Kimberley traditional owners have come out swinging at Woodside, accusing the company of orchestrating the compulsory acquisition process triggered by Premier Colin Barnett.
Traditional Owner Negotiating Committee co-chair Frank Parriman, who had previously supported the bid to build a gas precinct at James Price Point, 60km north of Broome, said he was now reassessing his position.
"I believe a lot of this stuff was orchestrated by Woodside - my anger is at Woodside more than the Premier," he said. "They want this project and they're prepared to do anything to get it.
"But (Mr Barnett) should have had enough courage to stand up to Woodside and say you do the right thing by Aboriginal people and we'll be right.
"Instead, he's happy to knock down Aboriginal people - and he knows he's going to get public support, because it's easy to knock the old blackfella down.
"He's prepared to take land from us - he's not prepared to stand up to the company."
Woodside has said it is prepared to honour the terms of a $1.5bn benefits package it signed with the State Government and Kimberley Land Council in April last year.
But Mr Parriman said traditional owners, who met in Broome today, were "confused and very angry" about recent developments and it was "not about the money".
"It's about the social impacts, environmental impacts, impact on heritage and culture," he said. "They see this as the State stealing their country and that's what it actually amounts to.
"When we entered these negotiations, we did it on the basis of the benefits for the region and to create opportunity for Aboriginal people throughout the Kimberley.
"This situation threatens that … we don't want to leave anybody behind, we don't want to leave anybody worse off.
"The Jabirr Jabirr people are in a position now where if we walk away from it, nothing is going to change for Aboriginal people - if we stay with it, we don't get what we want."
Kimberley Land Council chief executive Wayne Bergmann called on the Premier to suspend the compulsory acquisition process and return to the negotiating table, warning history had shown when the Kimberley Aboriginal people banded together in a fight, they could "shake the ground".
He said the meeting was to ensure that traditional owners clearly understood their rights and the risks and consequences of proceeding.
"We're giving people advice about what are their rights in terms of objections, so they can make an informed decision about whether they continue to work with the State and Woodside or whether they sit back and oppose the project," he said.
"What fundamentally concerns us about compulsory acquisition is that it places traditional owners under enormous pressure. Ten days of negotiations between now and March would be bad faith on a project that's going to have 50 to 100 years impact on this region. It surely had to be an error … it is just so outrageous.
"This compulsory acquisition could well be the game changer, where Aboriginal people will not participate any further. If traditional owners instruct us to take a position for or against … that's what the KLC would mobilise its resources to do."
Mr Barnett said the decision to commence the compulsory acquisition process was necessary as the Kimberley Land Council and native title claimants had been unable to finalise an Indigenous Land Use Agreement despite three time extensions and $15.6 million in funding.
"The State Government would prefer to sign an ILUA based on consent, and I continue to encourage claimants to resolve the issues within their groups," he said.
A Woodside spokesman said the company accepted the State's rationale for instigating the process.
"Although the compulsory acquisition process has been started, there is still an opportunity for the parties to reach a negotiated outcome without compulsory acquisition running its full course," he said.
He said the support of traditional owners was "very important to Woodside".
"We want to work closely with traditional owners to maintain that support and ensure that the Browse project brings real and lasting benefits to Kimberley Aboriginal people," he said.
Flip Prior @'The West Australian'
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