BARNETT / FARAGHER Announcement of the Camden Sound off the Kimberley.

COLIN BARNETT

Can I first just acknowledge Donna Faragher as Minister for Environment, and also to Kieran McNamara, who is the CEO of the Department of Environment and Conservation.

The Kimberley is a spectacular part of Australia. It is a vast area some twice the size of the State of Victoria. To fly across the Kimberley from Broome to Kununurra is the same as flying from Melbourne to Sydney. It is a pristine environment, a vast and spectacular landscape. A unique species both in terms of the land, the coastal marine environment, and a unique plant variety also.

During the last State Election the Liberal Party recognised the significance of the Kimberley, and as part of that we made a commitment to a science and conservation strategy for the Kimberley with substantial funding to put that in place.

I think it’s also important that at time the we recognised, and I think most West Australians recognise, that unique and faraway and vast that the Kimberley is, there are all sorts of emerging pressures on the Kimberley region. In a sense the Kimberley has been discovered. While it has a long history of indigenous occupation, thousands of years, and the culture and the heritage that flows from that, it’s had over a hundred years of a pastoral industry, in the last 20 years we’ve seen the development of tourism, particularly concentrated around the Broome area. We’re now seeing the more than doubling of the Ord River irrigation project, a huge potential for agricultural production also in the Fitzroy Valley. There’s been significant discoveries of minerals, particularly along the Devonian restructure of the Kimberley, and of course now the very massive offshore gas and potentially oil reserves of the Browse Basin.

So, the Kimberley, unique as it is, faces pressures, and it is the responsibility of this generation to make sure that we put in place the planning based on good scientific evidence, good conservation values, that we plan and preserve the very best of the Kimberley for future generations, and that we have a comprehensive strategy right across the Kimberley.

One of the very unique aspects of the Kimberley is the migration. The migration of humpback from Antarctica up to the Kimberley during the autumn months, their breeding and calving in the Kimberley and then their return during the spring time to the Antarctic, is one of the world’s great migrations of any species. The numbers of humpback whales that make that journey every year have been increasing, and are estimated at 22,000. That is an extraordinary number of animals, and an extraordinary migration, and fortunately the numbers are increasing at around 10 per cent per year.

Of all the breeding and calving locations along our vast coastline, Camden Sound is identified as the most significant. It is the largest nursery for humpback whales anywhere on the planet. It is a significant area, some 4,000 square kilometres, and today I’m delighted to announce on behalf the Liberal-National Government that we are to declare Camden Sound as a marine park, to ensure all the protection for that very pristine and unique environment, and particularly as the world’s most important calving ground for humpback whales, and that ensures that the whale population and this pristine and beautiful part of will be preserved forever.

I’d now like to hand over to the Minister for Environment, Donna Faragher, to explain the details of what this declaration actually means. Thank you.

DONNA FARAGHER

Thank you Premier.

As the Premier said, today is a special day for the Kimberley and the . As the Premier has said, around 22,000 humpback whales migrate annually from the Antarctic along our west coast to the north of our State to breed and to have babies. And they are the largest single population of humpback whales around the world.

Of those around 1,000 visit Camden Sound each year to have the babies, and that represents the largest humpback whale nursery in the Southern Hemisphere, essentially it is a safe haven for mothers and their calves, and it is a very, very large maternity ward. It has been identified as a very pristine area. There are a range of corals, mangroves, dugongs, and turtles, that is in addition obviously to the humpback… humpback whales.

We believe that this area is very much worthy of protection, both now and in the future. It is an area that was identified through the public consultation process as part of the development of the Kimberley Science and Conservation Strategy. Today I am also releasing the report undertaken by Chris Ellison as part of that public consultation. An enormous amount of work was undertaken as part of that report. We had over a hundred submissions as well as 200 or more people attending public forums throughout the Kimberley and in Perth.

In terms of where to from here with the marine park: the Department of Environment and Conservation will now develop a draft management plan. That will then be release for public comment with the Marine Parks and Reserve’s Authority. It will be undertaken for a three month consultation period. After that a final plan will be provided to me and to the Government, for decision and confirmation, and I would like to see that we will have a marine park in place by early to mid next year in time for the next migration of the humpback whale.

We do believe that this is a very, very special area not only for Western Australia, but indeed the world and it shows a very strong commitment of this Government not only to our environment but to the humpback whale, which is a threatened species.

REPORTER 1

Minister, a marine park, is that the highest level of protection that a state government can, I guess, put on an area? [inaudible]

DONNA FARAGHER

Yes it is, in terms of marine park… what it will enable is greater management for the area. There is a clear recognition that Camden Sound is becoming very well-known. We would like to see, obviously more tourists and the like. We need to have very good management processes in place for the department, and for the range of activities that are undertaken in the area.

Ultimately we want to make sure that the whales are protected, and this is the way to do that.

REPORTER 2

Does it stop people in any way from using the waters in that area?

DONNA FARAGHER

The process now, as part of the public consultation, will go through all the range of activities that can be undertaken. We would expect that, you know, people will still be able to go to Camden Sound, tourists… that’s what we want, we actually want to be able to showcase what we have here in Western Australia. I mean, this is something that is unique to our State and, you know, the fact is this is the maternity ward for the humpback whales and I think that’s something that we should all celebrate as Western Australians, and so we want to have people still going to Camden Sound. We recognise that there are a range of activities that are already undertaken there, and that will be worked through as part of the consultation.

REPORTER 3

How much money do you have to invest in something like this?

DONNA FARAGHER

The Kimberley Science and Conservation Strategy – $9 million has been committed by the Government over four years. This is part of that. We now have the public consultation report provided by Chris Ellison. That also involves a range of issues for the Kimberley that we need to address, ranging from fire management, feral animals, marine, terrestrial issues. So all of those things will now be considered by the Government as part of the development of that strategy. Today’s announcement is the first and early indication of the Government’s commitment to the Kimberley.

REPORTER 4

What other indicators are we seeing [inaudible] in the near future, and given DEC’s involvement in protecting marine animals?

DONNA FARAGHER

In terms of the Kimberley Science and Conservation strategy, there are a number of initiatives that I am looking to develop. There are a number of areas in terms of, for example, fire management: fire is a significant problem in the Kimberley. In addition to that we have feral animals as well. Conservation areas are important both from a marine and terrestrial point of view.

The Public Consultation clearly identified a range of issues that do need to be addressed, and we’re very keen to make sure that they are addressed in a very comprehensive strategy. So now on the release of Chris Ellison’s report that will now be considered in the context of all the other work that is done by… by the Government to make sure that we have an integrated strategy right across the Kimberley.

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