for millennia, despite the hardship and oppression wrought through colonisation. It is one of the few regions of the world where ecosystems are relatively unspoilt. According to scientists who have scanned the globe, the Kimberley has the most intact tropical savanna in the world, despite the damage inflicted by cattle. Its coast is in the top four per cent of the most intact coastlines in the world.

The north Kimberley is listed by the Commonwealth as one of the continent's 15 National Biodiversity Hotspots. It is one of the few places where all of the mammal species known at European colonisation still survive. The west Kimberley has also been National Heritage listed in recognition of 'natural, historic and Indigenous stories of the region that are of outstanding heritage value to the nation'. The Bungle Bungles, which are now properly called Purnululu, are a World Heritage site. The Kimberley is of global significance, and we have a responsibility to the world and to future generations to make sure it is not desecrated by the bulldozer blade for industrial agriculture or the toxic chemicals used in the fracking industry.

The Martuwarra, or Fitzroy River, is one of the world's great remaining intact rivers. A raging torrent after heavy monsoonal rains, it recedes to pools and wetland refuges by the end of the dry season. The river is fundamental to the lives of the people of the Kimberley and is covered by six language groups. Twenty-five years ago a cotton farmer proposed building three dams on the Martuwarra Fitzroy River and its tributaries, as well as a canal system to water crops in the Lagrange area, south of Broome. More than 220,000 hectares of the Kimberley savannah was earmarked to produce GM cotton. Traditional owners were incensed and opposed the destruction of their homeland and river vigorously. That's when a small band of caring and plucky Broome residents got together to support traditional owners and protect the river.

Environs Kimberley, commonly known by those of us that know them and love them as EK, were formed in 1996. They have worked tirelessly and shoulder to shoulder with traditional owners. For eight long years they campaigned to protect the Fitzroy until the proposal was—thank goodness!—withdrawn. Had this proposal gone ahead the Fitzroy River would be in a very different state by now. It would no longer be free-flowing. Its plants and animals would have been devastated. The barramundi would no longer be abundant, and the critically endangered swordfish, which I have spoken of several times in this place, would no longer be thriving. Since that time EK has worked in partnership with others to defend the Kimberley from large-scale industrialisation.

A 2005 WA government plan for developing the West Kimberley resources outlined an industrial scenario for the region centred on a major energy source coming onshore, gas from the Browse Basin. It discussed the mining of lead, zinc, diamonds, iron ore, coal, uranium, tin, heavy mineral sands and onshore oil and gas fracking fields. The fossil gas from the Browse Basin was seen as a power source for an aluminium refinery on the Dampier Peninsula, processing bauxite from the Mitchell Plateau. LPG, methanol, gas to liquid, ammonia and urea production were all mooted as downstream industries. This was an industrial development nightmare for this world significant place.

However, then WA Premier Colin Barnett's dream of turning the Kimberley into the next Pilbara died with the demise—thank goodness!—of the Browse gas project, which would have destroyed James Price Point and ruined Broome. The Broome community saw this vision for what it was: destruction of the Kimberley to benefit shareholders, politicians and business moguls who did not live in the region and would not have to live with the consequences. Woodside's Browse Basin gas, which would have spewed millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere, will now stay in the ground.

Despite protecting the Kimberley, dark clouds are on the horizon. Texan frackers are in town, along with others, desperately chasing fossil fuels before this toxic industry is shut down. Billionaires are back, wanting to take billions of litres of water out of the Martuwarra Fitzroy River and bulldoze tens of thousands of hectares of the world's most intact tropical savannah. Once again, Environs Kimberley and traditional owners are calling for support to protect the Fitzroy. Just yesterday the Kimberley Land Council demonstrated outside the WA parliament to call for local people's basic human rights to be recognised and respected so that they can protect their heritage and the national heritage listed Fitzroy River. I urge Australians to support Environs Kimberley and the traditional owners to protect the Kimberley.

EK have been at the frontline for a quarter of a century in defending the Kimberley through research, information sharing and advocacy. They are the only environmental organisation in the region. They are advocating for protection and a sustainable economic future that respects nature and culture. They want a sustainable future for the Kimberley and to protect one of the world's largest intact savannahs and one of this country's greatest rivers. But billionaires don't see any of that. They just see the ability to make money.

Traditional owners have a vision for the Kimberley. I think up to 92 per cent of it is covered by native title. They want to do it their way. They want a sustainable future for the Kimberley. I want to say a huge thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to Environs Kimberley for all their work, for their vision, for their actions, for their advocacy and for respecting the rights of the traditional owners of the country in the Kimberley. I wish you didn't have to continue your work. I wish we could say that the area is no longer threatened. But, unfortunately, it is. So, Australia, please support Environs Kimberley and the traditional owners of the Kimberley to continue their work to ensure that this magnificent area of Australia is protected and not destroyed by rent seekers trying to get the last bit out of the fossil fuels in this country because they know they're not going to get away with it for long, so they're desperate to get in now. They shouldn't be allowed in. This should be stopped. Please support the work of Environs Kimberley. Thank you, Environs Kimberley, for your hard work. Keep it up.

Senate adjourned at 17:51