Trevor Paddenburg
From: The Sunday Times
January 20, 2013 12:08AM
AN army of thousands will join a blockade at James Price Point as protesters yesterday warned that the campaign to stop the $40 billion Kimberley gas hub would be the biggest since saving old-growth forests.
Local Broome Resident and anti gas hub campaigner Shaun Clark is one of thousands opposed to the Kimberley gas hub. Picture: Theo Fakos
The Broome community says drill rigs and machinery for the final phase of exploration which the Woodside-led consortium will carry out regardless of whether it decides to proceed with a gas hub will be “blocked at all costs”.
Local Broome Resident and anti gas hub campaigner Shaun Clark is one of thousands opposed to the Kimberley gas hub. Picture: Theo Fakos
“This is war,” Broome Community No Gas Campaign spokeswoman Nik Weavers said.
Tensions peaked this week when the Barnett Government granted Woodside the right to disturb Aboriginal graves and sacred sites near James Price Point, 60km north of Broome, for drilling and surveys.
Aboriginal elder Phillip Roe, a law boss for the Goolarabooloo people, pointed out the graves of his ancestors buried in the dunes and said he would die before giving up the fight for his homeland and its flora and fauna.
When The Sunday Times visited the blockade camp, dozens of highly organised protesters including a doctor, nurse and public servants were preparing to face Woodside workers and police.
Ms Weavers said: “People in town are waiting for the word and willing to be arrested. There’s thousands from all walks of life indigenous and non-indigenous.
“We’re expecting police to escort machinery. If we’ve got to front up to 100 police, so be it. The community is angry. People are disappointed. They’ve ignored us. They’ve labelled us tree huggers and ferals. They don’t realise it’s the everyday people and it’s because we love Broome.”
As revealed by The Sunday Times last week, the estimated $40 million gas hub project is threatened by the proponents’ preference for an offshore floating LNG facility that would be much cheaper and more profitable for Woodside and its joint-venture partners.
A final investment decision by the consortium on whether to proceed with a gas hub is due in the next few months.
A Woodside spokeswoman said the company would work closely with traditional owners to identify and manage Aboriginal culture and heritage at the site. She would not say when the drill rigs would move in.
The last mass arrests were on Black Tuesday in 2011 when 26 people were taken into custody for blocking machinery.
Premier Colin Barnett is determined to see the project go ahead and said issues at the site were minimal.
The Goolarabooloo Jabirr Jabirr native title claim group signed a deed for a $1.5 billion Kimberley-wide package, but many local Aborigines did not sign and remain opposed.
Opposition Leader Mark McGowan said he would prefer gas to be piped to Karratha for processing and the Greens want the gas to remain untapped.
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/top-stories/broome-army-ready-for-war-on-kimberley-gas-hub/story-e6frfkp9-1226557448095#ixzz2IYzFjs6t
