A failure to sensibly regulate the mining industry is compromising its productivity, the environment — and the electoral fortunes of the Labor government.  A demonstration in Melbourne yesterday against the proposed James Price Point Gas Plant, near Broome (WA), highlighted this increasingly national issue. Tony Abbot’s support for farmers against the gasification of coal in Queensland also highlights the increasing opposition to poorly planned mining.  State and federal governments appear to be using mining industry projects to “open access” to Aboriginal land and high conservation areas.  As green groups, farmers and Aboriginal communities are drawn into conflict with the mining, there are increasing costs to industry and taxpayers from bad planning and conflict.

The mining industry as far back as 2008 proposed an offshore floating platform to process gas from the Browse Basin as a cost-effective option that would avoid conflict with Aboriginal communities and others. This is still ignored by federal and state governments.  They appear to want to force this development to “open up the Kimberly”, which they perceived as having environmental and Aboriginal significance that may slow or hinder development.

This political move may have significant costs electorally.  James Price Point, or Walmadan as it is known locally by the Jabirr Jabirr people, already has an indigenous eco-tourism industry.  This is based on Aboriginal culture, coral reefs along the shoreline, fossil dinosaur footprints and an extraordinary range of rare, small mammals that shelter in its rocky landscape.   The international profile of the Kimberly for nature-based tourism was driven for decades by the work of documentary maker and naturalist, the late Malcolm Douglas — founder and director of Save the Kimberly. It ticks all the international tourism boxes and is already generating employment and export income from overseas tourist spending.

This project is being pushed by Martin Ferguson, the federal Minister Resources Energy and Tourism. The construction of the gas hub will, it is claimed, lead to massive land clearing and the creation of an “exclusion zone”, wiping out present and future eco-tourism.

Already it has put industry into direct conflict with Aboriginal people and many in the Broome Community.

The WA and federal governments have already pushed for the development of another gas hub on Barrow Island, WA.  Barrow Island supports unique, now-endangered mammals once common throughout Western Australia.  The legendary naturalist Harry Butler worked closely with the oil industry to blend environmental management for an island with more unique mammal species than any other in Australia from the mid-1960s.  It was once the best example of how the oil industry could maximise production and conservation in Australia, if not the world.  Industry was more than happy to work with the local mammals and a series of documentaries have been made promoting its past management — excellent PR for the industry.

As if to challenge the conservation value of this island, the WA and federal governments approved 10 million tonnes per annum LNG and domestic gas plants in 2007.  It was was a political and impractical decision and now industry is “picking up the tab”.  Just being on an island is costly, adding additional plane and boat transport costs to everything.  Due to its highest conservation rating, all companies are loaded with extraordinary additional costs from washing every boat used and “shrink wrapping” all machinery delivered to the island, etc.  Bad planning, it is said, has also seen the port located on the inshore but windward side of the island.

Gasification of coal deposits in Queensland has brought farmers into direct conflict with the mining industry too, with the state and federal governments’ failure to properly regulate this type of mining properly generating even more conflict. Tony Abbot’s call for farmers to have the right to exclude mining from their land sent a cold chill through the entire mining industry.  This clearly was not as great as the “electoral chill” from badly planned gasification, stingy royalty payments and the potential long-term irreversible damage to aquifers.

Indeed, Ferguson may feel the electoral chill from protests that are increasingly shifting to his own rapidly “gentrifying” electorate of Batman in Melbourne.  Although rock stars are likely dismissed as “a threat” by political advisers, the opposition to the James Price Point from the local “voter voter” community is growing rapidly.  It is now also being driven by John Butler (of the John Butler Trio), Dan Sultan, who was in Melbourne for yesterday’s demonstration, and in the media.

Ferguson suffered a significant swing against him at the last election and still remains in danger of being rolled by the locally popular Greens candidate, Alex Bhathal, who easily out-polled the Liberal.  Demonstrating outside Ferguson’s electoral office she had no doubt where the responsibility for the debacle at James Price Point lay. Neither do the farmers in Queensland — just ask Tony Abbot.