‘Beggars belief’: The proposed industrial port within WA’s newest marine park

A proposal for a major industrial port just 10 kilometres south of Exmouth goes against government plans to transform the region into Western Australia’s newest marine park, conservationists argue.As public comment opens in the state environment watchdog’s assessment of the Gascoyne Gateway Marine Complex proposal, which has been afoot since 2020, a campaign against the project is in full swing over concerns the plans would require extensive dredging and see shipping lanes cut through a critical humpback whale resting and nursing ground.A map of the Exmouth Gulf.Two other proposals within the Exmouth Gulf – the Subsea 7 oil and gas pipeline and a proposed industrial salt project – have both been withdrawn.Ningaloo was designated as a World Heritage area in 2011, however the boundaries of that designation do not include the Exmouth Gulf.The proposed port would also be located next to Qualing Pool, a rare freshwater oasis that the state government has earmarked as a class A nature reserve, and which the Environmental Protection Authority has previously urged a higher level of protection for.The port would be used by large vessels including fuel tankers, cargo ships, cruise liners and other heavy shipping into the region.The proposal opened for public comment through the EPA on Monday.Protect Ningaloo and the Australian Marine Conservation Society have argued the port would be entirely incompatible with a marine park in the area.The region is home to threatened and listed species, including dugongs, turtles, manta rays, sea snakes and dolphins, as well as corals, seagrass meadows, and sponge gardens.Since plans were first announced in 2020, Protect Ningaloo said that more than 20,000 emails had been sent to current and past WA environment ministers urging them to reject the proposal.AMCS-Protect Ningaloo is campaigning to stop the port that would attract shipping through a critical humpback whale resting and nursing ground.Brooke PykeAustralian Marine Conservation Society chief executive and Protect Ningaloo director Paul Gamblin said the industrial port and dredging proposal was “completely incompatible with the environmentally fragile Exmouth Gulf, and would change this marine wonder forever”.“An industrial port proposal, jutting nearly a kilometre into Exmouth Gulf and dredging of more than a million cubic metres of the seafloor in one of the world’s most important whale nursing grounds beggars belief,” he said.“People know that Exmouth Gulf obviously is no place for a port – its future is one of conservation and sustainable, light-touch economic activity, not industrialisation.“Both the WA and federal governments have signalled that they are committed to protecting Exmouth Gulf so it’s time they made it clear that the future of this natural wonder is economic activity that treads lightly.”Cape Conservation Group chair Denise Fitch said Ningaloo was already under pressure from climate change.“We’ve recently experienced unprecedented coral bleaching and seagrass damage from marine heatwaves, and further destruction from Cyclone Narelle,” she said.“Now is not the moment to be adding industrial stressors to this fragile ecosystem and this is no place for an industrial port.”EPA Chair Darren Walsh said the public review marked a significant step in the assessment of the proposal.“It has been some time since the last opportunity for public feedback on this project,” he said.“The proponent has amended the proposal under assessment twice since the scoping stage, so this review provides specific details and the anticipated environmental outcomes related to all environmental factors under consideration by the EPA.”Walsh advised submitters to focus on the areas of key concern rather than trying to digest and scrutinise every aspect of the proposal.“The environmental review document and appendices that we have published today total more than 6000 pages,” he said.“This is a complex proposal with multiple environmental factors and diverse values.“It is also important to note that this public review is not about the number of submissions, rather it seeks facts and information to genuinely inform the EPA’s environmental impact assessment.“Targeted community and stakeholder consultation will form an important part of EPA assessment considerations.”After the consultation closes on November 16, the EPA will consider submissions and the proponent’s responses to those submissions.It will then complete its assessment and publish its recommendations. The environment minister will make the final decision on the proposal.From our partners