Fed: LNG deal better than court hearings: Macklin

AAP General News (Australia)
04-15-2009
Fed: LNG deal better than court hearings: Macklin

CANBERRA, April 15 AAP - A deal reached between traditional owners in Western Australia's
Kimberley region and the state government on a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) processing
hub shows negotiation is better than lengthy court hearings, the federal government says.

The Kimberley Land Council (KLC) has accepted premier Colin Barnett's preferred site,
at James Price Point, about 60 kilometres north of Broome, after protracted negotiations,
a KLC spokesman told AAP.

Talks had previously stalled on a preferred site, and Mr Barnett had threatened to
compulsorily acquire the land if talks in Broome on Wednesday proved unproductive.

"The Kimberley Land Council has agreed to move forward on the gas hub," the spokesman
for the KLC said.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin said the agreement showed how negotiation
was better than litigation.

"This is a great result. Local indigenous communities, industry, the West Australian
and the national economies all win from this agreement," Ms Macklin said in a statement.

"This is a great example of how negotiation can get better results than long-winded
court proceedings."

Ms Macklin praised the efforts of deal negotiator Bill Gray, who was appointed by the
federal government in December.

The `hub' concept is designed to avoid ad hoc development of the growing LNG industry
in the environmentally sensitive region of the state's north.

Woodside Petroleum Ltd, which has undeveloped assets in the Browse Basin off the Kimberley
coast, was among energy companies seeking a speedy remedy to the hub selection process.

AAP saj/rlm/cdh

KEYWORD: LNG MACKLIN

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