After a quiet period, ambitions for a deepwater port in Exmouth have a fresh focus.
The Ningaloo Reef is the jewel in Western Australia’s tourism crown.
Since the late 1990s, the reef has driven Exmouth’s evolution from a sleepy fishing town built for the US Navy into a global ecotourism destination.
Exmouth’s star attraction, the whale shark, is one of Australia’s key tourism marketing assets; the area’s sportfishing is on every angler’s bucket list; and the rugged range that separates town from reef is an ecological wonder.
So, too, is the gulf that feeds the reef, although the federal government in 2011 decided it was not worthy of the same World Heritage protection granted to the reef and range.
That remains a bone of contention. Meanwhile, the growth in Exmouth’s environmental appeal and influence has been matched by cruise ship operators’ increased inclusion of the town on their itineraries.
Unfortunately, however, many passengers never make it to shore. Exmouth does not have a facility where large ships can berth, and it doesn’t take much wind, swell or chop to thwart efforts to ferry passengers between ship and shore.
It has left the prized tourism town in a precarious state, with the cruise industry threatening to pull the plug.
The Royal Australian Navy also needs a solution.
It has a refuelling pier up the top of the North West Cape, but it is in such a poor state a federal committee last year purported to be “seriously disturbed” at its level of deterioration.
Couple the above factors with demand for general import-export capability and all the ingredients are in the mix for a project known as Gascoyne Gateway.
Gascoyne Gateway is a $250 million to $500 million plan unveiled in 2018 to build a carbon neutral multi-user deepwater port south of Exmouth to cater to myriad import-export demands, refuelling and berthing.
Fresh face
Daniel Jackson joined the company as chief operating officer in 2020 and took over the top job in November 2023.
Like Michael Edwards, his predecessor as managing director, Mr Jackson was formerly a Navy clearance diver.
Before taking on his current role, Mr Jackson worked with WesTrac and a host of resources and communications-focused startups.
A desire to leave a mark on the world grew out of tough lessons early in life and eventually led to his career in the armed forces.
“My brother was killed at a Christmas party at a young age at my dad’s workplace, which was pretty traumatic,” Mr Jackson told Business News.
“That set the foundation where I sort of said to myself I wanted to do something in my life more than just [for] myself.
“I was going to uni to learn environmental science and I thought ‘Oh, I don’t know if this is going to be for me’.
“I saw this commercial on TV with a big warship bouncing through the waves and I thought ‘That is it; that is the adventure I want’.”
Stints in Iraq and later in special operations helped Mr Jackson develop an ethos based on the expression ‘when all else fails, we don’t’, which he has carried into his business career.
It is this attitude that led Mr Jackson to dabble in operational risk consultancy, minerals exploration, health e-commerce and workplace training, in Australia and overseas, before winding up at Gascoyne Gateway.
Perhaps it’s appropriate, then, that an ex-Navy man is spearheading a marine project in a town with a feted naval history and world-class diving to boot.
“You are doing something that is ultimately designed to leave a positive legacy on a region that has that massive national security interest,” Mr Jackson said.
“While we may not still be in uniform, there is still that sense of service.”
As for enjoying the beauty of Exmouth and going for a dive, Mr Jackson said he was waiting to bring his family to town before playing tourist.
State of play
Last year was a quiet one for Gascoyne Gateway.
After a few years of headline-grabbing progress and hearty debate between industry and environmentalists, publicity around the project has waned.
Gascoyne Gateway has been sitting at stage three (assessment of proposals) of the Environmental Protection Authority’s five-step process since May 2022.
Mr Jackson said red tape, the kind Premier Roger Cook late last year announced would be slashed, had proved a major hindrance.
“There are a lot of really good individuals trying to do the best they can with the people and the systems, the resources, and the skills they have got,” he said.
“But we have lost a significant portion of timeline because of some of the red tape and the confusion within the bureaucracy, which is frustrating.
“We are really pleased with the [red tape] announcement from the premier and environment minister.”
Mr Jackson said Gascoyne Gateway was now working to get documents out for public comment early this year, with an eye to conditional approval late this year and a final investment decision in early 2025.
“We have had some delays but … it is an important project and we want to make sure we get it right,” he said.
The port is banking on myriad opportunities to underpin its viability, from aviation fuel for RAAF Base Learmonth to wind turbine imports.
Its backers have been busy during the past 18 months ensuring it won’t live or die on the merits of any one stakeholder.
While the project is promoting itself as a ‘green port’, environmental concerns weigh heavily.
Opposition is being led by the Tim Winton-backed Protect Ningaloo, which has argued the project cannot coexist with Qualing Pool, a lagoon 10 kilometres south of town adjacent to the proposed development and industrial area.
It is also close to the Cape Wilderness Estate, where a lucky few have isolated homes on big blocks with direct beach access.
The gulf itself is a sensitive area, providing a resting place for migrating humpback whales, respite for boat-strike-prone dugongs and turtles, and a home to endangered seagrass and mangroves.
“Ningaloo-Exmouth Gulf serves as a source of hope as vital habitats such as coral reefs and seagrass meadows buckle under pressure around the world, and more species than ever face extinction,” Protect Ningaloo director Paul Gamblin said in April 2023.
“For over twenty years, the community has rallied to protect what makes Ningaloo special, and once again the local community and many thousands across the country and the world are calling for Ningaloo to be better protected.”
Fuelling concerns are the effects of industry – with the gulf having been trawled extensively – and recreational and commercial vessels.
But the community sees the gulf as a pristine natural asset, and the state government appears to agree. In 2021, the government moved to create a new marine park over the southern and eastern gulf. Reserves on the western side, including at Qualing Pool, were also mooted.
“The western side has been commercially trawled for sixty years and our scans of the gulf … clearly indicate large sections are very much barren,” Mr Jackson said.
“This is where that repair aspect comes into it.
“You put the infrastructure in the water, it then becomes its own ecosystem, becomes its own artificial reef, so it is going to create habitat that currently doesn’t exist.”
Mr Jackson said the port would bring better regulation of vessel movements to the gulf, which could further aid the environment.
