DESPITE federal environment minister Murray Watt giving Woodside Energy “provisional” approval to expand its Burrup Hub, the WA Conservation Council hasn’t given up its campaign to protect Scott Reef.
Council offshoot Go Beyond Gas Perth and Swan will be screening the documentary Corals’ Last Stand at the Bassendean Community Hall on Saturday September 20 to highlight the proximity of Woodside’s drilling to the reef; Browse Basin’s closest wells would be within two kilometres.
WA author Tim Winton and musician John Butler have lent their voices to the documentary warning of the “imminent threats” facing one of Australia’s last great wild places.
The film follows a dozen scientists, conservationists and artists on an expedition to Scott Reef, a remote coral atoll almost 300 kilometres off the Kimberley coast.
The reef supports about 1,500 species, including endangered turtles, sea snakes and the pygmy blue whale, but faces drilling plans from Woodside, which wants to sink up to 50 gas wells nearby.
Tim Winton called Scott Reef “the jewel in the crown of WA’s Kimberley coast and one of the last wild places left in this country.”
“The world’s coral reefs are in desperate trouble, and Scott Reef is like a sentinel,” he said. “If we lose Scott Reef, it’ll signal the end for all coral reefs.”
John Butler described the reef as “one of the most pristine parts of planet Earth”.
Director Jane Hammond said the documentary has already picked up international awards from Paris to Los Angeles. Saturday’s screening includes a Q&A with marine experts and campaigners.
“Thousands upon thousands of people got together to save Ningaloo Reef … and they’re going to do the same to save Scott Reef,” Winton said.
Late in August WA’s Environment Protection Authority said after an “unusual” second submission period on Browse prompted by amendments sought by Woodside, its assessment would remain substantially the same.
The EPA’s report and recommendations will be subject to a three-week public appeal period after which environment minister Matthew Swinbourn will make the final decision.