Unremarkable bit of coast line

It is partly to avoid consciousness of greed that we prefer to associate with those who are at least as greedy as we ourselves. Those who consume much less are a reproach.

I believe that the inadequacies of the Western Australia State government are hidden beneath a web of lies of half-truths, and by confusing the public through corrupting official statistics, hollow reports and talk of processes that are inherently fraudulent and biased. Through such measures, the whole of society finds itself dishonored and infantilised by its inability to talk straight.

We have come to expect dishonesty – of which this little lie was an example – at every level of society. The dishonesty is intellectual, moral and financial, and its root is self-interest conceived in the narrowest possible way. In our modern day, probity is seen as foolishness or, worse still, naivety. I believe this corrupts the entire fabric of our community and society. When dignity requires illegality, there must be something really rotten in the state.



Both Federal and state governments and all their authorities have been deceiving the Broome and the Dampier Peninsula communities for the last two years about the size, the location and the true social, economic and environmental damages and real costs associated with the proposed biggest LNG precinct in the world, at James Price Point (somewhere). And the culture of lies, the moral and financial, social and environmental corruption that this proposal has already cultivated, is inconceivable. It started at the top and it spreads downwards. If the state lies, cheats and collects money for services it fails to provide, why can't the average person on the street do the same thing?

I came to the conclusion that the purpose of the current WA government's propaganda on LNG is not to persuade or convince, nor to inform, but to humiliate; and therefore, the less it corresponds to reality the better. When people remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity.
One’s standing to resist anything is thus eroded, and even destroyed. A society of emasculated liars is easy to control. I think if you examine political correctness, it has the same effect as it intended to.

Soon we shall all write in a decaffeinated language: We shall obediently repeat all the benign mantras such as: worlds best practice, comprehensive studies, rigorous investigations, not a tick the box exercise and some of the shorter versions like open dialogue, accountability, transparency, community consultation, reconciliation and of cause equality. Do we really prefer safety above freedom or are we already locked in a state of voluntary bondage?

One could claim that serving the occasional lie or half-truth is the very nature of politics, since human beings frequently prefer to hear pleasant lies over unpleasant truths. Perhaps, but it becomes a serious problem when such lies have become endemic, when every political statement and media report is steeped in them and when the very structure of society will collapse if these lies are not upheld. By then, reality has been reduced to a mirage, faithfully reproduced and projected by the servants of the state on a daily basis out into the public arena of deception.

At the end of the day, the cause matters less than the result: The WA state government’s lies are pushing our community into a direction that we as a community do not wish to travel.

How are we going to deal with this culture of lies and a hostile state? I don’t know. But the residents of Dampier Peninsula will have to find the answer to that question sooner than later.

The earth we abuse and the living things we kill will, in the end, take their revenge; for in exploiting their presence we are diminishing our future.

Vine Thicket Bush Fruits of James Price Point

Red Hand has not blogged recently, deciding to sit quite, walk and enjoy Country and really feel, smell, see and taste the wet season, instead. Sitting on the edge of the Indian Ocean in the early evenings and watching the storm clouds gather, as lightning plays snakes and ladders across the sky are the planet’s inspirational performances that hearten resolve and shape courage. And that smell, the one that rises up from the earth as those very first rain drops hit the parched and thirsty land. Taste Country, by savoring the appreciation of all the bush fruits that are currently abundant, and found through out the Vine Thickets (Remnant Rainforests) at James Price Point. The wet season, is a wonderful time to be out in Country and in the heat of the day you can find cool shelters under the canopies of the vine thickets whilst you feast on all the fruits of the forest.

Please take the extra time needed to download.



There is an increasing emphasis worldwide on the preservation of habitats and conservation of the biodiversity of life on earth, yet unique natural environments like the Dampier Peninsula continue to be eroded and destroyed by human activities like the proposal to build the biggest 14 Trains LNG Precinct in the world. The Dampier Peninsula has a immense history of Indigenous settlement and a relatively recent one of European exploration and occupation. Its position straddling the arid areas of the south and the monsoonal tropics to the north has resulted in the development of the pindan soils and the unique vegetation that mantles them. The rich dune - associated vine thickets (remnant rain forests) of the Peninsular occur nowhere else in western Australia.

On the 27th Dec 2008 Colin Barnett, the West Australian Premier may also be steeling himself for new year hostility from environmental, Aboriginal and community groups. Barnett announced James Price Point as his choice for the site of a liquefied natural gas processing precinct.

"It is a flat, scrubby coastal strip 60km north of the tourist town of Broome"



The Vine Thicket within this area from Barred Creek northwards through Quondong to James Price Point, there is a significant belt of Vine Thickets noteable for there ever green trees Diospyros ferrea var. humilis, Mimusops elengi, Celtis philippensis, Melaleuca dealbata and, rarely, Parinari. Pittosporum moluccanum is restricted , on the mainland Kimberley, to coastal vine thickets in the James Price Point area of the Peninsula, and has been gazetted as "Declared Rare Flora.

Shrubs include citrus like Glycosmic species and the deciduous habrophyllus. All of these species are at their most southern end.

According to the WA’s Department of State Development Map, the LNG Main operations will be place directly over the most substantial community of remnant rainforest (vine thickets) within the area. They wish to tuck their operations in behind the Holocene sand dunes in order to shelter from the prevailing winds, however once they start their proposed vegetation/habitat clearing and excavation of the remnant rainforest, the Holocene sand dune with become highly unstable and will eventually blow away.

Positive Visions of Victorious Conclusions,

To all who are Concerned;

The Broome community is seeking support to initiate and consolidate a national and international campaign to stop the proposed LNG development at James Price Point. We are grateful for those organisations and individuals who have actively contributed to opposing this proposed development. However, it is our considered opinion that a stronger, synchronsised collaboration between all environmental and human rights orgainisations needs to be immediately activated on a regional, national and international level.

We, the people of the Dampier Peninsular need all the major organisations to unite with each other and the locals to spearhead a national campaign, with a global focus to stop this development. Now is the time to work much more closely, share and pool our resources, skills, knowledge and energy, in order for us to build a campaign that is unyielding and determined in our anticipated outcomes. Strong participation from all sections of the global community is urgently needed to support the people on the ground and create an unbending approach that has a collective ambition: a Kimberley free from industrialisation!



Lurujarri Global Walk
• Traditional Custodians, Locals and regional Environmental group initiatives to be supported and encouraged by the larger national environmental and human rights’ organisations. The Lurujarri Global Walk, currently planned for June next year, needs to be supported by all national organisations and their entire membership in order to attract thousands of people from all corners of Australia and the world to ensure this is a history making walk of global significance. (This Global Walk will have its own Website in the coming week, so stay tuned for that address)

Direct Non-Violent Action Workshops
• To build our capacity as a movement to defend Country, we urgently need experienced assistance, skilled facilitators and knowledge on direct action techniques.


Community Education
• Greater access to education, resources, knowledge and information about the proposal, the social, economic and environmental ramifications and the pending damaging results. Public displays and forums are effective methods of educating the broader community and need to be ongoing. Websites and Blogs are another useful tool in reaching the populace. Membership drives in like minded organisations will also assist.

In a joint media release on the 4th of December, 2009, Environs Kimberley, Conservation Council WA and The Wilderness Society stated that if the Resources Minister Martin Ferguson will force industrial LNG development on the pristine Kimberley coast ahead of an environmental assessment it demonstrates reckless disregard for environmental laws, and opens the door for legal challenge. Is being challenged?

It is proving easy for the state government to keep us ill-informed and ill-advised about this proposed Kimberley LNG Precinct. As a small remote community, we are inexperienced to navigate through the potential aftermath. If the development is approved, Broome will battle against a juggernaut of avarice that will flood into our community, bringing with it a mentality and a social direction that is totally contradictory to how, we as a community wish to function.

We are asking organisations to appeal to their networks in entirety. The time frame on these actions is immediate. Please make this a matter of priority today and get this call for support out to your membership and networks.


With positive visions of victorious conclusions,

Pictures all taken approx 2km south of James Price Point, this morning

Attached are some pics from this morning.the 30th Dec 2009

Pictures taken from approx 2km south of Walmandam (James Price Point) and estimated rig to be max of 1km SW of me. Putting it in area the proposed jetty location.

Regards,R Hartvigsen
E: rod@murranji.com.au

Calculated feints, highlighted with theatrical performances

Traditional Owners and Law Custodians are threatening legal action to stop the proposed development of the biggest LNG precinct in the world, just north of Broome. Joe Roe, Goolarabooloo and Neil McKenzie from Jabirr Jabirr with representatives from Save the Kimberley traveled to Perth last week to meet with the Browse Basin joint venture partners.

The Kimberley Land Council (KLC) has been representing traditional owners in talks with Woodside and the WA Government over the proposed James Price Point LNG precinct. Over 200 TOs have signed a declaration claiming the KLC has no right to negotiate on their behalf.

Dissident traditional owner Neil McKenzie says he will do whatever it takes to stop the development. "There are a lot of issues that are of concern to us and we will challenge them in whatever way, if it's legally or whatever other challenge we can find we will use," he said.

Disgruntled at KLC, WA’s Department of State Development and Barnett’s modus operandi, the owners who are opposed met with Browse Basin joint venture partners to inform them that the propaganda continually alleged that this proposal is supported by the traditional people is totally misleading. (This issue is really about Land Rights vs Human Rights and I will elaborate of this topic in the New Year)

There have been several calculated feints, highlighted with theatrical performances like the reprehensible illegal signing of the Heads of Agreement at James Price Point. Genealogy for this Country is still sitting on the table.
How can anyone sign away anything, least of all negotiate a Indigenous Land Use Agreement, whilst the majority is still piecing together their blood connections to Country, dealing with all the regurgitated sorry business that is coming with it and trying to manage the knowledge of it all.



Apparently, all the joint venture partners were generally very surprised to hear that the majority of Indigenous people from this Country do not want this development. It was explained that many people have very strong heritage ties and cultural responsibilities for the maintenance, care and protection of Country.
In the coming New Year we will restate and action our commitment to saving James Price Point for the people and for the planet. We will continue to express our concerns about the highly questionable approval processes being employed and the current negotiations and social and environmental damages assessments that are currently being white washed for publication.

The state government is the proponent to this project; the state government decides which boxes to tick, the state government employs and pays the researchers and consultants to tick the boxes and the state government will approve all the ticks and will forward on, to get that one last big tick from the Minister Garrett.

Then we will all be ticked off

It Is Not Going To Happen

“the land is more important than the LNG gas plant, simply because of our culture, our history, our traditional ways, and our people in the generations to come” Lorna Kelly

The reality is that the proposed LNG precinct, like all other simpler precincts around the world will be a huge ogre that will overwhelm all the other existing industries. It will use all our precious ground water, pollute the cleanest of air and destroy the links to a sustainable food sources. It will leave the land pillaged, it will be viewed as an utter environmental catastrophe, and furthermore the local population, in the most part will still be unemployed and abandoned to make do with the clemencies of climate change and social disparity.

Thousands of people all over Australia and the world are also very strongly committed to working to ensure that the industrialisation of the Kimberley coast and hinterlands never happens. Climate change will be viewed and acted upon seriously, human rights and the rights to inform consent will be upheld, peoples heritage and cultural connections will be maintained and people will exercise their democratic rights to protest, object, obstruct and question. The old ways of doing things is over; it is not going to happen.

Barnett and all those involved should be forced to rectify and resolve the prevailing social, economic and environment devastation that is currently being experienced in the Pilbara. This needs to be done, well before they try to import and impose these deplorable and appalling predicaments into the Kimberley. Lets see how Gorgon will be managed.

Get it right, fix it in the Pilbara first before you even assume that you can come into the Kimberley with the same deceitful rhetoric and think you are going to be believed or trusted.

Show us, one successful operation or project, anywhere, one precedent in Australia or Overseas, where local communities, their employment ranks, their health and education or their social standing has improved when multinationals have come into their country or region, promising the world and delivering just more social, economic and environment marginalisation.

There never has been a sincere review or genuine investigations into how Dampier Peninsular communities and Broome residents judge their living environment, what their core values and their life dreams are and how they perceive the proposed KLNG project will affect their life qualities. People have never been given the choice.

DSD officials and their chosen social assessors came into the Broome community with the message that the proposed Kimberley LNG was inevitable and they continually pushed this line. So, right from the start, people were asking what the point of all the assessments when public government officials’ idea for community consultation is a sales pitch to sell the aspirations of the state?

KLC are still conducting the Aboriginal Social Impact Assessments and the Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) is still in its infancy, environmental surveys are still being conducted and we all wait with baited breath for Vol 2 & 3 of the Social Assessments Reports.

The media releases continually coming out of the Barnett’s office are predetermining the outcomes of the process and fuels people’s subsequent justified mistrust of the current Approval and Assessment Processes. Totalitarianism does not nurture public confidence, it totally undermines peoples; rights to objection, their opportunities of reply and their faith in the system.

Lives have already been greatly affected by this proposal and they will continue to suffer all the calamities of big money- big business invasion.

Kimberley Land Council tokenistic approach and the establishment of the Traditional Owners Negotiations Committee TONC have effectively locked out many Native Title Claimants.

A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer,

it sings because it has a song.

It is not the Governments or the multinationals right to presume that they can come into Country and manage heritage sites and secret business. You break Country, you break the very last connection people have with themselves. Traditional Owners do not have the authority to sign off on Law, or cultural heritage issues; this is the jurisdiction of the Cultural Law Bosses. People of the Law would never sign away the Law, the Culture and the Country, so promptly, so proudly!

The Lurujarri Songline is just that, a song line. It is not heritage sites dotted around, its a cultural moving living corridor, a walking museum, a Songline, with its own rhythm, its own chorus, its own beat and its own instruments. Across Australia Songlines are connected.

You cut the song in half with a proposed 14 trains LNG processing site, the biggest in the world, twice the size of Qatar, (which currently operates 7 trains) and think you can still sing? The rhythm is broken. People forget the words and the songs, the stories, their connection to country, its fruits, its seasons, its medicines.

The proponents want this precinct as far south as they can push the boundaries, so they can save Walmadan (JJP) tableland for future expansion. And we do not want it at all.

They need access to deeper water! But so do the whales, turtles and dolphins, bringing them close into the shore. Deep water troughs are also very important for marine life as they act like corridor assisting marine creatures to move freely, feeding along the fringing reef systems, whilst working with the tidal movements.

No habitat, nothing to monitor. And if by some chance monitoring tests show that the sediment deposition and turbidity was causing the corals and reef system to die and seagrasses are being suffocated and there were invasive species and terrestrial introduce pests, what would the government really do? CLOSE THE PRECINCIT? I think not.

What is the point of trying to make the site less visible from the ocean when the light emissions, the huge tankers, the jetties, the berths, and the breakwaters, the pipelines, the flares, the smell, the noise and vibrations, sediment deposition and turbidity, groundwater abstraction, atmospheric emissions and the dust emissions will be all encompassing and all consuming?

According to DSD Map, the LNG main operations will be place directly over the most substantial community of remnant rainforest (Vine Thickets) within the area. They wish to tuck their operations in behind the Holocene sand dunes in order to shelter from the prevailing winds, however once they start their proposed vegetation/habitat clearing and excavation of the Remnant Rainforest, the Holocene sand dunes with become highly unstable and will eventually blow away.

This proposed processing plants will need – 1000 hectares, Infrastructure and facilities 500 – 1000 hectares, land and Water for plants – 1000, Workers accommodation and light industrial areas 200 – 500 hectares giving us a total of 2700 – 3500 hectares which would be fenced (known as the Exclusion Zone) A similar area of about 3000 hectares around this fenced area would be set aside as a Statutory Buffer Zone.

The precinct features will included: 14 LNG Trains, Acid-gas removal unit, Fractionation unit, Jetty spur, up to five loading berths, methanol processing fertilizer plant, water desalination plants & distribution, sewage treatment plant, concrete factory, groundwater pumping stations and their own power generation facilities.

According to the Map, this supply route will only take you as far as to Walmadan (James Price Point), access to Pidirakunbunu, Kulmukarakun, Flat Rock, Kurakaramunjuno, or Minarringy will be completely blocked off.

The community is dubious about the whole SIA process and currently has no expectations that the impending subsequent volumes of reports will signify the truth.

Hands Off Country, Standing Up for the Planet

Woodside starts building at James Price Point

Construction has started on the temporary meteorological tower – Lot 259 James Price Point, Dampier Peninsula.

SMS Redhand received this afternoon 19th November: “Activity on Manari Road. Survey team Walmadan in APT Kimberley Wilderness Adventure Tour bus, truck and loader just south. Concrete pad. tent 4 men. Survey till end of week.”

One of the workers had FUBAR on his shirt which, if you check Wikipedia, is pretty much a good description of the work done on the bush already.
Planning Approval was given at the Shire of Broome Council meeting held on 29th October, for two locations. Option A, the preferred location is where Redhand believes the work is taking place. “This site would require a new track of approximately 3m wide and 100m in length to be established from Manari Road to the tower site. Vegetation would be selectively cleared by ‘scrub roll’ or ‘blade up’ clearing to minimise the extent of clearing of the track. The track in would have a ‘bend’ so the proposed tower could not be viewed directly from Manari Road.”
Well, how ridiculous. That bush has been badly burnt this year and you can see for miles through the burnt undergrowth, which is now after last week’s rain starting to recover with spurts of new green. The Telstra tower at Quondong is just 14m high and is used as a reference point by fishermen, sailors and anyone can see it along the flat part of the country. This meteorological tower is more than twice the height at 30m and only 100m east of Manari Road.
APT Kimberley Wilderness Adventure Tours on its website “Travel the Kimberley with the experts at APT Kimberley Wilderness Adventures, and enjoy all the remote and remarkable places.” Is their bus just a good disguise? The website goes on to say “....The APT Conservation and Charitable Fund was established in 2003 by Geoff McGeary and his wife, Anne, thereby continuing the company's dedication to conservation and responsible tourism. The APT Group has continually focused on achieving best practice in economic, social and environmental responsibility. In conducting its operations, the company strives to minimise its impact on the environment, spread benefits throughout the local economies in Australia and internationally, as well as directly promote and support community well being.” Is this sort of land clearing responsible tourism?

Redhand will be seeking answers to these questions.
When was Heritage Clearance given for this work?
When was the Planning Approval from the Shire of Broome issued?
Is this Option A for the location of the Meteorological tower?
Does the approval include accommodation/dongas and other infrastructure?

And while we’re on the subject of towers how is it that in the same Council meeting a 14m whale watching tower at the Two Moons Whale and Marine Research base (Goonjarr Gooyool Aboriginal Community), also on the Dampier Peninsula was deferred for consultation with tourism peak bodies, adjacent communities and other relevant stakeholders? This temporary meteorological tower of 30m had ‘nil’ consultation. Now that’s inconsistent.

Standing up for the planet Hands off country