THE DEVELOPMENT, STATUS AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC LINKAGES OF KEY INDUSTRIES WITHIN AND ADJACENT TO THE NORTH-WEST MARINE REGION Julian Clifton, Maria Olejnik, Bryan Boruff and Matthew Tonts Institute for Regional Development November 2007 Prepared for the Department of Environment and Water Resources * * The title of the Department was changed to Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts in late 2007. 2 © Commonwealth of Australia 2007. This work is copyright. You may download, display, print and reproduce this material in unaltered form only (retaining this notice) for your personal, non-commercial use or use within your organisation. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, all other rights are reserved. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to Commonwealth Copyright Administration, Attorney General’s Department, Robert Garran Offices, National Circuit, Barton ACT 2600 or posted at http://www.ag.gov.au/cca DISCLAIMER The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Australian Government or the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts or the Minister for Climate Change and Water. While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure that the contents of this publication are factually correct, the Commonwealth does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the contents, and shall not be liable for any loss or damage that may be occasioned directly or indirectly through the use of, or reliance on, the contents of this publication. i TABLE OF CONTENTS FIGURES AND TABLES v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS viii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ix 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Background and project rationale 1 1.2 Methods 3 2 HISTORY OF THE REGION’S SETTLEMENT 4 2.1 Indigenous history 4 2.2 Early European settlement and development 5 2.3 Pearling and fishing 6 2.4 Mineral resources 7 2.5 Oil and gas 8 2.6 Agricultural development 9 3 DRIVERS OF CHANGE AFFECTING THE INDUSTRIES OF 11 THE NORTH WEST MARINE REGION 3.1 Global macroeconomic trends 11 3.2 International politics and policy 12 3.3 National and statewide economic conditions 13 3.4 National and statewide politics and policies 15 3.5 Regional and local conditions 16 4 PORTS AND SHIPPING 17 4.1 State and Commonwealth policy objectives 17 4.2 Activity at the State and National level 18 ii 4.3 Regional activity 20 4.3.1 Trading activity 20 4.3.2 Investment activity 23 4.4 Socio-economic dimensions 23 4.4.1 Drivers of change 23 4.4.2 Socio-economic linkages 25 5 OIL AND GAS 28 5.1 State and Commonwealth policy objectives 28 5.2 Activity at the State and National level 29 5.3 Regional activity 31 5.3.1 Basin characteristics 31 5.3.2 Basin access 33 5.3.3 Title releases 34 5.3.4 Production 36 5.4 Socio-economic dimensions 37 5.4.1 Drivers of change 37 5.4.2 Socio-economic linkages 38 6 COMMERCIAL FISHING 49 6.1 State and Commonwealth policy objectives 49 6.2 Activity at the State and National level 51 6.3 Regional activity 53 6.3.1 Fish catches 53 6.3.2 Employment 58 6.4 Socio-economic dimensions 60 6.4.1 Drivers of change 60 6.4.2. Socio-economic linkages 61 iii 7 RECREATIONAL FISHING 67 7.1 State and Commonwealth policy objectives 67 7.2 Activity at the State and National level 68 7.3 Regional activity 69 7.3.1 Participation 69 7.3.2 Location of activity 72 7.4 Socio-economic dimensions 74 7.4.1 Drivers of change 74 7.4.2 Indigenous fishing activity 76 7.4.3 Socio-economic linkages 76 8 MARINE TOURISM 80 8.1 State and Commonwealth policy objectives 80 8.2 Activity at the State and National level 81 8.3 Regional activity 83 8.3.1 Visitor numbers 83 8.3.2 Tourism activity 85 8.3.3 Tourism expenditure 86 8.3.4 Employment 88 8.3.5 Infrastructure 90 8.4 Socio-economic dimensions 90 8.4.1 Drivers of change 90 8.4.2 Socio-economic linkages 94 9 PEARLING AND AQUACULTURE 97 9.1 State and Commonwealth policy objectives 97 9.2 Activity at the State and National level 98 9.3 Regional activity 100 9.3.1 Pearling 100 9.3.2 Aquaculture 103 9.4 Socio-economic dimensions 103 iv 9.4.1 Drivers of change 103 9.4.2 Socio-economic linkages 106 10 EMERGING INDUSTRIES 110 10.1 Agriculture 110 10.2 Mineral processing 111 10.3 Energy, oil and gas 112 10.4 Manufacturing 113 10.5 Tourism 114 10.6 Aquaculture 114 10.7 Indigenous-owned businesses 115 11 FUTURE DIRECTIONS AND ISSUES FOR INDUSTRIES OF 116 THE NORTH-WEST MARINE REGION 11.1 Oil and gas 116 11.2 Ports and shipping 117 11.3 Commercial fishing 119 11.4 Recreational fishing 121 11.5 Marine tourism 123 11.6 Pearling and aquaculture 124 11.7 Developing industries 124 11.8 Development hotspots and trends over the next two decades 125 12 CONCLUSION 128 13 REFERENCES 130 v FIGURES AND TABLES FIGURES Figure 1.1 Location of the North-west Marine Region 2 Figure 4.1 Location of ports in Western Australia 18 Figure 5.1 Petroleum basins in the North West of Western Australia 32 Figure 5.2 Area of exploration and production titles released in the North 35 West of Western Australia, 1985-2007 Figure 5.3 Location of titles released in the North West of Western 36 Australia, 2005-2007 Figure 5.4 Direct employment in the minerals and petroleum sector, 41 Western Australia 1995-2004 Figure 8.1 Regional Tourism Organisations within Western Australia 81 Figure 9.1 Zonation of the Western Australian pearl oyster fishery 101 TABLES Table 4.1 Trading activity in ports adjacent to the North-west Marine 21 Region Table 4.2 Tonnage of commodities traded through Port Authority ports 22 adjacent to the North-west Marine Region 2005-06 Table 5.1 Quantity of petroleum production in Western Australia 30 1997-2006 Table 5.2 Value of petroleum production ($m) in Western Australia 31 1997-2006 Table 5.3 Access to petroleum production basins in and adjacent to the 34 North-west Marine Region, 2007 Table 5.4 Employment in the petroleum sector 2000 and 2001 39 Table 5.5 Employment in the petroleum sector 2004-05 and 2005-06 40 Table 5.6 Building activity in North West Western Australia, 2000-2004 43 Table 5.7 New dwelling unit construction in North West Western 44 Australia, 2000-2004 Table 5.8 Committed oil and gas projects as of August 2007 47 Table 5.9 Oil and gas projects under consideration as of August 2007 48 vi Table 6.1 Volume (tonnes) of commercial fish catch in Western 52 Australian state waters 2000-01 to 2005-06 Table 6.2 Value of production ($’000) of commercial fish catch in 53 Western Australian state waters 2000-01 to 2005-06 Table 6.3 Estimated catch and value of major commercial fisheries 54 within and adjacent to the NWMR, 2000-2005 Table 6.4 Employment in commercial fisheries within and adjacent to the 58 NWMR, 2005 Table 7.1 Projected total recreational fishers based on resident local 70 population in statistical local areas adjacent to the NWMR 2001-06 Table 7.2 Projected total recreational fishers based on location on census 71 night in statistical local areas adjacent to the NWMR 2001-06 Table 7.3 Attributable fishing expenditure by Western Australian 77 recreational fishers by item category 1999-2000 Table 8.1 Visitor summary for Western Australia, 2006 82 Table 8.2 Distribution of all visitors to Western Australia by tourism 83 region 2000-06 Table 8.3 Average number of annual overnight visitors to locations 84 adjacent to the NWMR 2003-2006 Table 8.4 Location of tourism-related services along the coastline 85 adjacent to the North-west Marine Region Table 8.5 Direct and indirect economic impacts for tourism regions in 87 Western Australia, 2001-02 Table 8.6 Employment in tourism in areas adjacent to the North-west 88 Marine Region, 2004 Table 8.7 Numbers employed in tourist accommodation sector for the 89 Coral Coast Tourism Region 2005-07 Table 8.8 Numbers employed in tourist accommodation sector for the 89 North West Tourism Region 2005-07 Table 8.9 Tourism accommodation projects under construction in areas 90 adjacent to the North-west Marine Region 2006 Table 9.1 Value of aquaculture produce in Western Australia, 2000-01 99 to 2005-06 Table 9.2 Volume of aquaculture produce in Western Australia, 2000-01 99 to 2005-06 vii Table 9.3 Value of pearl and aquaculture production in the NWMR 100 2002-2005 Table 9.4 Predicted future value of aquaculture in Western Australia, 2015 104 viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AAPMA Association of Australian Ports and Maritime Authorities ABS Australian Bureau of Statistics ABARE Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics ACWA Aquaculture Council of Western Australia AFMA Australian Fisheries Management Authority ATC Australian Trade Commission BRS Bureau of Rural Sciences BTRE Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics DAFF Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry DEW Department of Environment and Water Resources DFAT Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade DITR Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources DLGRD Department of Local Government and Regional Development DoIR Department of Industry and Resources DOTARS Department of Transport and Regional Services DPI Department of Planning and Infrastructure EPA Environmental Protection Agency FRDC Fisheries Research and Development Corporation MCE Ministerial Council on Energy WAFIC Western Australian Fishing Industry Council ix EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This Report identifies the current status of key sectors of economic activity within and adjacent to the North-west Marine Region (also referred to as the NWMR and the Region) of Australia and their linkages to the socio-economic characteristics of communities adjacent to the Region, commenting upon policies at various administrative levels and the likely scenarios of future development.