Kimberley Cotton Company to begin work on gin after receiving native vegetation clearing permit

Work on building a cotton gin which would open the East Kimberley to an estimated $268 million cotton production industry is set to begin after the WA Government gave permission to clear land. The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation has granted the Kimberley Cotton Company permission to clear 65.33 hectares of native vegetation at 510 Mulligans Lagoon Road, 17km north of Kununurra, so they can begin groundworks and construction of cotton ginning facilities. They are allowed to begin clearing on November 20. The Wilderness Society, which opposed the land clearing application, has not welcomed the news, saying the cotton gin threatens native vegetation across the region as it will encourage more land to be cleared for the lucrative crop. “On the eve of two separate UN conferences to address climate change and profound impacts on nature, decision-makers in Western Australia should be reflecting on the potential folly of green-lighting cotton production,” Patrick Gardner, WA campaigns manager for the Wilderness Society, said. “The ink is barely dry on the WA Government’s native vegetation policy and this proposal to clear land for a cotton gin will accelerate further clearing for cotton production. This is a potentially massive cumulative impact that needs strategic assessment. “The native vegetation policy states an intention to achieve a net gain in native vegetation across the State’s 27 bioregions. “It is hard to see how native vegetation can be protected and restored while cotton production is being given a green-light.” The cotton gin is the central plank to what the Kimberley Development Commission describes as the development of a “sustainable cotton industry in the North”. At the moment cotton is transported 3500km by truck to Queensland to a processing facility where the cotton fibre is separated from its sticky seeds at a cost of $100 to $200 per bale. Kimberley Development Commission said the gin would be able to process cotton grown on up to 15,000 hectares and produce 120,000 bales annually. It is hoped it will add $268 million to the gross value of agricultural production in the region and generate 1000 direct and indirect local jobs in the first 10 years. The Kimberley Cotton Company was formed in April 2021 between the Ord River District Cooperative, Kimberley Agricultural Investment, and Miriuwung Gajerrong Corporation. Its role is to oversee the construction and operation of the gin. In September 2021, the Commonwealth’s Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility board approved a $32 million loan to the Kimberley Cotton Company to construct stage one of a cotton gin. The State Government has provided land and contributed $4 million to a renewable power supply.