Date

March 10, 2013 – 3:02PM

The cliff line at James Price Point, 60 kilometres north of Broome, the site of the proposed gas project.

Re-elected West Australian Premier Colin Barnett remains firm on the Kimberley gas project going ahead, despite the anti-hub Greens making it a close contest in the seat.

With 52.4 per cent of the vote counted before tallying was suspended on Saturday night, the Liberals led in the Kimberley with 26.48 per cent followed by the Greens with 25.88 per cent.

It’s a huge statement by the people of Broome and the Kimberley that they don’t want the gas hub.

Labor had 21.61 per cent of the vote and Liberal coalition partners the Nationals had 20.85 per cent.

While Mr Barnett said the results so far showed Labor couldn’t take indigenous votes in the Kimberley for granted, former federal Greens leader Bob Brown said the numbers revealed a protest vote against the Liberals.

Although the seat result was still up in the air, the pro-development premier had been sent a strong message about his forceful approach to the Woodside-led project, Dr Brown said.

“It’s a huge statement by the people of Broome and the Kimberley that they don’t want the gas hub,” he said.

While Mr Barnett’s victory at Saturday’s state election was resounding, voters had signalled he had “got just about everything right” – except the gas hub, Dr Brown said.

“Very clearly, they don’t want that.”

Dr Brown said the Greens could still win the seat, and it was one of the party’s biggest votes ever in WA.

He vowed to emphasise the voters’ message with federal Environment Minister Tony Burke, other federal political leaders and Woodside.

But Mr Barnett remained firm.

He acknowledged some were passionately opposed to the project.

“It’s also the case that James Price Point is 60 kilometres to the north of Broome – it’s an isolated location,” he told ABC radio.

“It’s going to provide great economic and social benefits, and not have a permanent long-term damaging affect on the environment.”

Mr Barnett said young indigenous leaders in the Kimberley were increasingly interested in economic independence and the benefits that brought.

“Less philosophical, less ideological, more pragmatic,” the premier said.

Greens in hunt while Nationals stumble in the Kimberley

The Nationals face disappointment in the Kimberley while the Greens mix it with Liberal and Labor for Western Australia’s northern most seat.

The key seat of Kimberley is still very much undecided. The West Australian Electoral Commission (WAEC) published results put the Liberal vote just 49 ahead of the Greens with town booths counted. Then it’s a few hundred votes back to Labor and the Nationals. But the seat is still undecided as the results don’t include postal or remote polling booths.

More than a thousand votes from remote communities around the Kimberley are expected to strongly favour Labor’s Josie Farrer. There’s less certainty how the Greens and Liberal will benefit. Green remote booth scrutineers are claiming that their candidate, Chris Maher, will be neck and neck with Liberal and close behind Labor, when community votes are published.

But the first surprise from the Kimberley is that the Nationals’ Michele Pucci is not looking like a contender for the seat. She needed to beat the Liberal’s Jenny Bloom to get a boost from conservative preferencing.

This comes as a shock with an early Newspoll giving the Kimberley to the Nats and the WAEC determining that two-party-preferred counts be between Labor and National for the Kimberley. It’s this incorrect assumption that has the ABC election calculator putting the Nationals as the early leader in the Kimberley.

The Liberals, Greens and Labor cannot be ruled out of taking the seat of Kimberley. It’s almost certain that Liberals will fill one of the two top spots. The Greens’ hopes hang on nudging in front of the Labor candidate to then do battle with the Liberal candidate on preferencing. And with such a close race, a final result may be some time away as postal votes trickle in.

A good write up by Ben Collins …