WA Marine Updates
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Tony Burke: man in the hot seat - February 04, 2012
SWIRLING around the remote islands of King Sound on the Buccaneer Archipelago, powerful 12m tides create the Kimberley coastline's horizontal waterfalls, dotting the waters with perilous whirlpools that can sink the foolhardy and the unprepared. The region is a favourite place for federal Environment Minister Tony Burke, who last year declared the west Kimberley a National Heritage area. Burke is confident the next 12 months will be his time of delivery. It will, he hopes, provide an environmental legacy for the nation and a personal legacy for his time in the environment portfolio. But some fear he has too much on his plate. "It is a big program and this stuff is getting more complex, not less," national campaign director for the Wilderness Society Lyndon Schneiders says.
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Heritage decision 'won't halt industry' - August 31, 2011
Environmental lobby groups have slammed federal environment minister Tony Burke’s announcement of national heritage listing for the Kimberley and the exclusion of James Price Point. The Wilderness Society slammed Mr Burke’s decision to exclude James Price Point - the proposed site of Woodside's $30 million natural gas hub - from the listing. National campaign director Lyndon Schneiders said the listing would be meaningless if the Browse gas precinct went ahead.
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Kimberley heritage listing: the verdict - August 31, 2011
The site of Woodside’s $30 billion proposed liquefied natural gas hub in Western Australia won’t be included in the heritage listing of the west Kimberley. Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke announced near Broome this morning that more than 19 million hectares of the west Kimberley will be given national heritage listing. The Wilderness Society's national campaign director Lyndon Schneiders said the listing would be meaningless if the Browse gas precinct, proposed to be built at James Price Point, went ahead.
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Don't come the raw prawn with us: fishing industry says - August 04, 2011
Northern prawn fishermen have rejected claims their industry is as destructive to the ocean as clear-felling of forests on land. A new report released by a number of Australian environmental groups has branded sea floor fishing as being "indiscriminate" in its impact on marine life. Gavan McFadzean from the Wilderness Society called on Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke to rule out any watering down of proposed new marine sanctuaries to benefit sea floor trawling or gillnet fishing.
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Fight primed to explode as sparks fly over gas hub - October 01, 2011
If Woodside, the Premier of Western Australia Colin Barnett and the Minister for Resources and Energy Martin Ferguson, wanted a fight over the Browse gas hub on the Kimberley coast, they've got it. The Wilderness Society campaign director, Lyndon Schneiders, was more blunt, recently saying: "We are going to throw everything, including the kitchen sink, to stop this divisive and inappropriate proposal. If we lose here, the whole of the Kimberley will be at threat.''
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Wet season drilling worries green group - December 16, 2011
Conservationists in Western Australia have raised concerns about oil and gas drilling continuing in the Kimberley during the wet season. The Wilderness Society of WA says Buru Energy is being unsafe by planning to drill for the resources in the Canning Basin during the cyclone season.
