Traditional owners and environmental groups say Kimberley fracking ban fight is not over yet

Kimberley traditional owners and environmental groups have welcomed WA Labor’s vote to extend a fracking ban in the region but say the fight is not over yet.

On November 8, a vote to extend the fracking ban was successfully held at the WA Labor Party conference with the move also receiving support from several unions including the United Workers Union, the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union, as well as the grassroots Labor Environmental Action Network.

Kimberley traditional owner Madeleine Jadai said while she was happy the WA Labor had supported a ban on fracking in the Kimberley, the fight to make the ban law continued.

“We’re now calling on Premier Roger Cook to put this into government policy and make it the law,” she said.

Environs Kimberley executive director Martin Pritchard said the vote reflected community sentiment.

“The majority of West Australians don’t want to see the Kimberley trashed so polluting dangerous fracking can proceed, and it’s powerful to see ALP members elevating fracking into the party platform,” he said.

Lock the Gate Alliance State campaign co-ordinator Simone van Hattem said Lock the Gate would continue to canvas to grow its support base for the ban.

“Our campaign against Kimberley fracking continues to grow. Each weekend there are more locals out on the streets, doorknocking and raising the alarm about dangerous fracking,” she said.

“More and more people are telling us they don’t want fracking in the Kimberley. West Australians don’t want to see the iconic Kimberley become a polluted and pockmarked wasteland.

“Labor’s members and voters want this ban. Now it’s up to Premier Cook to get it done.

“The Cook Government must listen to its members and the majority of West Australians who recognise fracking would be a disaster for the majestic Kimberley, its communities, its rivers and aquifers, and its unique nature.”

But Australian Energy Producers WA director Richard Ellis said a “blanket ban on hydraulic fracturing in WA is at odds with the science and could put the State’s long-term energy security at risk”.

“More than a dozen independent inquiries in Australia, including the 2018 Scientific Panel Inquiry into Hydraulic Fracture Stimulation in Western Australia, have confirmed hydraulic fracturing is safe when properly regulated,” he said.

Currently the fracking ban, introduced by the McGowan Government in 2018, extends to 98 per cent of WA with fracking still allowed in parts of the Kimberley and the Mid West.