The gas project born in a cross-fire hurricane

Ryan says:

11:43am | 22/12/11

Here in WA there is no political cost or embarrasment for the State government over this at all. The real embarrasment we feel is over minority interest groups costing WA development, income and job opportunities.

Jo says:

11:56am | 22/12/11

Hi Erick, here is a website with some of the reasons why piping the gas to existing infrastructure in Karratha is a better financial & environmental option: http://www.environskimberley.org.au/kimberley-conservation-campaigns-projects/james-price-point-kimberley-ga/
The community that will be most adversely impacted by development at James Price Point puts forward their arguments here: http://www.goolarabooloo.org.au/

jase says:

12:22pm | 22/12/11

Jo, that fails to deal with the risk management issue associated with having all gas field pipe to the one hub.

Lets look at a scenario.. such as a devastating explosion which shuts down the Karratha plant for 3-4 months. Would it not be smarter to have the secondary hub still producing something? or to have no gas output for that period?

Eloise says:

03:09pm | 22/12/11

Jase - the gas ‘output’ from a plant at James Price Point will all be for export (as LNG).  As far as I am aware, there is no domestic gas component planned.  An explosion at the Karratha Gas Plant (depending on where it was) would impact WA domestic and industrial gas users, irrespective of the source of supply.  Also, the option of Browse to the Burrup is about backfill - keeping the plant throughput up when the other supplies dwindle.

David Keir says:

03:29pm | 22/12/11

If the KLC and Barnett followed correct procedure this site would never have been chosen.

It is their choice of an inappropriate site that has brought gas in the Kimberley to national attention.

This plant will impact negatively on many local indigenous businesses. 

As for aboriginal emplyment in mining, why not listen to an indigenous person who worked for one of our biggest mining companies as a mining engineer and then was sidelined because her boss didn’t want to work with an aboriginal: she says indigenous employment in mining is a great myth.  When her company made a huge effort to employ aboriginals, which she didn’t believe was genuine, u of indigenous people failed the physical medical exam, and all the others failed the literacy test.

It doesn’t follow that to gain employment one has to acquiesce in the destruction of culture when it is health and education that is lacking.

ronny jonny says:

04:33pm | 22/12/11

Or maybe, just maybe she is a crap engineer and is making up stories.

Myth Buster says:

08:06pm | 22/12/11

@David Kerr

Australian Employment in mining is a great myth.  It only employs about 2% of Australians.

Leela says:

12:22am | 27/12/11

Real jobs for who?

The WA government admits there’s a shortage of the skilled labour required to work on this project.  The so-called real jobs will be for people temporarily brought in from overseas.  As for benefits to the nation? - so s the money can be spent on another useless projectiin a city far from where the negative impacts will be felt.  - a football stadium perhaps?  Now there’s a noisy minority…..................

ronny jonny says:

08:40am | 22/12/11

Boud, I’ve been there too, it’s a shithole, desert right up to the seashore.

bamboo wade says:

11:31am | 22/12/11

Boud, I’ve been there too, it’s a beautiful, biodiverse hotspot, endangered bilby colonies, unique NHL dinosaur tr ackways, Ancient Indigenous song lines, whale breading grounds, monsoonal vine thickets, gouldian finches, and anazingly desert right up to the seashore

Celine says:

12:55pm | 22/12/11

I firmly agree Boud. What people don’t realise is that the kimberley is one of the last remaining wild untouched places on earth. Most placed across the globe have been impacted by humans yet the kimberley is placed alongside areas such as antarctic and amazon. Has retained all of its complete native flora and fauna. A bilby community has been recently discovered. This gas project is the thin edge of the wedge - if this gas project goes ahead it will open up the kimberley to wide spread industrialisation. Why can’t they simply pipe it to the pilbara where there is already infrastructure and its estimated to be running out of gas sooner than later. Pilbara by the way has had various negative environmental and social impacts on the community so why ruin another area such as the untouched kimberley? The gas project will provide fly in fly out jobs - it won’t support the local community - it will kill of tourism and to add insult to injury it will impact the local indigenous communities culture - this strip of land which ronny jonny has called a shithole is actually a burial site for traditional elders but its cool - lets just go ahead and build a massive gas hub right over it and the dinosaur foot prints too all in the name of short sighted greed and profit. P.S Mr Voelte (ex woodside ceo) earnt a nice tidy 8 million dollars last financial year basically for doing his job of destroying the planet. Anyone who speaks positively about this project needs to go and do some research before they assume the benefits that this project may bring.

ronny jonny says:

01:49pm | 22/12/11

Bilbys were discovered because of the gas project otherwise nobody would ever have known they were there. Now they can be protected, thanks to the evil gas project. Except I am pretty sure all the feral cats in the area will soon have them regardless.

Celine says:

03:08pm | 22/12/11

ronny aren’t you just a ray of sunshine…what a compelling argument you make ....NOT

Erick says:

08:30am | 22/12/11

@Shane From Melbourne - “Then the conservatives think the “noisy minority” should be shot…..”

Can you give a few links to examples of conservatives calling for the noisy minority to be shot?

Tom Harley says:

12:15pm | 22/12/11

There are several better alternatives to this one…floating it, piping it to the Pilbara, where Woodside are already short of gas, piping it to Darwin, or even a site south of Broome that wasn’t properly investigated as Barnett had his heart set on a new ‘Dubai’ at Broome.

ronny jonny says:

08:53am | 22/12/11

Why not grow new places?

bamboo wade says:

11:36am | 22/12/11

why not use existing facilities that are better all round options

jase says:

11:58am | 22/12/11

bamboo wade.. Its not wise to place all of your eggs in one basket. The emphasis on using the existing Karratha facility is not good risk management (something that Woodside are very good at)
Having 2 facilities, 1000km apart makes perfect sense as it minimises risk and allows for future expansion and development for access across the canning basin.

ronny jonny says:

09:31am | 22/12/11

It is a principle that every town in Australia owes it’s existence to the development of some nearby natural resource, especially those in remote ares. Except Canberra of course unless you count bullshit as a resource.

jase says:

11:34am | 22/12/11

Clare, I have lived in Broome and visiteda vast majority of the Kimberley including Beagle Bay, Lombadina and to this day cannot understand what the problem is.

The processing plant is only a small development on land which has no real use at the moment.

O says:

10:45am | 22/12/11

Troll much?

ronny jonny says:

10:59am | 22/12/11

Not at all, just trying to make the point that not everyone is in love with that dreary, fly infested dustbowl on the edge of nowhere. Really, you’d be better off living on Mars. At least Mars doesn’t have the flies and hippies to contend with.

Broome Resident says:

11:01am | 22/12/11

Ronny the Jonny-Come-Lately, always ready with an insult but not the slightest amount of wit to lubricate it.

anniebee says:

11:57am | 22/12/11

methinks, ronny jonny, that both your eyes and your heart are closed, or if the eyes are open, they are only looking for $ signs ...anyone who doesn’t see the beauty in the Kimberley is truly missing out…

Celine says:

01:06pm | 22/12/11

tell that to the local indigenous community many of which have ‘native title’ over this strip of land. There is an indigenous song cycle which goes right through where they want to build. There are aboriginal elders who were buried right at this beach. Dinosaur track ways. recently discovered bilby community which were thought to have not existed there for over 20 years now RIGHT where they are going to build this hub. hundreds of years after taking/colonising Australia we are still effectively taking land from aboriginals.

ronny jonny says:

02:03pm | 22/12/11

Celine, all of these things can and will be protected. Oil companies are not in the business of seeking negative publicity on environmental matters, believe me.
Gas facilities have a tiny footprint as industries go and are extremely clean places. Developments done in a spirit of cooperation can truly meet everyones needs while getting a profitable outcome for the industy concerned. Woodside will bend over backwards to meet any conditions put in place. You need to drop the scaremongering and enter into serious dialogue with the company. They are extremely concerned about the environmental impact of their operations. Chanting and waving placards is not the way to initiate a dialogue. You people should have all been putting submissions in 2 years ago. Just sceaming ” I don’t want it “, won’t achieve anything.
As for Aboriginal song lines, do you stop everything because of a bunch of stone age superstitions? It’s nonsense.

anniebee says:

12:02pm | 22/12/11

yeah, well I think we know what their priorities in life are which is exactly why they’re sitting in boardrooms!  Amazingly, there’s more to life than $‘s!

Tom Harley says:

12:20pm | 22/12/11

Pillaging pearls? Another troll that hasn’t heard about the Kimberley Pearl Farms and Broome Hatchery. This project proposal would pillage Aboriginal Heritage tens of thousands of years old

jase says:

12:32pm | 22/12/11

anniebee.. The $ and trade make the world go around. Without it, we would be living in the stone age and hunting for food like our primitive ancestors. If these people want to live in the stone age, then by all means, go but some land and live off of it, but don’t ask for assistance from the rest of us who want to see progress.

There is no point sticking you head in the sand around 2 big factors of the future, first is that as the population grows, more land will need to be developed for people to live on it, that means less bush. The second is that as this expansion occurs, more energy is going to be needed, and thus more developments like JPP.

jase says:

12:44pm | 22/12/11

Tom, these days it may be farmed but it started out as a hunt and gather type affair, but you still cannot sit and tell me that the farming has no environmental impact.

The aboriginal artefacts (if any) can be put in a museum where they belong, so that they can be shared with the world. Its not like the pyramids or stone henge exist in that location, its nothing more than dirt, and scrub land which has been claimed as significant by the minority who are against the development.

anniebee says:

01:16pm | 22/12/11

oh dear jase, some fair over-reactions there!  Development may be necessary and money may make the world go round, BUT, it is also necessary to have wilderness areas and places where development & money aren’t the governing force…it’s more about awareness along with development; there are ways to do it and ways to not do it and if we all adapted our lifestyles to not be so totally dependent on consuming at any cost (returning to the stone age is not necessary!), then there wouldn’t be quite the same need to plunder for resources.  It IS possible to have a comfortable lifestyle AND wilderness!  ...but it takes the courage to be a little forward thinking!

Glen Klatovsky says:

11:48pm | 22/12/11

I think it is important to understand two things. Firstly the sheer scale of this project. If anyone has ever been on site at a gas processing facility, you will understand. These developments are awesome. An amazing feat of human ingenuity. However, completely out of step with the Kimberley coast. The second issue is what this development really offers - a large-scale power station; a deep water port; an industrial precinct and marina; all-weather roads for trucks. This opens up many mining and unconventional gas (shale, coal-seam) options that are currently unviable. I don’t remember the local community getting consulted on that. No wonder they are uncomfortable. They are getting sold a completely new Kimberley - a Kimberley that looks just like the Bowen Basin, the Pilbara, the Hunter and LaTrobe Valleys.

ronny jonny says:

02:56pm | 22/12/11

I agree that is a great wilderness area, so great in fact that to use a few acres of it for a gas plant wouldn’t even be noticed. I wonder how much area this development will take up in percentage terms relative to the wilderness area? Anyone hazard a guess?

David Keir says:

03:17pm | 22/12/11

@ronny joey

Its not being built in a wilderness area, its being built on one of if not the most important cultural site in the Dampier Peninsula.  If the wilderness is so big, why can’t they find a site that wouldn’t lead to the destruction of indigenous culture or associated dinasaur footprints.

Mark Jones says:

05:15pm | 22/12/11

Jonny… Read the 2005 west kimberley resource development paper. Then look at what is proposed with a port and what would flow out, and then look at the history of the pilbara. This is not 3500 hectares for a gas hub, and that is why mr. Barnett was caught with CA in the supreme court. They want the land tenure for a huge port. You can’t have an opinion if you don’t have all the facts.

jase says:

01:03pm | 22/12/11

David, its fair to say that it is not popular, however it is also fair to say that this development needs to happen in the Kimberley somewhere, if not JPP where do you want to put it? The Pilbara as I pointed out above, is not a reasonable location, and its not cost driven, its risk management.

You most certainly can employ ex soldiers as safety officers, as most of these mining companies do for the African operations, where they deal with violent inhabitants on a daily basis. It reflects poorly on Broome and the people of Australia that the company has clearly seen the inhabitants and protesters as potentially violent enough to justify the measure.

David Keir says:

03:08pm | 22/12/11

@ Jase.

Barnett AND the KLC stuffed up the process of site selection with their attitude to indigenous people.

In 2005 Voelte (then Woodside CEO) was happy to remove the site from a list of 50 possible sites at the request of local indigenous people.

This site, however, was never really removed from contention by the KLC.

It was the KLC and later Barnett that tried to run roughshod over the community.  It was Barnett’s choice NOT to consult and he needs to wear the blame when the project fails to go ahead.

Barnett has blamed indigenous people for the failure of INPEX to build at Maret Island, however noone knows what really went on.  Some of us hope there is a government inquiry into this and the process of site selection as much that has gone on doesn’t seem to be, at the very least, ethical, let’s say, for the purposes of a public discussion.

Siting the plant at JPP or in the Kimberley means that Browse gas will be used for export only and not for domestic comsumption, so there is a strong argument that it is in the national interest to pipe Browse gas to the Pilbara as its already linked by pipe to the Perth market.

As for your comment about ex soldiers and the third world it is an interesting comparison.  I dare say where ex soldiers are used in the third world it is where developments are arranged by corrupt/opaque governments furthering their own interests at the expense of others or due process and where constituents are not benefitting from the developments themselves.  You could well argue the same is happening, here.

As for the threat of violence, in this case, that’s bollocks!!  I’ve seen and heard of these so called “safety” officers drive at people, surround and make death threats to individuals, press cameras into peoples’ faces continuously from several angles in a way which could be described as assaultative, push into a crowd with a video camera yelling out, “assualt, assualt”, etd., etc..

I and many others have taken to carrying a video camera wherever we go in the Price’s Point area just for personal safety.

carolinem says:

06:10pm | 22/12/11

Actually, no. Read the INDEPENDENt research by K Carrington et al from QUT.

Andy J says:

06:48pm | 22/12/11

It doesn’t have anything to do with gas production, and it is obvious to me that you have never lived in a place with a high indigenous population. Cops will come up with any excuse to lock up a black fella, especially newly trained cops wanting to impress superiors. This is very evident in Broome. BTW I am not a black fella…

jase says:

07:03pm | 22/12/11

I am more than happy to point out that my business stands to benefit from the deal happening, anywhere actually, it could be JPP or anywhere else for that matter. I am not affiliated with Woodside though.

Also I have many friends who own small business’s in Broome, and they would like to see the additional funds flow through the town. Relying purely on tourism is not an ideal outcome for a growing organisation during financial unrest.

All said and done this project is going to happen, its just a matter of time. The time is what frustrates the rest of us in the real world, native title and environmental red tape makes it absolutely impossible to conduct business in a competitive time frame.
As mentioned earlier, we are the laughing stock of the business world, carbon taxes, native title and incompetent governments do not give us a favourable impression for investment. The bit which the environs fail to understand is that once we become such a pain to do business with that its no longer worth while, countries like Brazil are more than happy to step up and take our place.