Saturday, September 18, 2010

Kimberley plan to test Greens alliance

Paddy Manning September 18, 2010

WOODSIDE'S controversial $30 billion proposed gas hub at James Price Point on Western Australia's Kimberley Coast will be the first real test of the partnership between the Greens and the minority Labor government, the businessman Geoff Cousins, who is campaigning against the project, says.

The Greens have agreed to ensure supply and confidence in the Gillard government but Mr Cousins said they would have to abandon the partnership if the government approved the massive liquefied natural gas facility at James Price Point.

''They couldn't have credibility and say, 'We oppose it, but we don't really care if the federal environment minister goes ahead and approves it,' '' Mr Cousins said.



All the photos in this footage were gather over the whale season of 2010 and were taken within the exact vicinity of the proposed world largest LNG precinct in the world, between Quondong and James Price Point.

For more information on Kimberley Whales go to" http://www.kimberleywhales.com.au Kimberley_Whale_Watching,_Broome,_Western_Australia.html


Mr Cousins said while the Greens might compromise with the government on the proposed Minerals Resource Rent Tax, for example, saving the Kimberley Coast from such an inappropriate LNG development was a core environment issue.

''With a leader like Bob Brown, on an issue like this, they would have to do whatever they need to do in order to change the government. I don't see how they could remain in a partnership with Labor, if Labor sought to approve a project of this kind.

''They would have to walk away from the partnership.''

James Price Point is the West Australian government's preferred site for the proposed hub, which would process liquefied natural gas from the Browse Basin.


This month the Premier, Colin Barnett, announced he would move to compulsorily acquire the land after the breakdown of extended negotiations with indigenous groups including the Kimberley Land Council (KLC), which last year struck an in-principle deal to support the project.

But the agreement unravelled amid division in the indigenous community. The Aboriginal law man Joseph Roe has lodged a native title claim over the land and is suing the land council in the Federal Court.

Mr Roe's case was dismissed by the court last month for a lack of legal standing, but he is seeking leave to appeal. His allegations could form the basis of a challenge to the Premier's compulsory acquisition process.

The new federal environment minister, Tony Burke, has final say over the James Price Point project, which requires approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

The site is part of a strategic assessment of heritage values as a precursor to possible inclusion on the national heritage list.

A number of environmental groups held initial briefings with Mr Burke this week and it is understood the James Price Point development was a key issue.

An Australian Conservation Foundation campaigner, Denise Boyd, said the group asked Mr Burke to commence the West Kimberley heritage listing within 30 days, raised the issue of compulsory acquisition and asked for consideration of alternatives such as offshore processing or a pipeline to an existing plant at Karratha.

Mr Cousins, a Telstra director who was formerly Optus Vision chief executive, ran a high-profile campaign against the forestry company Gunns's proposed $2.2 billion pulp mill at Bell Bay, in the Tamar Valley in Tasmania.

Siding with Mr Roe, he said he predicted there would be a similar Gunns-style campaign targeting Woodside and its shareholders and joint venture partners including Shell, Chevron, BHP and BP if a political resolution could not be found.

7 comments:

  1. You suggest in your letter to Bergman that the KLC suspend all negotiations over mining,oil and gas.If they couldn't find the guts to do that,they could begin a"dot all the i's and cross all the t's" exercise.This way they could appeal to all other indigenous groups to do the same as long as Barnett has his land grab going.They could insist every piece of information is looked at in detail by everyone involved.This should start a lot of whinging by the companies involved,putting more pressure on Barnett's approach.For example the uranium companies are very worried at the moment,more hurdles and obstacles put in front of them would cause them a lot of grief.Looking at Blooms email it seems the pressure is already having an effect,keep piling it on every which way.I believe the KLC is having their agm,this would be a good place for them to start rebuilding their reputation by making a good strong statement about how fast any co operation can be lost by trampling "little people" into the dirt.This would also sting Barnett as he has labelled this meeting a talk fest.So having jumped into bed with these dregs of humanity to be stabbed in the back and thrown out,will the jilted lovers find some scorn for their ex darlings or not?And of course right on cue we have John Butler and the Pigrams at the mangrove on Monday 27,the main act could be the STK band.

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  2. Bob Brown has told the federal government to find a new site for the LNG plant.Kimberley Page/Nine msn.

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  3. Wayne Berglarman youve brought all this trouble to the Kimberley.Why did you pick up the phone and welcome Voelte back.It was not yours to offer.Well at least youve had yourself a fat time squandering all the tax payers Wanagarri,manipulating and misleading a few Law bosses.
    Hard work and respect is the way forward mate....but we dont expect youd know too much about that hey toomboomalli

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  4. Yes indeed,hard work and respect.One thing is for sure,if the people of the Dampier peninsular are allowed to continue on their steady sustainable way everyone up there can have a job.I've worked on big projects and I can tell you this,shift work,especially 12 hour shifts is a killer for fit healthy people.I would never be able to do it again as it nearly killed me.I learned the hard way it's better to take my time and do a job that wouldn't destroy my health and ruin my enjoyment of life.All this rushing and haste to become worse off than when I first started.Carry on your steady sustainable way,enjoy what you have and in the long run you will all be better off.And lets face it there is a lot more satisfaction in building something yourself and being proud of that,than having some money,which never lasts long,and being left with nothing but poverty and misery afterwards.If Bergman,Parriman and Tarran think these places are so great then why don't they go and get a fifo job for themselves.

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  5. Found a link to a good story on the Goolarabooloo/Facebook page posted by Ian Mackintosh."BHP fuels oil and gas ambitions"by Matt Chambers,WE OZ business page 26.The BHP Billiton petroleum boss Mr.Yeager said that the Browse plant at JPP will cost a lot more than 25bn.Shell says it could cost as much as Gorgon 43bn.Both Shell and BHP were against duplicating infrastructure and would rather use Browse to backfill the NW Shelf."The petroleum boss also said he had concerns about overcoming the size and length of the pipeline to the coast,a large amount of carbon dioxide in the gas and a soft ocean floor."I presume by this he means the ocean floor further out is solid enough to support a pipeline of this size and weight all the way to Karratha.Where as the ocean floor closer to the coast was too soft.Also regarding the carbon dioxide I would guess that refers to the effect of a carbon tax on their bottom line,hence the reluctance to duplicate infrastructure.Of course another thing with a soft ocean floor could be the detrimental effects on the enviroment from even more ongoing dredging.

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  6. A note about the 25bn and 43 bn,Yeager was talking in New York so this would be in US dollars.

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  7. could it be that the maps refer to a small scale site,and the $50bn shell and bhp are talking about are really for a much larger plant,one that would require 20,000 or 30,000 hectares?

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