Yungngora Native Title holders have reiterated their support for gas fracking exploration in Western Australia's west Kimberley almost two decades in the making.
A letter in support of the venture to WA premier Roger Cook and federal Resources Minister Madeleine King, among others, comes ahead of the WA Labor Party State Conference this weekend, and 17 years since Noonkanbah Traditional Owners began working with the project's proponents.
A motion to ban fracking across WA is set to be considered at the Labor conference in Fremantle, as the pursuit of environmental approvals remains ongoing at state and federal level for Black Mountain Energy's Project Valhalla on Noonkanbah Station, 2600km north of Perth.
"We have been working with various companies, over nearly 17 years now, to support the exploration, and hopefully eventual commercial development, of the oil and gas resources on Noonkanbah Station," Yungngora chairperson Thomas Skinner said.
"We remain confident the impacts of such a development can be managed in such a way, that they do not result in significant impacts to either our sacred sites or Country."
WA lifted its moratorium on fracking in 2018 after advice from an independent commission, but it still is banned across 98 per cent of the state - including the South West, Peel, Perth and Dampier Peninsula regions - with only the Kimberley and Mid West exempt, but with environmental, health, safety and other conditions.
Noonkanbah Station was the site of violent blockades amid intense political dispute when the government of the day allowed exploration company AMAX to drill for oil in sacred sites, shortly after Traditional Owners were granted the pastoral lease in 1976.
The Yungngora people had their Native Title recognised over the Noonkanbah land In April 2007.
"We fought to protect our sacred sites from (American oil and gas company) AMAX in 1978, we are still fighting now for economic development opportunities and the right for development to proceed on our own terms, and for the benefit of our people," Mr Skinner said.
"Year on year we experience the grief of more old people passing who led these fights, but also younger people passing from the impacts of alcohol and drugs.
"We are still ultimately fighting for the right to provide our young people with job and business opportunities that encourage alcohol and drug free lifestyles, which the oil and gas industry can provide."
Yungngora Aboriginal Corporation interim CEO, Emma White, said those opposed to the fracking exploration were "outsiders" and Traditional Owners were strongly in favour of the project, particularly to enhance prospects of the 500-strong Yungngora community's young people in Noonkanbah - now a dry town but one previously awash with alcohol and drug issues.
"They want the opportunity for jobs and business and the ability to diversify, as there are ongoing challenges given it's a dry town," Ms White said.
"They very much want to provide opportunities for people that offer a drug and alcohol free lifestyle, which is what you get across the resources industry."
Given the extraordinary length of time to reach the environmental approval stage, Ms White and Mr Skinner urged the WA Government to prioritise certain regulatory measures for Project Valhalla to "progress in the near future, to the next stage of exploration appraisal and hopefully eventual commercial development".
The Kimberley Land Council has long been opposed to fracking, while the WA Chamber of Minerals and Energy said a total ban could deter future investment from international trading partners.
The Texas-based Black Mountain Energy, through its Australian subsidiary Bennett Resources, has submitted a proposal to the EPA to drill and frack up to 20 wells in the Canning Basin for the Valhalla Gas Exploration and Appraisal Program, a project about 120 kilometres south-east of Derby in West Kimberley.
BME said on its website the Canning Basin was "one of the largest undeveloped gas reservoirs in the world," with some predicting its resource value even higher than the Northern Territory's much-vaunted Beetaloo Basin development.
The EPA is currently reviewing public submissions as part of its assessment process, while the Commonwealth's environmental assessment is ongoing.
