Barnett's Browse Basin Bill is a Pandora's Box - Walmandan Tent Embassy continues

Gerry Georgatos - courtesy National Indigenous Times - nit.com.au - photo courtesy Rod Hartvigsen/Broome
The $40 billion Browse Basin gas hub project at James Price Point (Walmandan) Is teetering but not if Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett will have anything to do with it. Premier Barnett, who also holds the portfolio of State Development, has introduced into Parliament the ‘Browse (Land) Agreement Bill 2012’, presumably to confine offshore gas processing to the single site on the Kimberley coast.

The National Indigenous Times earlier this year reported the dissent amongst Woodside Board members and executive management resultant from the Premier’s threats of compulsory acquisition and that Chevron would pull out of the venture – Chevron has pulled out and rocked the whole proposal. A parliamentary source that Premier Barnett “is trying to steady the ship in rough waters by anchoring the gas hub proposal with promises.”

In a statement Premier Barnett said, “The Bill ensures the precinct is used solely for LNG production.”

“(The Bill) would ratify an agreement signed by the State Government and the Kimberley Land Council on behalf of the Goolarabooloo Jabirr Jabirr joint Native Title claim group. This is the first time in this State’s history that Parliament has been asked to ratify an agreement reached between the State and Indigenous West Australians,” said Premier Barnett.

He said the Bill delivers on a Government promise to the Traditional Owners and environmental groups in 2007 to limit the use of the site to only processing liquefied natural gas (LNG). He also said the site would be limited to at most 100 years of use and would be closed down when it ceased all its operations. However after any precinct closure the port would continue to operate as a general port “under commercial lease arrangement with the Native Title party.”

Despite threatening the claimant groups in 2011 with compulsory land acquisition he pushed the line that the Browse Land Agreement signed by the claimant groups in June 2011 “constituted the most significant act of self-determination by an Aboriginal group in Australian history.”

“Ratification of the agreement will be another important step towards securing benefits that will flow from multi-billion investments in LNG processing,” said Premier Barnett.

The National Indigenous Times spoke with Walmandan Tent Embassy - Elders and supporters - and they said that any gas hub project at Walmandan is not on; the same risks to heritage and Country continue and that any port would dredge the waters and disturb the breeding grounds of the whales. Elders Phillip Roe and William Watson said that the Embassy would be maintained and the campaign to protect heritage, community and pristine coastline would not stop.

“These are the waters we fish from, this is the land we live on, the Country of our peoples which has been for thousands of generations, and for those to come, and this is how it will stay,” said Mr Roe.

The parliamentary source said that the Bill will not get up and will be hotly debated on its detail – “it’s a Pandora’s Box he shouldn’t have thrown out there. With the (State) Election in March both the Nationals and Labor, and of course the Greens and Independents, will have far too much to say and less to agree with as they watch public opinion.”

“Colin wants this project to happen but he has made a right mess of it with the compulsory acquisition threats, with pushing it so hard as if with hubris which hasn’t gone done well, and with his inability in not being able to address the concerns of the dissenters and the protest movement, and with Chevron pulling out it appears others will too.”

In 2009 the gas hub project proposal was given a hurry up by the Federal Government to develop its gas deposits – Federal Resources Minister Martin Ferguson gave renewed gas leases to then partners Woodside, Chevron, BHP-Billiton and BP but with a 2013 development deadline.

Premier Barnett knows that if the companies don’t meet the May 2013 deadline they no longer control the leases. Woodside will make its final investment decision then, however the National Indigenous Times knows that indeed it is ‘no longer the done deal’.

In 2009 Woodside’s then boss Don Voelte made a point about the project having to be multi-partnered because of the $40 billion required. He had said, “We really want our joint venture partners to come with us.”