Source : the age
By Hamish Hastie
The Greens are on a collision course with Alcoa and South32 and their 7000-strong workforce after unveiling a commitment to ban bauxite mining in Western Australia’s native forests if they seize the balance of power in the upper house at the March 8 state election.
Under the Greens’ plan, all new forest mining and expansion proposals would be rejected, and the practice would be “rapidly phased out”. They would also negotiate an immediate ban on all mining in Water Corporation’s reservoir protection zones and create mining exclusion zones around high conservation value forests.
Labor Premier Roger Cook rejected the plan as a “thought bubble” that would “put literally thousands of Western Australian jobs at risk” while Alcoa described it as overly simplistic given aluminium’s importance in the green transition and the major economic benefits of the industry to the state.
Greens forestry spokeswoman Jess Beckerling speaking about the party’s plan to end forest mining.Credit: Hamish Hastie
The commitment would be a major test for the next government and could impact the jobs of the 7000 people employed in the industry. The Greens said the shutdown should be supported by a “just transition for all workers in the sector”.
Greens WA forest spokesperson Jess Beckerling said the state was treating some of the most biodiverse forests on earth like a giant quarry.
“The evidence is very clear that after bauxite mining in Jarrah forests, they simply cannot be restored, once they’re gone, they’re gone forever,” she said.
“The Greens are going to be standing very strongly with the community to push for the protection of WA’s remaining precious South West forest from mining.”
Asked about the impact on jobs, Beckerling said the aluminium and refining industry in WA was already shrinking, referring to Alcoa’s decision to shut its Kwinana refinery in January last year.
“We can find areas where we’re able to mine for bauxite, and we can find places and ways that we can better manage this industry without clearing these incredibly precious and important forests,” she said.
“We’re saying that the value needs to be assessed. These forests are worth so much more standing for climate, for water, for local communities and for wildlife, and any further mining needs to be conducted on cleared land.”
Beckerling said the transition occurring in Collie from the coal industry was a good blueprint for what could occur in the bauxite sector.
Alcoa’s mining operations in the Darling Ranges.Credit: Nine News Perth
She said the Greens would like to see strip mining in forests wound down over the next ten years.
Cook said the Greens admitted aluminium was critical for the energy transition but still wanted to trash the economy and local jobs in pursuit of the moral high ground.
“My WA Labor Government has done more for the environment than any government in history. We’ve banned native forest logging, added more than 6.5 million hectares to our conservation estate, and we’re the only Government in Australia committed to phasing out coal by 2030,” he said.
“We’re transitioning Alcoa to a modern environmental approvals framework, and we’ve tightened controls over their operations while protecting the thousands of jobs their operations support in WA.
“The Greens are a threat to WA’s economy, WA jobs and to our clean energy plan. Only WA Labor will protect WA jobs and deliver WA’s clean energy future.”
An Alcoa spokesman said its operations contributed to about 5200 direct and indirect jobs in the state and in 2023 it spent about $1.9 billion with more than 900 suppliers in the state.
The spokesman said the company already avoided, protected or mitigated environmental impacts in its operations pointing to mining avoidance zones around towns in the ranges.
“We do not mine in old growth forests, national parks or other areas of high conservation value and all areas we clear for mining have been previously logged,” he said.
He said it had cleared about 2 per cent of the state’s jarrah forest and rehabilitation was being undertaken in more than 75 per cent of that area.
“We have made the commitment to increase the rate of rehabilitation to a minimum 1000 hectares annually by 2027, while capping clearing for mining at 800 hectares per year. We have also ceased mining activity in Reservoir Protection Zones and prioritised rehabilitation work in any of these areas that have been previously cleared,” he said.
Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA acting chief executive Adrienne LaBombard did not directly respond to the Greens’ election promise but talked up the economic activity the industry generated and said it was strictly regulated.
“The shallow nature of bauxite ore in WA’s jarrah forests means pits are mined relatively quickly, allowing rehabilitation to self-sustaining forests to begin soon after,” she said.
She said aluminium, which is derived from bauxite and alumina, was a critical green metal needed for the global energy transition.
She said the federal government’s green aluminium production credit announced earlier this week
“Alumina is recognised by the Australian Government as another ‘green metal’, critical for the energy transition. CME continues to advocate for similar support for alumina production,” she said.
The Greens’ policy comes as bauxite mining comes under a microscope in WA following revelations that government departments were concerned about the risks mining close to reservoirs in the Darling Range posed to Perth’s water supply and the threat the mining poses to the state’s forests.
Over the course of 60 years, Alcoa has cleared more than 30,000 hectares of native forest for its mining operations but has only handed back 1355 hectares to the state government as “rehabilitated”.
Government ministers, including Premier Roger Cook, have previously expressed their concerns about Alcoa’s mining and its threat to water supplies, but continue to support the company.
In December 2023, Cook’s cabinet approved Alcoa’s continued operations while the state’s environmental watchdog conducted its first-ever major assessment of the company’s mining plans up to 2027.
On Wednesday, Beckerling took aim at the government’s continued support of Alcoa.
“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,” she said.
The Greens hope to win at least five upper house seats in the upcoming election and the balance of power in the house, which it has said it would use to negotiate on a range of policies around climate change and housing.
South32 declined to comment.
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