Greens slam government for poor vision on Barrow

Thursday, 26 February

 

Greens MLC for the Mining and Pastoral region Robin Chapple yesterday slammed the government’s 2015 Barrow Island management plan as largely not addressing the extent of the issues present nor accounting for the growth in size of the Gorgon project.

The environmental management plan lays out the government’s expectations relating to the island’s natural environment, cultural heritage and resources for the next 10 years.

Mr Chapple said the management plan offered nothing useful in the way of restoring what had already been damaged on Barrow Island but instead offered a method of simply managing the status quo.

“There is absolutely nothing new in this plan that wasn’t already a part of Gorgon’s original contract for the island,” he said.

“There has been a large expansion of the project – it is now 2 or 3 times the size it was intended to be – and this management plan fails to address any of the subsequent issues caused by this expansion.

“When Colin Barnett was opposition leader he said Gorgon should never have been allowed on Barrow Island and vowed to force them off should he become Premier.

“As is so often the case with our Premier he has neglected to follow through with this commitment, perhaps hoping the rest of us would just forget about the issue?”

Mr Chapple said Barrow Island was a poorly managed environmental disaster.

“Invasive species at critical levels, injured and threatened native species, loss of natural habitats due to concrete infrastructure, poorly managed quarantine – the list goes on,” he said.

“As the Gorgon project continues to expand so too will the threats to this pristine environment, in particularly the 24 species of endemic native flora and fauna.

“I believe the situation has reached a point where, once Gorgon has vacated the premises, it will take billions of dollars’ worth of reinvestment to return Barrow Island to the sensitive state it was in prior to the arrival of Chevron.”

For comment please contact Robin Chapple on 0409 379 263 or 9486 8255.

Media liaison: Tim Oliver     

Mobile: 0431 9696 25

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