❓ Question regarding the Marandoo mine de-watering project and the government's vision for agriculture in northern WA. The Minister provides details on the project, its scale, and potential for expansion, highlighting government support for northern agricultural development.
AnsweredQoN 640Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
MARANDOO MINE — DE-WATERING
640. Mr I.C. BLAYNEY to the Minister for Agriculture and
Food:
I understand that the minister was in the Pilbara recently to
turn on the tap on Rio Tinto's Hamersley agricultural project. Can the
minister please update the house about this project and the Liberal–National
government's broader vision for agriculture in the north of Western
Australia?
640. Mr I.C. BLAYNEY to the Minister for Agriculture and
Food:
I understand that the minister was in the Pilbara recently to
turn on the tap on Rio Tinto's Hamersley agricultural project. Can the
minister please update the house about this project and the Liberal–National
government's broader vision for agriculture in the north of Western
Australia?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Geraldton for the question and for his
interest in agriculture, as always. Of course, he is interested in what this
government is doing, particularly in the northern part of the state. Recently I
was up at the Marandoo —
Mr M.P. Murray interjected
Mr D.T. REDMAN :
Member, we are getting vision from the other side again, are we not?
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Members! If you want me to call question time now, I will call question time
now, but I think the member is entitled to hear the answer to the question he
has asked, and I am sure that somebody to my left is expecting also to be able
to ask a question. That is what I want to be able to achieve. I hope you might
assist me in doing that. Those comments are reflected to all of you.
Mr D.T. REDMAN :
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
The Department of Agriculture and Food has been working very
closely with Rio Tinto, over the last couple of years in particular, to support
it in a mine de-watering project and in looking at the agricultural potential
that can be wrapped around that. The mine that we are talking about is
Marandoo, and it is right next to Mt Bruce, just next to the Karijini National
Park, not that far from Tom Price. As a number of members will be aware, a lot
of the mining operations in the Pilbara now are starting to move below the
watertable. In order to access the ore, the mine has to be de-watered. In the
case of the Marandoo mine, it has to de-water something like 40 gigalitres a
year, or 40 billion litres—one hell of a lot of water. That is about
two-thirds of the total volume of the Mundaring reservoir in the hills, which
gives members an idea of the size or the quantity of water that is involved. To
give members an idea of the pipeline that is coming out of that mine and to
note the sort of capacity that is there, the pipeline is actually a metre
thick. So, the pipeline's diameter is one metre coming out of the mine;
it is operating continuously to be able to deal with that volume of water. At
one point there is a Y-junction, and about half that water goes off to Tom
Price and is reinjected back into the aquifer, but the other half, about 20 billion
litres, goes into this Marandoo project.
I had the good fortune the other day
to turn the tap on for the first of 17 centre pivot irrigators, which will
irrigate about 850 hectares of fodder—rhodes grass—in a part of
the world that we typically do not associate with intensive agriculture. That
gives members an idea of the productive capacity of one mine, in terms of
de-watering, and what can be expanded perhaps across other areas of the
Pilbara. We know very well that products grow particularly well up there. We
know that the climate matches those of other significant agriculture-producing
areas around the world, and we also know that in many cases, if we add water to
the soil, the potential is huge. We turned that tap on. It is a fantastic
project, and about 30 000 tonnes of hay will be produced out of that project.
Of course, as the member for Geraldton mentioned, that is only part of the
opportunities that lie in the north. We have been supporting that project. We
think that there is a huge opportunity to roll that out into other mines as
they seek to mine below the watertable.
We also know that the spearheaded northern project is the Ord–East
Kimberley development, which this government has strongly supported with
significant resources for backbone infrastructure. It is a point that has been
criticised somewhat by the opposition. There will be opportunities in that
area, particularly for the local Indigenous Miriuwung–Gajerrong people,
as the area develops. That includes not only the Ord–East Kimberley
project, but also the 50 000 to 100 000 hectares of expanded agricultural
projects around that area, including the Cockatoo sands project in the East
Kimberley. In the West Kimberley we have supported resourcing to prove up some
of the water supplies in the La Grange aquifer south of Broome. Again, the West
Kimberley has huge agricultural potential.
We have the spearhead project in the
East Kimberley, the agricultural potential in the West Kimberley and we are
looking at proving up the resources to support the potential for investment in
that area. The member for Pilbara knows that some agricultural projects up
there, such as Shalimar and the like, are producing a lot of food for people's
tables here in Perth. The member for North West knows that in the Gascoyne
under the Gascoyne food bowl initiative we have put resources into the backbone
irrigation infrastructure to support the expansion of that project. We have
also provided $20 million for flood mitigation and protection works around the
Gascoyne.
In summary, there are huge opportunities in the north of the
state and we are looking at supporting the expansion of those opportunities in
a careful and measured way. I draw members' attention to the ANZ insight report titled ''Greener
Pastures: The Global Soft Commodity Opportunity for Australia and New Zealand''.
That report should be prescribed reading for anyone who is interested in
agriculture in Western Australia and in what the vision for the future of
Western Australian agriculture is likely to be. The report basically highlights
the opportunities that exist in Asia, the demand from many of those countries
for products out of Australia and New Zealand, and where Western Australia sits
in the context of that. The report cites the solid prospect of doubling or even
tripling agricultural exports out of Australia and New Zealand. There is a huge
opportunity for Western Australia to be part of that. One of the themes at the
start of the report states —
Leadership and commitment from all
stakeholders will be critical in unlocking the full potential of Australian and
New Zealand agriculture.
Our vision for Western Australia
lines up with an opportunity that is presenting itself, and very significant
commentators are starting to say that the export opportunities to the north of
us are significant. We want to be a part of that, and this government is
showing some vision and leadership towards that, unlike the very puerile attack
by the opposition last week on one of the spearhead agricultural project
opportunities in Western Australia. There was a lot of criticism from the
opposition about what is happening in the Ord–East Kimberley project.
This government has a vision and has shown that agriculture has a future.
interest in agriculture, as always. Of course, he is interested in what this
government is doing, particularly in the northern part of the state. Recently I
was up at the Marandoo —
Mr M.P. Murray interjected
Mr D.T. REDMAN :
Member, we are getting vision from the other side again, are we not?
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Members! If you want me to call question time now, I will call question time
now, but I think the member is entitled to hear the answer to the question he
has asked, and I am sure that somebody to my left is expecting also to be able
to ask a question. That is what I want to be able to achieve. I hope you might
assist me in doing that. Those comments are reflected to all of you.
Mr D.T. REDMAN :
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
The Department of Agriculture and Food has been working very
closely with Rio Tinto, over the last couple of years in particular, to support
it in a mine de-watering project and in looking at the agricultural potential
that can be wrapped around that. The mine that we are talking about is
Marandoo, and it is right next to Mt Bruce, just next to the Karijini National
Park, not that far from Tom Price. As a number of members will be aware, a lot
of the mining operations in the Pilbara now are starting to move below the
watertable. In order to access the ore, the mine has to be de-watered. In the
case of the Marandoo mine, it has to de-water something like 40 gigalitres a
year, or 40 billion litres—one hell of a lot of water. That is about
two-thirds of the total volume of the Mundaring reservoir in the hills, which
gives members an idea of the size or the quantity of water that is involved. To
give members an idea of the pipeline that is coming out of that mine and to
note the sort of capacity that is there, the pipeline is actually a metre
thick. So, the pipeline's diameter is one metre coming out of the mine;
it is operating continuously to be able to deal with that volume of water. At
one point there is a Y-junction, and about half that water goes off to Tom
Price and is reinjected back into the aquifer, but the other half, about 20 billion
litres, goes into this Marandoo project.
I had the good fortune the other day
to turn the tap on for the first of 17 centre pivot irrigators, which will
irrigate about 850 hectares of fodder—rhodes grass—in a part of
the world that we typically do not associate with intensive agriculture. That
gives members an idea of the productive capacity of one mine, in terms of
de-watering, and what can be expanded perhaps across other areas of the
Pilbara. We know very well that products grow particularly well up there. We
know that the climate matches those of other significant agriculture-producing
areas around the world, and we also know that in many cases, if we add water to
the soil, the potential is huge. We turned that tap on. It is a fantastic
project, and about 30 000 tonnes of hay will be produced out of that project.
Of course, as the member for Geraldton mentioned, that is only part of the
opportunities that lie in the north. We have been supporting that project. We
think that there is a huge opportunity to roll that out into other mines as
they seek to mine below the watertable.
We also know that the spearheaded northern project is the Ord–East
Kimberley development, which this government has strongly supported with
significant resources for backbone infrastructure. It is a point that has been
criticised somewhat by the opposition. There will be opportunities in that
area, particularly for the local Indigenous Miriuwung–Gajerrong people,
as the area develops. That includes not only the Ord–East Kimberley
project, but also the 50 000 to 100 000 hectares of expanded agricultural
projects around that area, including the Cockatoo sands project in the East
Kimberley. In the West Kimberley we have supported resourcing to prove up some
of the water supplies in the La Grange aquifer south of Broome. Again, the West
Kimberley has huge agricultural potential.
We have the spearhead project in the
East Kimberley, the agricultural potential in the West Kimberley and we are
looking at proving up the resources to support the potential for investment in
that area. The member for Pilbara knows that some agricultural projects up
there, such as Shalimar and the like, are producing a lot of food for people's
tables here in Perth. The member for North West knows that in the Gascoyne
under the Gascoyne food bowl initiative we have put resources into the backbone
irrigation infrastructure to support the expansion of that project. We have
also provided $20 million for flood mitigation and protection works around the
Gascoyne.
In summary, there are huge opportunities in the north of the
state and we are looking at supporting the expansion of those opportunities in
a careful and measured way. I draw members' attention to the ANZ insight report titled ''Greener
Pastures: The Global Soft Commodity Opportunity for Australia and New Zealand''.
That report should be prescribed reading for anyone who is interested in
agriculture in Western Australia and in what the vision for the future of
Western Australian agriculture is likely to be. The report basically highlights
the opportunities that exist in Asia, the demand from many of those countries
for products out of Australia and New Zealand, and where Western Australia sits
in the context of that. The report cites the solid prospect of doubling or even
tripling agricultural exports out of Australia and New Zealand. There is a huge
opportunity for Western Australia to be part of that. One of the themes at the
start of the report states —
Leadership and commitment from all
stakeholders will be critical in unlocking the full potential of Australian and
New Zealand agriculture.
Our vision for Western Australia
lines up with an opportunity that is presenting itself, and very significant
commentators are starting to say that the export opportunities to the north of
us are significant. We want to be a part of that, and this government is
showing some vision and leadership towards that, unlike the very puerile attack
by the opposition last week on one of the spearhead agricultural project
opportunities in Western Australia. There was a lot of criticism from the
opposition about what is happening in the Ord–East Kimberley project.
This government has a vision and has shown that agriculture has a future.
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