Protect Kimberley, say Aborigines, conservationists

By Susan Laszlo

Aborigines are opposed to the WA state government's plans to dam the Fitzroy River, said Kimberley Land Council (KLC) director Peter Yu on July 18.

Speaking after a forum organised by the KLC and the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF), Yu said that the Kimberley Aboriginal community believed that the WA government's selection of a developer to carry out a feasibility study shows “a disturbing enthusiasm for large-scale irrigated agriculture which requires the construction of river dams”.

Yu believes that the government's cotton strategy group and the state premier's recent visit to cotton growing areas of NSW indicate that “the upgrading of pastoral leases for cotton production is under serious consideration”.

However, little or no consideration has been given to ecological, social or even economic issues, said Yu.

The KLC believes the government, in its haste to recommend the damming of the Fitzroy River, hasn't taken into account: Aboriginal sites and burial places; the native title implications; the public health consequences of increased mosquito population; loss of habitats for rare and protected species; the likely increase in waterlogging and salinity of land; the effects on the pearling and seafood industries; and the loss of tourism.

“Aboriginal people are committed to economic development, yet we place the integrity of our cultural heritage and the significance of our native title rights to traditional lands at the heart of economic advancement”, Yu said.

There is an opportunity to develop the Kimberley to benefit the entire community, Yu said. To do this, traditional owners, pastoralists, environmentalists, government and other key stakeholders should plan a land use strategy, as in Queensland, where the Cape York heads of agreement (yet to be ratified by the Queensland government) was reached.

Jim Downey, ACF executive director, said that before any development is given the go-ahead, lessons should be learned from previous mistakes. The Ord irrigation scheme, conceived several decades ago, which now seems set for a major expansion, has resulted in the loss of vast tracts of land and cost some $600 million.

The government's proposal to dam Fitzroy River, one of the last wild rivers in WA, would involve a huge dam at Diamond Gorge, flood vast areas of spectacular and remote country and threaten the habitat of the rare and beautiful golden finch, concluded Downey.

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