The Kimberley is again on the precipice of industrialisation. The McGowan Government opened the door in 2018 and welcomed the fracking industry in. Right now, a consortium has been created between the major petroleum leaseholders, agreements are being sought and formal fracking plans are being lodged with the EPA. 

As we all adjust to a Covid-19 world, we cannot afford to drop our guard on the key environmental issues at hand. The trajectory of fracking the Canning Basin pre-Covid-19 was heading towards an industrialised West Kimberley landscape. 

New research shows that the Kimberley region is set to experience a dramatic increase in days over 40 degrees if greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced in line with the Paris Agreement.

Vast areas of the Kimberley are in the firing line following the release of a map by the McGowan Government, opening up the region to fracking.

On November 27th 2018 the Premier, Mark McGowan, announced that the moratorium on fracking in the Kimberley is being lifted. This will go down in history as the most retrograde decision in decades, made despite the objections of a large majority of the community, including Traditional Owners, WA Unions the State Executive of the Labor Party, and government MP’s.

Conservation group Environs Kimberley has slammed the McGowan Government’s decision to open up the Kimberley to fracking as irresponsible and destructive.

We are always amused by the latest claims made by the chief publicist for the fracking industry Stedman Ellis - also the Chief Operating Officer WA for the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA).