Bike To Broome: 21 August 2011

It has been over 3 weeks since the blockade at Manari Road.  Much of the attention has been on Woodside, the protesters, Kimberley Land Council and the WA State Government.

It is time now to start working on the other 4 of Woodside’s  joint venture partners.

Why?  Because unlike Woodside, the JV partners have been more restrained and sensitive to environmental, social and cultural issues that this gas hub project causes.

The JV partners are BP, BHP, Chevron and Shell.  They have been keeping a close eye on the developments of the blockade, and you could even say that unlike Woodside, they would rather not tarnish their reputations.

Copy the following and email or write to each of the JV chairmen.

“Dear Mr Chairman,

My name is <insert your name here>.  I am writing to you about my views on the Browse LNG gas plant planned for James Price Point in the Kimberley in Western Australia.

I live in <insert your town or city>.  I have <insert number of times OR never> visited the Kimberley.  Like many, many people I love the Kimberley because <insert your reason>.

I am very concerned about the social destruction that this gas hub will bring to the traditional owners of the land.  I am very concerned about the polution that this gas hub will create.  I am very concerned about the irreparable damage this will cause to the pristine marine environment, particularly the habitat of the largest population of humpback whales in the world.

As Chairman, you are well aware of the other alternatives, in particular processing the gas on a floating plant or piping to the Pilbara.

Please tell me, are you and your company willing to be seen as a partner in the destruction of this area that has been recommended for inclusion in the National Heritage Listing?  Also, please tell me what you would do if Woodside Energy decides to push ahead with this destruction, even though you object to it?

Yours sincerely,

<insert your name>”

With thanks to the No Gas Community Group, here are their address details:

BP
Mr. Carl-Henric Svanberg
BP chairman
BP p.l.c.
International Headquarters
1 St James’s Square
London, SW1Y 4PD
Fax: +44 (0)20 7496 4630
carlhenric.svanberg@bp.com

Shell
Jorma Ollila
Chairman
PO box 162,
2501 AN The Hague,
The Netherlands
jorma.ollila@shell.com

Chevron
John S. Watson
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
6001 Bollinger Canyon Road
San Ramon, CA 94583, USA
comment@chevron.com

BHP
Jac Nasser
Chairman
BHP Billiton Limited
BHP Billiton Centre
180 Lonsdale Street
Melbourne Victoria 3000
Phone: (61) 1300 55 47 57
Fax: (61 3) 9609 3015
jacques.nasser@bhpbilliton.com

Another solid and successful day at the blockade.

It seems that perhaps Colin Barnett is getting a little impatient with the protesters, telling that they should “move on” now that they have made their point.  Perhaps Mr Barnett has underestimated the resolve of the protesters.  Read the ABC News story here.

After their investigations, Department of Indigenous Affairs officers today suggested that Woodside’s work to date at Walmadan (James Price Point) may be in breach of Section 16 of the Aboriginal Heritage Act.  Read the media release on Hands Off Country.

WA Senator Scott Ludlum made a great speech in the Senate today, praising the protesters on Manari Road.  Read the transcript on The Greens website.

Great going.  Every day we are a step closer to making history!

Dear Joe.

Did you know that right now there are 30,000 humpback whales from the Antarctic Ocean heading up along the Western Australian coast to the Kimberley? Yes, there are.

The sea along the Kimberley coast, in a place called Camden Sound just north of Broome, is the nursery for the largest population of humpback whales in the world. This is a very special place, because this is where these whales call home. Baby whales, called calves, are born there, they grow up there, and they return home to the Kimberley every year.

There is something happening to their home and this makes me rather sad. So I thought I should write to you to let you know a bit about this bicycle ride to Broome and why I and a group of friends are cycling all the way from Perth to Broome.

Certain people are planning to build a very large natural gas factory at James Price Point, just a little way north of Broome. We need natural gas for our homes as well as making electricity to run factories both in Australia and overseas. The gas comes from under the seabed north of the Kimberley.

These people plan to bring the gas to James Price Point, where it will then be put into great gas container ships to be sold to countries like Japan and China. To allow large ships to come to James Price Point, these people will dredge the seabed to make it deeper, and they will have to build long jetties for the ships.

The whales do not know that this is happening to their home. The other creatures that live in the sea there, like the Australian snubfin dolphin, the dugong, the many species of sea turtles and fish, do not know that this is happening.

In fact, not many people know about this either.

So I had an idea. I thought that perhaps I should tell as many people as possible. Then if everybody knew, and if everybody felt sad that the home of these whales was in trouble, then we would ask our government to stop this from happening.

This is why I am riding a bicycle all the way up to Broome. I am going to tell as many people as possible. My friends and I are going to take turns to ride the bicycle from Perth all along the coast until we get to Broome. We shall be riding through towns like Cervantes, Geraldton, Carnarvon, Karratha and Port Hedland. We shall be speaking with as many people as possible, as well as talking to radio and television stations.

Our hope is that by doing something as crazy as riding a bicycle covering a distance of 2,400 kilometres, riding all day and all night for 5 days, many people will hear about us.

You know, a wise person once said to me that if there was something I felt strongly about then I should take action. Well you know Joe, I feel strongly about protecting the home of our humpback whales, our snubfin dolphins, our dugongs, and our turtles. These are beautiful creatures and they deserve a safe and peaceful home.

So now, I am going to tell everybody why we should protect their home.

I would like it very much if you would help me by telling as many people as you know about this bicycle ride and about protecting the home of our humpback whales.

And one day, when you are all grown up, perhaps you can show your children what a wonderful home our humpback whales have up in the Kimberley. And this is all because we all took action to protect their home.

From your friend, Paul

Today, Wayne Bergmann, Kimberley Land Council director, appeared to be a desperate man.  Frustrated by the blockade at Manari Road near James Price Point, already on its 14th day, Bergmann accused the Goolarabooloo and Jabirr Jabirr people and environmentalist friends of damaging Aboriginal sites.

Bergmann claims that the people at the blockade have breached the Heritage Act by digging toilet holes in registered Aboriginal sites.  His complaint has been registered with the Department of Indigenous Affairs.

Joseph Roe, who is leading the protest, invited Mr Bergmann to visit the site and see for himself.  Chemical toilets have been in use and arrangements are in place with the Broome Shire for the collection of rubbish.

My independent inquiry on whether chemical toilets were in use was confirmed.

So Mr Bergmann, why don’t you come to your senses?

Last Friday, Colin Barnett released this plan called the ‘Kimberley Science and Conservation Strategy’, which is meant to be a “bold vision” for the Kimberley’s “long-term conservation”.

Barnett said, “The conservation and protection of the Kimberley region is the greatest environmental responsibility that this Government and if you like, this generation of Western Australians faces”.

He went on to say, “It is one of the world’s last remaining great wilderness areas and it needs to be protected forever”.

Is this the Premier Colin Barnett we know?  What’s going on?

Well, it’s quite plain to see really.  Greens MP Robin Chapple called his bluff saying that this “won’t fool anyone”.

Read the full ABC News story, and decide for yourself if Barnett is a man you can trust.

Manari Road has the power to leave a deep impression.  This it certainly did to me when I traveled along the road recently.  The termite mound, a powerful symbol of the Kimberley, is a strong contrast to the surrounding bush.

This is indeed typical of this area of the Dampier Peninsula, north of Broome.  This is typical around James Price Point.

So this is some of what Woodside Energy wants to completely destroy.  This is what Woodside wants to prevent people from going to, from enjoying.  This is what they want to replace with a gas processing plant.

Tell Woodside that the gas can go elsewhere; because this country can’t!

Tomorrow, musician and activist, John Butler, will be visiting Manari Road where environmentalists and traditional owners as well as supporters have created a blockade to stop Woodside’s contractors from clearing 25 hectares of natural bush.

So if you can,  go out to Manari Road.  I promise you, it will leave a deep impression on you!

In response to Mr Wayne Bergmanns statement on ABC Radio today that environmental groups have betrayed traditional owners who voted in favour of the gas hub, Environs Kimberley’s Executive Director Martin Pritchard defended the actions of protesters saying that the game has changed.

Mr Pritchard said, “what happened since that Joint Position Statement was signed in 2007 is that in 2008 the Federal Minister for the Environment, Peter Garrett, and the state government signed a strategic assessment agreement which was essentially a game changer, because while it says that it was looking at sites in the kimberley, both governments would look at sites outside the kimberley.  And since that time many other things had changed including governments and industry not working in a way that our aspirations in that joint position statement were put together.”

“What we’re seeing recently in the past week or so that this issue is taking up a life of its own.  If you had told me 6 months ago that within a few days 500 people from families in Broome from all walks of life, Indigenous and non Indigenous, would get together at St Mary’s and sign a petition and a letter to the Fed Minister for the Environment calling for this not to go ahead then I would not have believed you.”

After the recent action by musicians like John Butler, Jimmy Barnes, Rob Hirst, the Pigram Brothers and all, Mr Martin said that, ”Now there’s a huge groundswell of opinion and also things that are going on around the country people are taking all sorts of initiatives, they’re stepping up, and they’re expressing their opposition and that is a significant change from what’s been happening over the past few years.  It’s something that’s really exciting and all we’re doing is pointing out what the environmental impacts of this proposal would be.”

Mr Pritchard said that EK was happy to go back and look at the aspirations that were set out in the joint statement.

“What we’re also keen to do is to look at the way that governments and industry is working in the Kimberley.  We’re really concerned that the government processes as originally set out are not being followed.  And we’re really concerned that our community is being steam-rolled into accepting large-scale industrialisation without proper social license.”

We need another 4 riders.  Can you help?

After 7 days, the blockade at James Price Point has successfully prevented any clearing of land.

This morning 3 cars and a bus carrying Woodside contractors were prevented from approaching JPP.  After a while, the vehicles returned to Broome.

Tour buses heading to nearby Willie Creek Pearl Farm, however, were allowed through.

Here’s a YouTube video on Broome families standing firm against industrialisation.  This moving video sums up the passion of the people.

Shane Hughes, one of our riders, is in Broome and has been providing frequent updates on our Facebook page – check it out.

The Bike To Broome Facebook page is up and running.  Join in the conversation.