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Labour Party members want oil and gas companies completely barred from fracking in Western Australia, with the party set to vote on extending the existing ban to include the Kimberley and Mid West at its state conference this weekend.
The vote comes as the WA Environmental Protection Agency prepares to release its assessment of Black Mountain Energy’s proposed Valhalla project near Derby in the Kimberley, which would involve fracking.
One of Black Mountain’s proposed wells is two kilometres from Mount Hardman Creek in the Kimberley.
It is understood that recommendation could be handed down as early as Monday.
The decision would then lie with Environment Minister Matthew Swinbourn will then consider that recommendation.
If the motion was supported, it would mean a total state ban on fracking – the technique of hydraulic fracturing to extract gas from the ground – would be included in Labor’s draft party platform, in contrast with the WA government’s policy of allowing the practice in two per cent of the state.
Despite the current exemption, there has been no fracking in the Kimberley.
So, how did we get here?
In 2018, the state government lifted a moratorium on fracking – but promised 98 per cent of the state would remain “frack-free”.
Black Mountain Energy, a now-unlisted company owned by Texan billionaire Rhett Bennett, was the first to submit a proposal to drill 20 gas wells in the Canning Basin, 123 kilometres from Derby.
That proposal, put forward for environmental approval, received thousands of public submissions in 2024.
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EPA deputy chair Lee McIntosh told WAtoday at the time the plan had a high level of public interest and the potential to affect the environment in numerous ways.
Environment groups say the plans threaten the National Heritage-listed Martuwarra Fitzroy River – a registered Aboriginal heritage site.
The river is also the last global stronghold of the critically endangered freshwater sawfish.
If Black Mountain’s Valhalla proposal was successful, and it moved to commercial production, the most likely avenue to international markets was via Woodside’s North West Shelf gas plant near Karratha, almost 1000 kilometres away.
Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt recently approved an extension to the life of the North West Shelf gas project to 2070.
A WA Labor policy group has now recommended extending a ban on fracking to cover 100 per cent of the state, despite strong words from Premier Roger Cook in the past supporting the current fracking policy as a “balanced and responsible” one.
This weekend’s state conference is the first to be held with the newly elected WA Labor team, and protesters will be out in force on Saturday to encourage those attending to vote in support of the ban’s extension.
What will protesters do?
They plan to hand out chocolate bilbies to party members to drive home their argument that fracking poses a threat to greater bilby habitat.
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They will also hand out information providing members with information on the dangers of fracking, which they hope will be read before the vote is cast.
Environs Kimberley executive director Martin Pritchard said the idea of fracking was “very unpopular” in WA.
He said a community campaign opposing Labor’s current support for fracking in the Kimberley “almost saw both state and federal Fremantle Labor MPs lose their seats at the last election”.
“Texan frackers Black Mountain Energy are in the final assessment stages and could have fracking drills in the ground in the Kimberley as soon as next year,” he said.
“We thank the grassroots members of the Labor Party and key unions who are supporting Traditional Owners in the Kimberley who want to see fracking banned on their country.”
Lock the Gate Alliance state campaign coordinator Simone van Hattem said: “Labor’s members and voters want this ban. Now it’s up to Premier Cook to get it done.”
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