In a balance of power position, the Greens (WA) will negotiate for an end to forest mining in Western Australia and greater protections for our forests.
WA has some of the most beautiful and biodiverse forests on earth yet bauxite mining is the number one cause of deforestation in these forests, with over 33,000 hectares already lost to this strip-mining practice and huge expansion proposals before government.
These forests are vital for wildlife, biodiversity, water and climate and the Greens will prioritise their protection.
While aluminium and critical minerals are essential to the energy transition, the destruction of any more of our forests is a net loss for our climate and our state’s dwindling biodiversity – mining must be off limits in native forests.
In 2023, the community was appalled when Environment Minister Reece Whitby and the Cook Government took the extraordinary step of granting Alcoa a special exemption to continue clearing forests even while the WA Environmental Protection Authority undertakes an assessment of the company’s impacts on the environment.
The Greens will hold the Cook Labor government to account and call an end to the prioritising of corporate profits over our precious forests and the endangered wildlife who call them home.
In a balance of power position, the Greens will push for:
- All new forest mining and expansion proposals to be rejected.
- The immediate and permanent exclusion of mining from Reservoir Protection Zones.
- The immediate protection of critical habitat and other high conservation value forests through the creation of mining exclusion zones.
- A rapid phase out of forest mining and a just transition for all workers in the sector.
Greens WA Forest Spokesperson Jess Beckerling:
“We have some of the most beautiful, biodiverse forests on Earth, and we’re treating them like a giant quarry. This has to come to an end.
“It is impossible to restore a jarrah forest after bauxite mining. The science is very clear that once they’re gone they’re gone forever.
“The community was appalled when Minister Whitby and the Cook Government recently granted Alcoa a special exemption to keep clearing even while the EPA finally assesses its impacts.
“It’s staggering that the Cook Government has allowed clearing to continue even in the face of the Water Corporation stating that a contamination event from Alcoa’s strip mining is considered certain, and that it constitutes the most significant risk to Perth and the South West’s water quality.”
WA Greens MLC Dr Brad Pettitt:
“Right now, almost nowhere in WA is off limits to mining projects.
“We have so much land, yet we allow these massive multinational companies to deforest and destroy some of the most biodiverse habitats in our state, home to critically endangered species.
“Right now, the South West Black Cockatoos are in serious trouble with the Perth Zoo and wildlife centres reporting an inundation of starving cockatoos coming into their care.
“Protecting what remains of our native forests and restoring their habitat is the only way to prevent further decline and the unthinkable extinction of these beloved birds.”
Greens WA candidate Diane Evers:
“Mining Exclusion Zones are required throughout the southwest to protect areas for conservation, food security, tourism and other economic activities.
“Our Mining Act is 45 years old and no longer reflects the interests of our communities. Nowhere in the legislation is the term, “public interest” defined.
“Our southwest forests provide considerable economic value to the nearby communities for recreation, honey production, and biological research, and this is in addition to the physical and mental health values of interacting with nature.
“Our Environmental Protection Authority should be fully independent and assess mining applications taking into account the cumulative impact on the forest over time.”
Background
The current primary cause of deforestation in WA’s south west forests is bauxite mining by Alcoa and South32. In the past sixty years, bauxite mining has been responsible for the clearing of at least 33,000 hectares of publicly owned forests. The rate of clearing for bauxite mining is accelerating – with more than a third of this area cleared between 2010 and 2020.
The loss of forest from mining activities is permanent. The science is very clear – jarrah forests do not regrow after bauxite mining. This forest destruction has profoundly devastating impacts on Black Cockatoos, Quokkas and other endangered wildlife.
South West Black Cockatoos rely on the nesting and feeding habitat in the Northern Jarrah Forests. Following WA’s longest, hottest, driest summer on record, and the resulting drought impacts on the forests, all three species are reportedly struggling.
The Perth Zoo and wildlife centres are reporting an inundation of starving cockatoos coming into their care and experts are renewing calls for habitat to be protected and restored to prevent their extinction.
Bauxite mining in our forests is also risking Perth’s water. The Water Corporation has said that Alcoa’s strip mining in water supply catchments “the single most significant risk to water quality in Perth and the South West” and that a contamination event is “considered certain”.