After more than four years of silence, former chairperson of the聽聽(EPA) Tom Hatton revealed that he did receive a call from then Labor Premier Mark McGowan pressuring him to withdraw new climate guidelines.
Oil and gas corporations reacted swiftly to the EPA鈥檚 2019 suggestion that new and expanding fossil fuel projects should have to buy enough carbon credits to offset 100% of their onshore emissions.
Bill Hare, Climate Analytics spokesperson, said it showed decision-making in Western Australia had been 鈥渃aptured鈥 by oil and gas interests.
The fossil fuel industries鈥 reliable mouthpiece, the聽West Australian, hammered the EPA on its new guidelines with articles, editorials and full page ads funded by Woodside.
Under pressure, the .听
Hatton said McGowan鈥檚 call was 鈥渦nprecedented鈥 in the EPA鈥檚 50-year history, alleging the former premier said: 鈥淚 want you to withdraw the guidelines.鈥
Since leaving parliament in June, McGowan has taken on roles for BHP and Mineral Resources, and joined the conservative consultancy聽 led by former Coalition treasurer Joe Hockey.
Centre for Public Integrity director聽聽told the ABC McGowan鈥檚 appointment was 鈥渆xceptionally bad鈥.
Watson argued聽former MPs should be prevented from immediately entering lobbying roles.
鈥淚n Australia, we鈥檝e had a problem 鈥斅爄t keeps recurring. We call it the revolving door, where powerful politicians, sometimes powerful bureaucrats, leave those jobs to take up lucrative jobs with people who they previously were supposed to be regulating or controlling 鈥 It鈥檚 just not acceptable that this continues.鈥
The battle to prevent the powerful fossil fuel industry and their state government supporters from irreparably damaging WA鈥檚 ecosystems continues.
On the front line are Nyinggulu (Ningaloo) reef, Exmouth Gulf and Cape Range National Park.
Tim Winton, renowned novelist and tireless environmental campaigner, suggested they can be seen as聽聽鈥 an interconnected system helping each to balance and move forward.
Nyinggulu in Baiyungu is said to mean 鈥渉igh land jutting into the sea鈥. Its reef teems with hundreds of species of fish and coral, while it acts as sanctuary for turtles, manta rays, whale sharks and humpbacks.
Ecotourism generates 1000 jobs in Exmouth and Ningaloo, drawing in 200,000 visitors and $110 million each year. Whale sharks are the lynchpin of these numbers, with the reef offering reliable chances of wild swims with these giant fish.
Both Ningaloo Reef and Cape Range received World Heritage standing in 2011 鈥 a recognition of their significance and heralding conservation and protection obligations.
Exmouth Gulf, the missing third toe, was removed after lobbying by industrialists.
Three different industrial developments have their sights, and profits, set on the Gulf and its delicate ecosystem.
Gascoyne Gateway has a plan for a deep-water port, just 10 kilometres south of Exmouth.听聽argues the port would be of 鈥渟trategic defence for the nation鈥; it would grease the operations of oil and gas vessels in the region.
The proposed construction site 鈥斅爒ital habitat for dugongs, dolphins and turtles 鈥斅爄s shallow and dredgers would be required to remove 1 million cubic meters of seafloor to reach the port.
German company K+S Salt鈥檚 proposal for a major salt production facility is the second project of concern.
It requires the construction of artificial salt ponds over vast stretches of natural wetland, requiring ridge walls dozens of kilometres long, dredging for a 660-metre jetty and the stockpiling of six-storey high salt mounds. Seepage from salt ponds risks the mobilisation of toxic hyper saline water.
Finally, oil and gas giant Woodside鈥檚 Scarborough offshore gas field, 375 kilometres off the coast, risks irreversible damage to whale resting and feeding grounds. The Scarborough to Pluto project is estimated by the to emit an estimated聽 鈥 the pollution impact of 20,000 daily flights across the world for 25 years.
, a way of mapping oil and gas reserves below the seabed, sends salvos of noise into the water which are loud enough to deafen whales that depend on hearing to communicate, feed and navigate.听
Despite furious lobbying by the聽West Australian, including four opinion pieces by Woodside CEO Meg O鈥橬eil arguing that the seismic testing must go ahead, the seismic blasting plan has been . The Federal Court found on September 28 the company had not properly consulted Traditional Owners.
Current protections in the Gulf hinge on a 2021 government decision that a new marine park would be established, following an which found the Gulf was in need of greater protection.
The new protection will include a marine park on the eastern side of the Gulf, next to the proposed K+S Salt facility and a class A reserve in the Qualing Pool area, the proposed location for the Gascoyne Gateway port.
K+S Salt is nevertheless pushing forward with its plan, even it 鈥渉as long welcomed the State Government鈥檚 plan to strengthen protections for the Exmouth Gulf, including expanded marine parks鈥. Managing director of K+S Salt Australia, Gerrit G枚decke, said in December 2021: 鈥淚f everything goes smoothly, the project could be approved in 2024.鈥
However, First Nations and climate activists are determined to protect this unique country. World Heritage listing for Exmouth Gulf would help safeguard all three toes of the emu.
It is聽part of a聽story about what we value, why we value it and its importance now聽and into the future. Winton鈥檚 new three-part聽ABC聽documentary series,聽Nyinggulu, Ningaloo,聽serves as a powerful ode to its landscapes and the species that inhabit them, and is an urgent cry for their protection.
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