ESD and community participation: the Strategic Assessment of the proposed Kimberley LNG Precinct, 2007–2013

Abstract

The Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 seeks to promote ecologically sustainable development (ESD), in part by espousing the principle that ‘decision-making processes should effectively integrate both long-term and short-term economic, environmental, social and equitable considerations’. Strategic assessments of proposals for major industrial developments constitute a key part of the act's machinery for pursuing this principle. The article considers the extent to which Strategic Assessments are effective in this regard, drawing on a case study, the Commonwealth – Western Australia Strategic Assessment of the proposed Kimberley Liquefied Natural Gas Precinct. It shows that while the early stages of the Strategic Assessment did reflect sustained efforts to adhere to ESD principles, as the Assessment proceeded, party political, bureaucratic and commercial pressures made it increasingly difficult to do so. Of particular importance was the impact of these factors on the time lines and processes applied to project approvals and the Strategic Assessment, which ultimately meant that critical ESD principles could not be achieved.

Keywords:

• strategic environmental assessment
• public participation
• indigenous rights
• indigenous political mobilisation
• sustainable development

Notes

1. In doing so the author complies with confidentiality requirements mandated in contractual arrangements between Griffith University and the Kimberley Land Council.

2. The Strategic Assessment Agreement and the Final Terms of Reference are available at http://www.environment.gov.au/epbc/notices/assessments/pubs/kimberley.pdf, viewed 6 January 2014.

3. For reasons of space this section outlines only the main features of Aboriginal participation in the LNG Precinct Site Selection Process; for a detailed discussion see KLC (2010b) and O’Faircheallaigh (2013).

4. For a detailed discussion of the wunan including its relevance in another commercial context, see Doohan (2008).