Saturday, October 30, 2010

YouTube - Senator Brown visits James Price Point

LNG will cause massive expansion in greenhouse gas emissions

Media Release | Spokesperson Scott Ludlam

Wednesday 27th October 2010, 4:10pm

The Australian Greens say that all new highly polluting liquefied natural gas projects must be forced to sequester their greenhouse gas emissions, as new figures reveal a massive expansion in Australian greenhouse gas emissions within six years if all proposed new LNG projects go ahead.

After raising the issue in Senate Question Time today (WED 27/10), Western Australian Greens Senator Scott Ludlam dismissed the Government’s vague acknowledgement of the massive blowout.

“Most people would be horrified if they knew that rather than curbing our greenhouse gas emissions, new projects being promoted by the WA and Federal governments will cause Western Australia’s total emissions to double – and add significantly to our national emissions profile,” Greens Senator for WA Scott Ludlam said.

“WA’s annual greenhouse gas emissions are around 80mtpa now; if all the new gas and coal projects proposed in WA go ahead, by 2016, WA will emit more than double that each year.

“About 60mtpa extra emissions will come from major new gas developments targeting the liquefied natural gas export market, including Browse Basin, proposed to be processed at James Price Point in the Kimberley.

YouTube - Senator Brown visits James Price Point


The proposed James Price Point hub, to process Browse gas, will alone emit an extraordinary 32 million tonnes a year of greenhouse gases – equivalent to five per cent of Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions now, or all of New Zealand’s total annual greenhouse gas emissions,” Senator Ludlam said.

“The companies behind these gas projects claim that gas is a clean energy, but they don’t talk about the massive emissions that are caused when gas from high-CO2 gas fields is processed and that CO2 is stripped out and vented to the atmosphere,” Senator Ludlam continued.

“Much attention has been given to plans to geo-sequester CO2 from the Gorgon venture into the rock beneath Barrow Island – yet less than 40 per cent of Gorgon’s annual greenhouse gas emissions is proposed to be sequestered.

“Worse, under an appalling arrangement quietly signed off by the Federal Government and Premier Barnett in August 2009, Federal and State and taxpayers have been made liable for the potential multi-billion dollar cost if the CO2 leaks out.

“Geo-sequestration has not been proven to be achievable, safe or cost-effective.

“The Greens say that all new polluting coal and gas projects must not go ahead until carbon capture and storage is proven to be effective and safe and can therefore be made a binding condition on projects going ahead. In addition, the owners of these projects, not taxpayers, must be made legally liable for any future pollution costs should the CO2 leak.”


Claims of illnesses and cover-up unearthed as D-day looms for coal seam gas projects | GasLand – Australia

Claims of illnesses and cover-up unearthed as D-day looms for coal seam gas projects | GasLand – Australia

Learning lessons from the Pilbara - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Learning lessons from the Pilbara - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Source: Stateline WA
Published: Friday, October 29, 2010 10:30 AEDT
Expires: Thursday, January 27, 2011 10:30 AEDT

The flip side of the resources boom. A former Woodside health chief urges caution.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

ABC Kimberley WA - Australian Broadcasting Corporation

ABC Kimberley WA - Australian Broadcasting Corporation

This map was tabled in parliament in response to questions from Greens MLC, Robin Chapple. It shows the gas processing precinct, pipeline corridors as well as accommodation and third party contractor areas. (14/9/10)
Gas construction to start in 2012

Growing community resistant to the world’s largest LNG Refinery being “landed” south of James Price Point, the guttural opposition to the barbaric notion of compulsory acquisition is giving Woodside sleepless nights. Yesterday, Mike Hession, the vice president for Woodside's Browse Basin Project launched Woodside’s new PR campaign on regional radio. (Just click on the link above at ABC Kimberley to hear) A cheap orchestrated marketing manovere by Woodside. They will have to make more than sweet words to convince our community to give up our lifestyle, culture and heritage, our personal and environmental health.

Mike is still pushing the same old fabricated line jobs for indigenous people and he even created a new catch cry jobs on Country. Redhand would like to point out a few facts in regards to indigenous employment issues. Eight out of ten indigenous people who will apply for a position in Woodside will not make it passed the health checks, the police checks, most will not have a driver’s license, many will have drug and alcohol issues, the majority of them will be living in over crowded houses with all the social mayhem that accompanies these situations. Gasing people will not solve these issues either nor will the beads and mirrors of their newly announced, Kimberley crawling Woodside Roadshow.

Woodside needs to come clean on the facts that most of the employment will be offered to experienced qualified FIFO workers. Local businesses are finally realizing that most of the contractors and suppliers will be sourced out of town.

Currently, the few ‘chosen’ local people Woodside is employing are pilfering the workers from the non government sector, using the training other locally grown organisations have invested in these employees over years. They are being enticed away with housing subsidies and large salaries. So local, experienced, social service sector personal and civic workers will be in very short supply; with the waves of social impacts that will befall our community, (should this project be signed off on) they will be greatly missed.

Many local business people will also find it difficult to retain workers because they will not be able to compete with Woodside’s salary packages and with the predicted unaffordable hike in rentals, many of their employees will have enormous difficulties securing accommodation.

When the estimated 6000 – 9000 construction workers plague our town and start to lieu the local women with big money and big talk this will only increase the tensions of alienation and feelings of frustration. When 3035 dinghies are launched out into Roebuck Bay every weekend trying to catch fish, as opposed to the current 35, only then will people start to feel the waves of resentment toward the industrialisation of our community.

According to the State Government the land in question is Crown Land, Redhand would like to know why the Crown doesn’t have to prove their continuous cultural connection to Country? And how obtusely ridiculous it is that they are thieving Country all over again.

The Original Peoples have had to spend years and years in the courts, after years and years of trying to get there, just to get some form of recognition, some worthless paper title. Everyone knows that the “native title process” is one that divides people and families. People understand how it diminishes the old people’s health quickly and now people are starting to understand that it is not an end in itself. If Native Title is granted it does not offer any real benefits, protection or any real land title by which you can borrow from the banks to create community business initiatives, culturally appropriate employment and ownership opportunities.

Can Woodside’s name and it’s international brand honestly afford to be associated with a State Government who is currently contravening major national and international human rights with the theft of more Indigenous lands with its continuous appalling treatment of the local communities and Indigenous people? The international and national spotlight is well and truly on James Price Point and the no gas campaign will act as the symbolic historical signpost for all Australian’s who are calling out for real leadership, sustainable change and who are now voting green in the booths.

According to Mike, construction is scheduled to begin at the end of 2012 with the first gas being processed in 2017. Meanwhile, there will be a lot of devastation done even in early investigative stages. Our groundwater will be removed to determine how quickly it will bleed. Our reef system is already suffering greatly from the drilling regime that has been operating for months now, the fragile and rare Remnant Rainforest ecosystem with all its living creatures will be greatly effected by the noise, movement of traffic and the vibrations of danger reverberating through the ground itself. The unthinkable desecration of the Lurujarri, the cutting of tracks across the Songline, the bruising and total disrespect for the cultural dreaming will be widely felt long before the final decision is made.

Mike Hession stated that the life span is estimated to be between 30 and 40 years and yet all of the reports provided so far including KLC Social Impact Fact sheets, state that it will have a life span of 99 years.

He says the company was directed to use James Price Point, out of 42 other sites. He says that the public can shape the appearance and scope of the company's precinct during planning but they cannot say they don’t want it at all!. Redhand was shown a card trick when it was a child, you can trick people into choosing the card you want them to pick. This is exactly the same trick, instead of cards they are playing with country.

Mr Hession says he feels a huge responsibility to Broome residents Redhand relates to this and wonders if Mr Hession feels that same responsibility for the massive social turmoil, economic calamity and environmental destruction imposed on both the Karratha, and in Ohant, Algeria. Unfortunately, we are all acutely aware that our elected representative Carol Martin does not feel the same sense of responsibility

Mike, you may claim that your Company is trying to be good Corporate Citizen but your company’s track record tells a completely different story. Your company has got away with social murder and environmental destruction for too long and this is one community who will never issue Woodside the Social Licence to Operate. In the spirit of transparency Redhand offers the following advice to you, start by telling the people of Broome and the Dampier Peninsula communities the truth, make yourself available in public for an open forum where questions and answers can be aired. Stop hiding Woodside’s intentions under the state government skirts in the closet of WA newspapers.

In Mike’s interview only one thing he said rang true for Redhand, that he “will never understand Indigenous people’s connection to Country”. On Mike’s invitation, Redhand encourages everyone to visit the Woodside Office personally and raise your concerns. Because the current make up of Woodside’s new Community Social Impact group is pro development and industry with little too no representation from either the non government agencies or from the community itself. Far too little and much too late.

Unacceptable impacts on matters protected under national environmental law

Mark these words "unacceptable impacts on matters protected under national environmental law" because if the Environment Minister Tony Burke is to sign off on proposed world largest gas refinery in the world at James Price Point, these will be the same words.

Federal government has approved Australia's first multi-billion dollar coal seam gas projects, in a move which has angered farmers and environmentalist.Environment Minister Tony Burke told a media conference in Canberra on Friday his department had given conditional environmental approvals for Gladstone Liquefied Natural Gas (GLNG) - a joint venture between Santos, Malaysia's Petronas and France's Total - and BG Group's Queensland Curtis LNG.

"I have decided that these projects can go ahead without unacceptable impacts on matters protected under national environmental law," Mr Burke said, revealing he had placed 300 conditions on each of the projects.

"We must protect the Great Artesian Basin, our threatened species, our waterways and the Great Barrier Reef." lol lol lol

The approvals were delayed earlier this year by Mr Burke's predecessor, Peter Garrett, who was concerned about the projects' potential impact on groundwater and the Great Barrier Reef.

Green groups and farmers have raised concerns about coal seam gas development.

This week four toxic chemicals - benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX) - were discovered in eight exploration wells owned by the Australia Pacific LNG in the Surat Basin.

The Queensland government has dismissed calls for a moratorium on the industry, which environmentalists say poses a threat to marine life on the Great Barrier Reef and underground water, and could seriously degrade land.

Mr Burke said one of the more critical conditions surrounded how to deal with the issue of water within coal seams.

"The companies must carry out detailed planning and monitoring to protect groundwater resources, and submit management plans for aquifers, groundwater and surface water for approval," the minister said.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

THEY ARE COMING IN THE BACK DOOR

The No Gas campaign might well be looking out to sea with attention focused on the Browse Basin and the proposal to build the world largest LNG Refinery at James Price Point when in all reality they are coming through the back door.

Australia’s Liquefied Natural Gas Limited is primed to scope the development of the Kimberley LNG project in North Western Australia after signing an agreement with compatriot Oil Basins. The signed a strategic alliance agreement to jointly investigate the LNG project in North Western Australia’s Canning basin. Currently, undertaking investigatory testing around Willara, in and around great Fitzroy River floodplians.

LNG Limited http://www.lnglimited.com.au/IRM/content/Home.html and Oil Basins Limited http://www.oilbasins.com.au/ have entered into a strategic alliance agreement to jointly investigate the development of an LNG project in northwestern Australia, to be known as the Kimberley LNG Project.

The proposed project will involve utilising the large potential resources of conventional and unconventional gas contained within Western Australia’s Canning Basin and the proposed LNG Refinery at James Price Point. Following it a video showing the effects of Hydraulic Fracturing on the environment but more importantly the effect this extracting method has on groundwater supplies. This is why these companies are interested in the Fitzroy River, they want and need the water.

What is worth a read because is helps explain why no marine park protection is being proposed for the Dampier Peninsula and the Buccaneer Archipelago. The State Government is leaving these prospective petroleum areas open for business.

Buru Enegy's existing tenements extend into King Sound. It's quite extraordinary that Eric Streitberg who heads up Buru Energy is Chairman for APPEA and is Chairman for the Marine Parks Reserves Authority, which is responsible for the planning and management of the proposed marine parks along the Kimberley coast. This situation is outrageous.

http://www.oilbasins.com.au/OBL ASX Announcement 18 February 2009 - Independent Assessment of Hydrocarbon Potential of Backreef Area & DR9.pdf

Saturday, October 23, 2010

GOOLARABOOLOO PEOPLE CONFRONT THE PREMIER ON HIS PUSH TO STEAL JAMES PRICE POINT

Theresa Roe supported by her family speaking to Premier Barnett at the Broome Shire Council offices. She spoke of her love and connection to Country and her wish to protect Country from industrialisation of the proposed worlds largest LNG precinct.

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservationists-attack-marine-park-plan-20101022-16xj8.html

Friday, October 22, 2010

Woodside facing Pluto delays - WA Business News

Woodside facing Pluto delays - WA Business News

Legal action against gas hub land clearing


http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/legal-action-against-gas-hub-land-clearing-20101021-16vtz.html

Legal proceedings have begun to stop Woodside Petroleum from clearing vegetation at James Price Point in Western Australia's Kimberley region as part of plans for a gas hub.

Meanwhile, the Broome Community have established a permanent Community Information Booth on the corner of Cape Leveque Road and Broome Highway. This Community Information Booth has proven to be an excellent avenue to get information out to the many people living on the Dampier Peninsula communities, tourists, locals, residents and other interested or concerned people.

A small crane has been placed on the corner of this intersection with a huge banner claiming DONT Industrialise the Kimberley and it is proving to be a real eye catcher. Many people are stopping to engage, sign petitions/postcards and collect an assortment of information provided at the Booth. It is really interesting place to spend some time and volunteers are always needed to ensure continually of this community initiative.

The feedback is that everyone is very happy that our Community now has a very visual centre point of resistance against the proposed development of the largest LNG precinct in the world to be build at the James Price Point.



Indicative Management Plan for the proposed Marine Park

ABC Kimberley WA - Australian Broadcasting Corporation

A protest gathering to greet Barnett has been called today at the Broome Shire at 12.30 to voice concerns about the limited Indicative Management Plan for the proposed Marine Parks. This Report is a very poor political attempt to be seen as concern humans on a very sick planet. This report can be accessed in the side bar of this blog.


Barnett and his Minister for Environment, Faragher will be in Broome today to meet with the Broome Shire, Woodside and a selected groups of interest. They arrived last night and traveled south to Yardoogarra Country for a meeting early this morning at Eco Beach Resort.

It is presumed that he will release the Indicative Management Plan for the proposed Marine Park in one of many humpback whale calving waters at Camden Sound.


The whales that will be protected in this Marine Park still need to travel to get there. These migrating whales, many of who are heavily pregnant when they make this journeys are currently dodging LNG pipes, massive tankers, assortment of other marine traffic and thousands of drilling structures. At the same time these amazing creatures are trying desperately to remain on course given all associated deafening noise generated by the oil and gas industries that is like a cancerous growth, spreading along the entire Western Australian coastline.


There are two main ways that a submission on the indicative management plan can be made:

1. download the ‘Have your say’ questionnaire from www.dec.wa.gov.au and post (no stamp required) to

Proposed Camden Sound Marine Park

Have Your Say

Department of Environment and Conservation

Marine Policy and Planning Branch

Reply paid 83569

Bentley Delivery Centre WA 6983

or email to haveyoursay@dec.wa.gov.au

The closing date for submissions on this plan is 1 February 2011.

Woodside’s World Class whale research Fact Sheet, has very pretty pictures of whales and their proposed plans, however there is one major floor in their research they have only recorded the whale’s migration south.

Please call 9191200 and ask woodside why that is.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/10/22/3045563.htm?site=kimberley&section=news

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!

Friday, October 15, 2010

Special Broome Meeting of Electors for James Price Point


Just click on the Special Broome Meeting of Electors for James Price Point title heading to go direct to Broome Shire Website.









The Agenda and Question/Answer information for this Special Electors meeting can be accessed at http://www.broome.wa.gov.au/ and copies are also available at the front counter of the Shire Offices.

Please note that this will not be a question / answer meeting however Redhand encourages all of you to write your questions and forward to all your elected shire representatives.

Only Motions from the floor regarding the original nine points of concerns will be permissible. Therefore, now is the time to formulate your Motions carefully.

Shire Councilors do not have to attend this Special Electors Meeting, as a quorum
is not necessary therefore, Redhand suggests you ring or write to your councillors and ask them "do they intend to attend this Special Electors Meeting?" . If they state that they will be attending, than you could seek their support for your motions. If however, they are planning not to attend, then question why, given the level of community concern for the proposed largest LNG precinct in the world to be built in our shire. Shire Councillors email details have been outlined in a earlier post.

Special Meeting of Electors

In accordance with Sections 5.28 & 5.29 of the Local Government Act 1995, public notice is hereby given of a Special Meeting of the Shire of Broome Electors to be held in Council Chambers at the Shire Administration Offices, cnr Weld and Haas Streets, Broome, on

Monday 1 November 2010, at 5:00pm.

Under the Act, the purpose of the meeting is limited to addressing the following
matters which were presented by way of petition to the Shire of Broome at the
Ordinary Council Meeting on 30 September 2010:

1. The people have not been directly or formally consulted by Council about the proposed gas processing precinct at James Price Point.

2. The people of Broome have been provided with no information by the Shire of Broome about the proposed roads, infrastructure, zoning of land and environmental impacts of the proposed gas processing precinct at James Price Point.


3. The social effects and impacts of the proposed industrial precinct are yet to be determined.


4. The State Government’s Social Impact Assessment has not been released for public debate.

5. The Dampier Land Use Plan has not been completed.


6. The Shire has not undertaken its own Social Impact Assessment of the proposal.


7. There has been no community input into the draft Local Planning Strategy and therefore is not a community vision.


8. The WA Planning Commission recommends 4 steps for community consultation prior to formal submission of the strategy to the WA Planning Commission for certification.


9. The Shire should facilitate community input into the Local Planning Strategy prior to formal submission of the strategy to the WA Planning Commission for certification.

Please note the following:

• Although moving and seconding motions and voting at Special Electors’ Meetings is by Electors registered on the Shire of Broome Electoral Roll, all members of the public are welcome to attend this meeting. Enrolment details can be checked at the Shire of Broome from 8am – 4pm, Monday to Friday.
• It is recommended attendees arrive from 4.30pm for Electoral Roll verification.
• No electronic, visual, vocal or recording devices are permitted within Shire of Broome buildings.
• No banners or signs will be allowed within Shire of Broome buildings.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Brown makes a stand against proposed 'biggest gas plant on the planet'

Greens Leader Bob Brown has slammed Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett over his handling of the Kimberley gas hub project.

Senator Brown is in the Kimberley and yesterday toured James Price Point, the site chosen by the WA Government to process the multi-billion dollar Browse Basin gas reserves.

At a public meeting in Broome, he told the crowd that the Premier's decision to compulsorily acquire the land was a poor decision. He went on to say that he would do everything in his power to put the issue on the national agenda.

"Having been to James Price Point with the traditional owners, and having put my hand in the sand, I am committed, until the last day I draw breath, to have it stay as it is," he said.

"I've read what Premier Barnett says about James Price Point, that it's 'unremarkable'," Senator Brown said.

"From that I know one thing, you, in Western Australia, have a Premier who is unremarkable.


Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Return to James Price Point 10 10 10

Sunrise to James Price Point on a new moon, too beautiful.




The drill rigs and floating hotel cut the horizon looking from both James Price Point and Quondong. One of the drill rigs was very close to shore, the other was towed out to sea during the day. A third is apparently on its way. Take a look at “Paddling for country” in an earlier post 16 September to remind yourself of the size of these rigs. Kerrianne Cox Return to Country

Hands off country

Friday, October 8, 2010

Bribes of money will not silence the people, or buy our sense of place

The impoverishing effects of affluence and its ability to over-emphasise on development, corporations profit and personal consumption is removing our human identities. It strips communal from community and alienates us from the environment. The siren song of newer, better, and more is an illusion that is making us psychologically and morally ill-at-ease, if not ill.

Woodside’s current reality is desperate and ambiguous when it comes to the Browse project. The fact that Woodside is now forced into the dastardly strategies of community enticement under the guise of Community sponsored grants is a clear indication that the Company is really concerned that the Broome community and the outlying Indigenous communities are not just going to roll over.



Our cash-strapped community groups, like our child care centres, women’s groups, youth centres, community festivals and even wildlife rescue groups are desperate to locate funds and they will accept Woodside’s grubby crumbs, begrudgingly. The unspoken proviso and the presumption of obligation that comes with these crumbs will not however silence the people. It just confirms how much Woodside does not understand our community’s true values, the ones we all hold for our cultural, social and environmental health.

Does Woodside Chief Executive Don Voelte understand how Woodside are currently perceived by both the Broome and Dampier Peninsula communities as the Company attempts to engage and procure support? Woodside maybe trying to give off an air of confidence about the extent of their community engagement skills but the talk on the street and on the Peninsula is very different. Often the smiling faces of our community members accepting these financial windfalls is really only masking a very serious lack of respect for Woodside, creating additional mistrust and reinforcing the well founded suspicions of Woodside’s destructive social and environmental intentions for our community. Everyone understands that nothing is for free.

These up-front financial enticements are unlikely to lead to any kind of genuine engagement with or a continuous commitment to our communities. Yes, money inducements will lead to an engagement of sorts‚ but it will be more along the lines of a superficial and hypocritical relationship.

Increased industrialisation often accompanies economic globalization which in turn leads to environmental contamination. Environmental damage is also inextricably linked to widening gaps that go hand-in-hand: the gap between rich and poor and the gap between cultural and lifestyle values.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Go ahead given for clearing at gas hub site


The Broome Shire has approved Woodside's application to clear vegetation and drill for water at James Price Point.

The company will house up to 25 workers at the proposed gas hub site while they investigate the availability of reliable groundwater supplies for the planned hub.

More than 150 concerned Broome residents attended a Broome council meeting last night, including well known musician John Butler, to voice opposition to a gas hub planned for James Price Point.

Every seat was filled and concerned residents spilled into the corridors outside the meeting, which at one point was suspended for 15 minutes because of interjectors who were angry over Woodside's proposed gas precinct 60km north of the Kimberley town.

A petition with about 150 signatures, calling for a special meeting for the community to discuss gas plant, was presented to the council.

Much to the crowd's disgust, Broome councillors passed a planning application from the energy company to develop three drill pad sites, two 125m by 150m dams and temporary accommodation needed to carry out hydrological testing at the proposed site.

Under the planning application Woodside proposes to start its testing in the middle of this month and could take up to nine months to complete.

Residents shouted "shame" at the councillors and said "it is on, it is well and truly on" after the application was passed.