Woodside Petroleum stated the obvious in that it will not be making any payments, ex-gratia or otherwise to Jabirr Jabirr and Goolarabooloo Traditional Owners and to their communities for signing up to the $1.5 billion benefits package. As far as they are concerned the deal has fallen through and the land use agreement had been subject to the $40 billion dollar gas hub going ahead.
Now that the gas hub deal has been shelved so has the land use agreement that was voted on by many of the Traditional Owners but under a cloud of compulsory acquisition land threats by Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett.
Woodside has given $3.7 million to Traditional Owners in good faith advance payments but there will be little more. Many rights advocates and Aboriginal leaders have been arguing that the social benefits package should be paid to the Traditional Owners – because they did sign a deal and it is not their fault it fell through. The funds would assist many within impoverished communities to finally rise out of abject poverty. The deal would have been the biggest financial deal secured under Native Title. The couple of hundred thus far Native Title determinations in the last seventeen years have not come close to what was offered to the Kimberley’s Jabirr Jabirr and Goolarabooloo.
Some are saying that the State Government, who were party to the deal, should make the payments to the Traditional Owners. But Premier Barnett said this will not happen. He has made it patently clear that there will be no benefits package without his dream gas hub precinct.
The communities will now miss out on all but a small part of the package as it was conditional on the onshore processing liquefied natural gas hub at James Price Point (Walmadany).
Woodside Petroleum’s CEO Peter Coleman said that $18 million in Native Title payments would still be made. Woodside would keep to the terms and conditions of the contracts signed.
“The agreement was very clear,” said Mr Coleman after Woodside’s annual general meeting last Wednesday.
“It was based upon the successful final investment decision at James Price Point.”
“We do not expect to be making ex-gratia payments to them.”
The former Kimberley Land Council CEO, Wayne Bergmann said the State Government is morally obliged to ensure the $1.5 billion package. Mr Bergmann had been deeply involved in the negotiations.
He is disappointed because he said the structure of the benefits package would have run for decades and changed the lives of all.
“During the negotiations, the State Government, and Woodside put the Traditional Owners under extreme pressure,” said Mr Bergmann.
“The extreme pressure produced the agreement.”
He said that none of the venture partners ensured that the Traditional Owners were “dealt fairly” and that the deal had been pushed through circumventing normal Native Title processes that the venture partners have a duty to pay out. “I believe it is incumbent on those joint venture parties to ensure the benefits package is implemented.”
“You have to consider the savage way in which Aboriginal peoples had to negotiate. There were threats of taking the land without a compensation package.”
“We were under pressure.”
He said that even if the gas is processed offshore the venture partners will still have the capacity to pay out the benefits package.
Jabirr Jabirr Elder Rita Augustine who signed off on the deal and who last year wrote to the nation and its political leaders in pushing for the gas hub benefits package to assist her peoples out of chronic and abject poverty said she now feels “betrayed by Woodside.”
“We had an agreement.”
Despite the majority of Jabirr Jabirr supporting the gas hub proposal for the sake of the benefits package, the majority of the Goolarabooloo opposed it.
Jabbir Jabbir Elder Cissy Djiagween said the Aboriginal youth suicide rate in the Kimberley was among the highest in the nation, homelessness was high, unemployment was high, illnesses were rampant.
More than 7 per cent of the Kimberley is homeless, with 90 per cent of the homelessness being Aboriginal peoples.
Ms Djiagween said the benefits package could have saved lives.
Traditional Owner Rita Augustine – Photo, Aaron Bunch
Ms Augustine said “Woodside had our spirits up.”
“But now our children will not benefit with education, jobs, good health.”
Former Australian Greens Senator, Dr Bob Brown who was vehemently opposed to the gas hub said that the State Government can ensure the equivalent amount of funds promised through the benefits package can be paid out by the State Government and the venture partners and assist both the Jabirr Jabirr and Goolarabooloo peoples.
Despite all the recent financial talk that the natural gas market has been impacted by exports from the North American market, particularly with its capturing the China market the demand for natural gas remains strong
Mr Coleman said natural gas demand would remain strong for several more years. Therefore it is evident that the 13 trillions of cubic metres of the Browse gas will be extracted and processed but it will be done offshore – processed offshore with floating technology.
But as there is no Native Title recognised over the seas the Jabirr Jabirr and Goolarabooloo peoples will miss out and stay impoverished for at least another generation.
In a surprise statement Woodside’s chair Michael Chaney said the protests and dissent had “zero” influence on the Board’s decision not to proceed with the $40 billion gas hub. Well, the The Stringer knows that this is not true. We have published what our sources told us, that Board members and executives indeed did raise as concerns – the dissent, the protesters. Board members and executives were also horrified by Premier Barnett’s compulsory acquisition threats.
Mr Chaney told several hundred shareholders at the annual general meeting that the development of the gas fields remained on the Woodside agenda.
“With the other Browse joint venture participants, we now immediately turn our attention to alternative development options for the Browse fields so that this resource can deliver long-term benefits for our shareholders and the broader community,” said Mr Chaney.
Mr Coleman said that the venture partners still retained a 20 month lease over the gas fields and would work in that time to develop “a basis design work on new concepts”.
Woodside announced at its general meeting a special dividend return of $500 million to shareholders late next month. The dividend sent Woodside shares up ten per cent. Shareholders approved the company’s 2012 remuneration report which included Mr Coleman’s total pay of $7.3 million, including nearly $5 million in bonuses. The Kimberley’s Aboriginal peoples endure not only some of the nation’s worst, but some of the world’s worst rates of suicide, homelessness and poverty.
