The Western Australian government has signed an agreement with traditional owners to protect a large area of the Fitzroy River and jointly manage a new national park.
The government signed an Indigenous land use agreement with the people of Bunuba on Thursday to allow the construction of a national park around the river listed in the national heritage list, extending the Danggu Geikie Gorge national park north to Dimond Gorge.
The area is 173,000 hectares and will be jointly managed by the Bunuba Dawangarri Aboriginal Corporation and the national department of biodiversity, conservation and tourism. The park will be built once the agreement is registered with the national international rights forum, the WA government said.
What Did The Environment Minister Say?
Environment Minister Stephen Dawson said the government was committed to working with Bunuba and other traditional owners in the Fitzroy area to protect the river, known as the living ancestor.
“The McGowan government stands by its commitment not to allow the Fitzroy River or its rivers to run dry,” Dawson said. “Protection of the natural flow of the river is very important.”
Dimond Gorge was at the heart of many of the plans that shepherds had rejected to destroy the Fitzroy River. The latest proposal was put forward in 2017 by agricultural company Kimco, founded by New South Wales cotton farmer John Logan.
National Park Expansion
In 2019, mining millionaire Gina Rineheart, who has been buying lease agreements for teachers in Kimberley, promised to trade tens of thousands of acres of land to the government to build a national park to obtain an annual water license of 325GL.
Dawson said investing in parks would create tourism jobs. In a joint statement, Dawson and Minister of Indigenous Affairs Ben Wyatt said pastoralists were concerned about the boundaries of the reserve and concerns about water availability “to ensure that diversity opportunities are not severely compromised in the park”.
Environmentalists have welcomed the expansion of the national park but said the agreement does not limit pastoralists to pumping groundwater from the Fitzroy irrigation system.
Environs Kimberley director Martin Pritchard said it was a “historic day” but the use of water by farmers remains dangerous.
“It is a very good step in protecting the river. However, the biggest threats to the river are still there, suggestions from Gina Rinehart and the Harris family of NSW to take hundreds of billions of liters of water and clear tens of thousands of hectares of traditional forests with cattle, cotton and other crops, ”said Pritchard.
“The McGowan government promised to protect the river in the last election. The construction of the Fitzroy River National Park needs to be assisted by protecting the flow and flooding of the entire river.
“To do this effectively flood-prone areas and surface water need to be protected from major pumps, canals and other water-taking infrastructure.”
Discussion Paper
Traditional owners in September warned that if heavy irrigation was allowed, a 700-mile [700 km] river could run through the Murray-Darling Basin.
The McGowan government last month released a memorandum of understanding on the Fitzroy River water management plan that said it recognized the need to protect the river and “support people’s efforts to create economic opportunities across the Fitzroy River”.
It prioritizes two options: allowing only groundwater extraction, installed at 108.5GL per year with pumping restrictions from offshore and Devonian Reef; or to allow for the removal of groundwater and surface water, the groundwater limit remains at 108.5GL per year and the maximum water discharge is confined to 300GL, is phased out, and 90GL is held in a traditional water storage area.
Submissions in the discussion paper close on 31 May.
