1. I heard fracking isn’t happening or won’t happen, so what’s the problem?

The threat of fracking to the Kimberley is imminent.

Black Mountain has a proposal to frack 20 wells near Fitzroy Crossing (the ‘Valhalla’ project)  going through state and federal assessment processes right now, with decisions expected any day. If approved, Black Mountain could have drills in the ground as soon as next year.

In 2023 the WA Government lifted the ban on exporting gas from the vast onshore Canning Basin in the Kimberley, encouraging the development of a large-scale gas fracking industry for export by the first mover.

The map shows the petroleum lease areas in the Kimberley where fracking is permitted under Cook government policy, showing an industry proposed gas export pipeline route to the Pilbara, past test fracking sites, key towns and the Fitzroy Martuwarra River.

The company that previously fracked in the Kimberley, Buru Energy (in 2011 and 2015), has ‘conventional’ gas and oil projects in the region, which are often a precursor to fracking. In May 2024 the WA Government awarded Buru Energy $375,000 of taxpayer funds to help expand its oil and gas exploration in the Kimberley’s Canning Basin.

Buru Energy has not ruled out fracking in the future, and has not given up its ‘Yulleroo’ gas lease where fracking would be required. Theia Energy has previously proposed a large scale oil & gas fracking operation in the Great Sandy Desert, and has not ruled out these plans or relinquished their lease.

The WA Government must listen to Traditional Owners and their voters who want fracking banned in the Kimberley as they've already done in the Southwest, Perth, Peel and Dampier Peninsula regions.

The company that previously fracked in the Kimberley, Buru Energy (in 2011 and 2015), has ‘conventional’ gas and oil projects in the region, which are often a precursor to fracking. Buru Energy has not ruled out fracking in the future, and has not given up its ‘Yulleroo’ gas lease. Theia Energy has previously proposed a large scale oil & gas fracking operation in the Great Sandy Desert, and has not ruled out these plans or relinquished their lease.

The WA Government should give the community and industry certainty by banning fracking in the Kimberley as they've already done in the Southwest, Perth, Peel and Dampier Peninsula regions.

2. The WA Government says Traditional Owners have the right to veto fracking. Is this true?

No. Traditional Owners do not have the right to veto (or block) fracking on their lands, or any other oil & gas exploration. Neither do private landholders or pastoralists. 

In 2018 WA Labor committed to a Traditional Owner veto on production fracking – but have done nothing to publicly progress the law. Further, the veto as it stands would mean that Traditional Owners would only be able to block fracking at the production stage; it does NOT include a veto for exploration fracking. It gives fracking companies a foot in the door and risks pollution and other harmful impacts (which can occur even with one well).

Since the government proposed a veto for Traditional Owners in 2018, several Traditional Owners have publicly opposed fracking (also see here).

3. Isn’t fracking banned across 98% of WA? 

No. The government’s own mapping shows that fracking is banned across a much smaller portion of the state (South West, Peel, Perth metro and the Dampier Peninsula), not 98%. The majority of WA has a moratorium (temporary ban) on fracking which could be overturned at the stroke of a pen (as was the case with the Kimberley). 2% of Western Australia is close to 5 million hectares, nearly the size of Tasmania! 

This false statement is a distraction from the real issue - the areas where fracking IS permitted include large and iconic parts of WA, including the West Kimberley and the Martuwarra Fitzroy River catchment area. 

Fracking should not be permitted anywhere in Western Australia. There is a substantial and ever-growing scientific case against fracking that has led many countries and jurisdictions across the world to ban fracking. Not even the most robust regulations can stop the extreme impacts of fracking, e.g., the huge amounts of water the industry uses; industrialising entire landscapes, and emitting vast quantities of greenhouse gases.

If it isn’t safe enough for Perth and the South West, it’s not safe enough for any of WA!

4. Isn’t Labor following the science, they held a scientific inquiry in 2018 that said fracking could be done safely in the Kimberley? 

Fracking cannot occur without impacts to the local and wider environments. Risks include water pollution, endangered animal habitat destruction and huge greenhouse gas emissions.

The 2018 inquiry was limited in scope and focused only on a small scale domestic industry (Inquiry Report 10.2 The scope of the GHG risk assessment - p.365 onwards); it never considered the impacts of a large, export-size fracking industry which has been shown to have been the intention of the industry from the start.  The limited inquiry scope led the Inquiry panel to minimise and understate the potential scale and significance of impacts, including greenhouse gas emissions, from an onshore unconventional gas industry in WA.

Additionally, in 2023 the Cook Government lifted the onshore gas export ban over the Kimberley’s Canning Basin, further paving the way for an export-scale oil and gas industry in the region, and further highlighting the ineffectiveness of the inquiry for government and industry plans for the state.

The government has also watered down or ignored some of the Inquiry’s key recommendations including entirely scrapping recommendation 39: to establish a pooled (onshore petroleum) industry fund to cover financial liabilities if individual fracking companies failed to pay for proper well closure and rehabilitation works. 

5. The WA Government says it would be ‘liable for financial compensation to lease holders if we banned fracking’ or there could be ‘legal consequences for the state’. Is this true?

No. Independent legal advice shows that there would be no legal obligation for the Western Australian Government to compensate any company that possesses a petroleum tenement, should the ban on fracking be extended to the Kimberley.

The WA Government banned fracking in other WA regions (see first question) while there were still active exploration leases in place and faced no legal consequences.