Sunday, October 17, 2010

Broome Community NO GAS RALLY

If you click on the heading you will access additional footage from the Rally posted on You tube, by people of the Broome Community. Please forward all the links out on your facebook, SMS and twitter.

Tomorrow morning, Tuesday the 19th at 5.30am, a group of concerned citizens will be setting up a Community Information Booth on the corner of the Broome Highway and Cape Leveque Road. This is an urgent invitation to anyone and everyone concerned about the destruction of James Price Point, to join them tomorrow morning to assist in establishing a Community Information Booth. You will be more than welcome. Please bring chairs, shade, and tables for displays, water, sunscreen, hat, any information, banners and additional people who love Country and want to protect it. If you have 5 minutes or 5 hours to support this Information Booth, it will be valued and very much appreciated.

Our Community of Broome and all the interconnected communities on the Dampier Peninsula are NOW under invasion. Parked up at BGC Contractors yard in Broome is all the equipment, graders, loaders, water cartage trucks, excavators, multiple 4WD vehicles for transportation of staff, associated trailers, loaders that are needed to tow the drag rakes, bulldozers and campers are all ready to instigate their assault on Country later in the week. Apparently, they are just waiting for the trucks with the mounted drilling rigs and the Clearance Permit to be signed off by the Minister.




The still photos in this clip were provided by Pam Jennings, thankyou.

And still we as a community are waiting to be consulted, still waiting to be included in the process and we still need to be convinced that Woodside is a responsible Corporate Citizen. We all have the right to be informed appropriately and we all have the human right to insist that we have Informed Consent. The Broome community is extremely concerned because they do not want to be the next Karratha, The Broome Community do not want to be in service to the world’s largest LNG Gas precinct in the world , to this industrial ogre that will destroy everything that we as a community hold close to our hearts, our environment, social and heritage health. The Broome Community will never give Woodside the Social Licence to Operate. How dense and ironic that today Broome was named the Top WA Tourist Town.



The latest about Proposed Woodside land clearing is that the Appeals Convener's office are awaiting more information before finalizing the decision report. They expect it to be ready to go to the Minister who is expected to sign off the Clearance Permit within days. The Minister’s decision could be challenged in the courts, if an injunction went in as soon as the Minister makes the decision. An injunction could take a week to be heard and clearing could occur in the meantime

The Department of Water, Kununurra office sign off on the water license last week. Up too 50 groundwater bores will be installed, up to 150 boreholes and 200 cone penetromter drilling tests will be undertaken. The Turkey Dams that will be installed will soon become toxic pits. Up to 40,000KL of our precious groundwater will be pumped into these dams and surrounding areas and the drilling operations will use approximately 20,000 more litres of water. They are planning excavations of 21 tests pits where one tonne of soil will be removed from every one of these pits sites, stored in barrels and sent to laboratory for tests.



Drill pads areas, access tracks up to 5metres wide will be bulldozed and additional two access tracks joining Manari Road will be carved into Country. Other areas need to be identified so they understand where they are planning to dump all the stock piles of vegetation and fauna once they have raked the Country clear of all living things using huge metal drag rakes.

Most of this information was not provided to the Broome Shire Council by Woodside when they sought planning approval at the last Council meeting. Not that would have made any difference because all the Shire Councilors who supported the planning proposal only spoke about how it was going to be really good for business, WHOSE BUSINESS?. Instead of hearing and supporting the 150 + Broome residents requesting the Shire reject Woodside’s Application and the Town Planning Scheme that includes a LNG precinct to be built in the Shire, the Broome Shire Council basically supported a multi-national company that has created social and environmental devastation where ever they have put their brand.



The 3 Notices Of Intention to Take Interests in the Land Notices (Compulsory Acquisition) clearly state “that the land and sea is likely to be required on the 5th November for the land needed for the Road, 9th November for the area needed to start the port/jetty and on the 23rd of December all the land needed for the proposed LNG precinct.”

The Flora people are also planning to go again into country tomorrow, Tuesday the 19th of this week to investigate the proposed location of the road and in order to miss any special plants in that area. What a joke, we all understand that its the total Remnant Rainforest systems and the Pindan Woodlands, in their entirety is what makes these ecosystems extraordinary and totally exceptional in their biodiversity. All the groundwater that sustains these two systems will be exploded and poisoned and the Rainforest system will die destablising the Holocene sand dunes which will become mobile.



Two years ago to the day was the day that Premier Colin Barnett announced that North Head would be the best location for the Kimberley LNG Processing Precinct or gas hub as it was called then. Then three people went to the roundabout at the entrance to town to protest and put up banners that said ‘Beagle Bay blockade’ and ‘Back off Barnett’.Today, a reported 2500 people marched to protest for the very same thing. Wonderful drawings and placards by children, banners and balloons coloured the Broome celebration sending a strong message to the Barnett Government and the local shire representatives no industrialisation or colonisation of the Kimberley. Happy 2nd Birthday Handsoffcountry. 68,000 hits and counting!

6 comments:

  1. Well done.Two years is interesting.Just read on Kimberley page the KLC has stuffed up the paperwork on a uranium exploration claim.They had two years to submit the paperwork and failed to do so.Must have too busy pushing the gas plant to have been bothered with the people in the desert.

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  2. Congratulations!

    The day the reported 2500 people marched, would have been a site to see!

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  3. Congratulations RedHand. The foundations you have built here are strong & giving support to our growing numbers. Your dedication to the cause has been a constant amongst all the ups & downs. Keep it up, we need you.


    BACK OFF BARNETT

    NO GAS

    HANDS OFF COUNTRY

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  4. Congratulations, RedHand on your 2nd birthday. Over this time many people have come to rely on your blog for news, information, opinions and research.
    It has been an invalable tool for cutting through the crap we've been fed for the last two years.
    More strength to your arm. Write on sisters, write on!

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  5. Well done Redhand, maybe now the State Government and Woodside will start talking to the people, talking to everyone?

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  6. breaking news,the age;joe roe in court to stop land clearing at jpp.

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