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To crop or conserve? Inside the critical decision which will shape the future of Fitzroy Crossing

As we roll down Fitzroy Crossing’s main drag, rubbernecking at the prison-like iron gates on shops, uncut grass and abandoned buildings, the words of one despairing yet devoted resident ring in our ears. “Even the termites have beaten us in building infrastructure,” Phil Hams, 75, says with a pained smirk. Mr Hams’ home town is a town broken; both physically by rampant crime, and mentally by the divide over how to help Fitzroy and its residents heal. Fitzroy’s problems are immediately present when cresting the hill at the Ngiyali Roadhouse entrance, where a modern two-storey apartment complex can be seen in the distance. At first it appears a sign of progress, then reality hits: you see the smashed windows, the unkempt gardens, and the graffiti. The units — among the town’s most modern — are abandoned. Keep driving and you will see every shop front has heavy iron gates covering its doors and windows. Pubs breath-test you at the door and a single drink-per-person rule means you can’t buy your mate a pint. These are just a few clear signs of the issues facing the Fitzroy Valley. It is a region full of potential yet marred by disempowerment, disagreement and disenfranchisement. High crime, unemployment, health issues and a lack of industry have all been raised as contributing factors to the overarching failure of the town, and few believe there are genuine plans to reverse the town’s descent. Almost every kind of crime saw a significant increase in 2020-21 compared to previous years, and they are trending back towards record levels. Non-family assault and threatening behaviour, robbery, burglary, stolen motor vehicles, property damage and arson have all doubled in just a year. How to get Fitzroy back on track is a question many have tried to answer. Currently, a fight is brewing between pastoralists and conservationists over a plan to use water from the Fitzroy River to crop the region. Mr Hams said job creation should be front and centre, and at a meeting of the Fitzroy Business Network this month he urged the State Government to support development proposals put forward by the business community. “Look at other Kimberley towns — Broome, Kununurra, even Derby — and how much they’ve changed over the years,” he said. “If we don’t act now, it’ll be too late. “We have so many opportunities but if we don’t start to take advantage of them, Fitzroy Crossing just won’t exist.” Mr Hams has approached Kimberley Table Grapes, co-run by Fresh Produce Group and Fruitico, which has a vineyard based in the Skuthorpe horticulture area about 30km east of Broome. “I am in talks to hopefully bring them to the Fitzroy Valley. I have a parcel of land on Gogo (station) which would be perfect,” he said. “It’s right on Great Northern Highway. You’d see it anytime you drive in and out of Fitzroy and it’d be really symbolic of what we hope is a period of growth for industry and jobs in the area. “It would give something tangible for locals to see and engage in, maybe even drive a passion for involvement.” Mr Hams is of the view social and economic issues in the town can be solved through horticultural and pastoral development, and he points to the Ord Valley as evidence. The scheme saw semi-desert cattle country transformed into year-round agricultural land after the construction of the dam on the Ord River — at huge taxpayer expense. Since its construction, the fertile plains have lured farmers to the area with promise of year-round access to water. It’s a move with which Kununurra resident and MG Corporation chair Lawford Benning is familiar. The proud Miriuwung Gajerrong man has led an Aboriginal pastoral industry in the East Kimberley which he said would soon have a significant cotton crop, and would create more than 100 jobs. Speaking to the Fitzroy Business Network, Mr Benning said the Valley could learn from the East Kimberley and harness its natural resources, but uniting all stakeholders would be a challenge. There are five major language groups resident in the town — Walmajarri, Wangkatjunga, Gooniyandi, Nyikina and Bunuba — as well as others, such as Djaru and Mangala. “Before we got involved in the industries in Kununurra, there were many people against it and against me,” Mr Benning said. “In Kununurra we don’t have as many language groups, and bringing everyone in the Fitzroy Valley together will be important for this. But just like in Kununurra, when we said ‘yes’, we saw the jobs and the income start to come in — we saw the changes we wanted in the community and now there are very few people who question the decision.” However, a recent Centre for Conservation Geography report argued a 408.5GL allocation — the larger of the two options put forward in the State Government’s Fitzroy water allocation discussion paper — and large-scale cropping could see a Murray-Darling basin scenario play out in the Martuwarra Fitzroy River, with surface water harvesting blamed for the ecological collapse of rivers in the basin. It also argued 10-20GL of groundwater would be enough to grow fodder for the entire population of cattle in the Kimberley. The report’s warnings are echoed by conservation groups such as Environs Kimberley, which believes there would be no benefit to the irrigation scheme. “There is no proof this irrigation scheme’s lift would help the local population — it would just benefit the few stations around the area at the detriment of locals,” EK director Martin Pritchard said. “We want to see industries established that don’t require bulldozers, big pumps and canals in the rivers — cultural tourism, ranger programs, carbon capture initiatives and the like.” The report made 10 recommendations to the WA Government which included rejecting surface water extraction and the creation of an irrigated agriculture industry. Bunuba elder Joe Ross has backed calls to steer clear of water extraction. “If we really want to talk about helping all the different areas across the Fitzroy Valley then we need to talk about how, for the last decade, the area has seen service after service move out of town, leaving our people struggling to survive day-to-day,” he said. “The service industries are the biggest employers of Aboriginal people. We have a Bunuba ranger program which is growing and provides great employment for Aboriginal people.” Mr Ross said he was yet to see any evidence of full-time Aboriginal employment in the Ord River agricultural sector. The Fitzroy Business Network is in the process of inviting two representatives from each of the 16 communities to join its monthly meetings on the town’s future. To simplify an extremely complex issue, Fitzroy Crossing’s future boils down to one question; to crop or conserve? There’s an argument to make they don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Kimberley MLA Divina D’Anna said she understood both sides of the coin, but it was a balancing act to see either go ahead without forsaking the other. “This is not a new question, but it’s one that must be addressed soon,” she said. “Whatever happens, it needs to have the backing of the traditional owners in the area, otherwise it won’t work — we need the whole community to come together on this.” Whether a water allocation plan goes ahead and, if so, in what manner, will change the course of Fitzroy Crossing. It is a decision both sides of the debate hope will help Fitzroy heal.

The West Australian exclusiveTo crop or conserve? Inside the critical decision which will shape the future of Fitzroy Crossing

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To crop or conserve? Inside the critical decision which will shape the future of Fitzroy Crossing