Major campaign opposing Kimberley fracking proposals launches in Fremantle

A major campaign opposing WA’s largest oil and gas drilling proposal was launched in Fremantle this month, with hundreds of environmentalists rallying against fracking in the Kimberley. More than 200 people rallied at Fremantle’s Victoria Hall to oppose the Valhalla Project, calling on the Cook Government to ban fracking in the Kimberley, with prominent figures such as John Butler and Professor Fiona Stanley making an appearance. Internationally renowned climate scientist Professor Bill Hare and Nyikina Warrwa woman Professor Anne Poelina were also in attendance, raising concerns about the potential climate and health impacts if the proposal proceeded. “The International Energy Agency has repeatedly stated that there should be no new oil and gas production if global warming is to be kept to the Paris agreement’s 1.5C limit,” Dr Hare said. “The proposed massive development of Canning Basin gas resources is contradicting this guidance and itself poses a challenge to meeting Australia’s Paris Agreement’s goals.” The Valhalla project led by Bennett Resources, a subsidiary of US-based Black Mountain Energy, has been referred to the Federal Government for approval to drill six exploration wells in the Canning Basin. It’s the State’s first major fracking proposal since the WA government lifted a Statewide fracking ban in 2018, with WA Premier Roger Cook confirming an export exemption would remain in place for the “first mover” in the Canning Basin. Environs Kimberley strategic director Martin Pritchard said the Kimberley was under threat from the Valhalla proposal, with drilling and fracking in the heart of the Matruwarra Fitzroy River catchment threatening species like the bilby and freshwater sawfish. “The 20-well drilling and fracking proposal, if approved by the Cook Government, would be the precursor to thousands of gas-fracking wells turning the Kimberley’s world-renowned landscapes into an industrial wasteland,” he said.