Labor members vote to ban fracking across WA

Labor Party members have voted in favour of barring oil and gas companies from fracking in Western Australia, extending the existing ban to include the Kimberley and Mid West, at a state conference over the weekend.

The vote comes as the WA Environmental Protection Agency prepares to release its assessment of Black Mountain Energy’s proposed Valhalla project near Derby in the Kimberley, which would involve fracking.

It is understood that recommendation could be handed down as early as Monday.

The decision would then lie with Environment Minister Matthew Swinbourn, who will consider the recommendation.

A total state ban on fracking – the technique of hydraulic fracturing rocks deep underground to extract gas – will now be included in Labor’s draft party platform, in contrast with the WA government’s policy of allowing the practice in two per cent of the state.

Despite the current exemption, there has been no fracking in the Kimberley.

So, how did we get here?

In 2018, the state government lifted a moratorium on fracking – but promised 98 per cent of the state would remain “frack-free”.

Black Mountain Energy, a now-unlisted company owned by Texan billionaire Rhett Bennett, was the first to submit a proposal to drill 20 gas wells in the Canning Basin, 123 kilometres from Derby.

That proposal, put forward for environmental approval, received thousands of public submissions in 2024.

EPA deputy chair Lee McIntosh told WAtoday at the time the plan had a high level of public interest and the potential to affect the environment in numerous ways.

Environment groups say the plans threaten the National Heritage-listed Martuwarra Fitzroy River – a registered Aboriginal heritage site.

The river is also the last global stronghold of the critically endangered freshwater sawfish.

If Black Mountain’s Valhalla proposal was successful, and it moved to commercial production, the most likely avenue to international markets would be to build a pipeline to Woodside’s North West Shelf gas plant near Karratha, almost 1000 kilometres away.

Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt recently approved an extension to the life of the North West Shelf gas project to 2070.

WA Labor members have now voted supporting a ban on fracking to cover 100 per cent of the state, despite strong words from Premier Roger Cook in the past supporting the current fracking policy as a “balanced and responsible” one.

The weekend’s state conference was the first to be held with the newly elected WA Labor team, and protesters were out in force on Saturday to encourage those attending to vote in support of the ban’s extension.

What did protesters do?

They handed out chocolate bilbies to party members to drive home their argument that fracking poses a threat to the greater bilby habitat.

They also handed out pamphlets providing members with information on the dangers of fracking.

Environs Kimberley executive director Martin Pritchard said the idea of fracking was “very unpopular” in WA, and welcomed an extension of the existing fracking ban.

The ban is also supported by key unions including the United Workers Union, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Unions, as well as the grassroots Labor Environmental Action Network.

“We thank the Labor Party members and unions who supported this motion,” Pritchard said.

“The majority of West Australians don’t want to see the Kimberley trashed ... and it’s powerful to see ALP members elevating fracking into the party platform.

“The Cook government must listen to its members and the majority of West Australians who recognise fracking would be a disaster for the majestic Kimberley, its communities, its rivers and aquifers, and its unique nature.”

Lock the Gate Alliance state campaign coordinator Simone van Hattem said their campaign against Kimberley fracking continued to grow.

“More and more people are telling us they don’t want fracking in the Kimberley. West Australians don’t want to see the iconic Kimberley become a polluted and pockmarked wasteland,” she said.

“Labor’s members and voters want this ban. Now it’s up to Premier Cook to get it done.”

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