2026-09-03
Visits to the Kimberley and Pilbara, a First Nations Round Table and happenings in the Parliament, the community and the media
By Hon Jess Beckerling MLC
The past two months have taken us right across the state! We spent the winter recess on the road up in the Kimberley and in the Pilbara meeting with Traditional Owners, community organisations and services doing extraordinary work. We came back to a sitting fortnight where we hosted the first First Nations Roundtable of this term and in the Chamber we were focused on the Working with Children legislation.
The Winter Recess in the Kimberley and Pilbara
I can't stop thinking about the two weeks I spent up on Country during the winter recess from Parliament. In the first week of July, I spent one week in the Kimberley with Sophie McNeill MLC, and Georgia Beardman and Gabby Lane from my team. At the end of the month, I spent a week in the Pilbara with Tim Clifford MLC, as well as Nelson Blake and Mark Cooper from our teams.
The Kimberley
We started our Kimberley trip in Broome, where about 25 of you came out to the Mangrove Hotel for a sundowner – thank you, it was a wonderful night and a great way to begin our trip!
From Broome, we headed inland to Willare Bridge where we met with the formidable Professor Anne Poelina who spoke to us about the Martuwarra Fitzroy River over a cup of tea at the roadhouse.
It was great to be in Broome and at the beginning of the Martuwarra visit with Sophie McNeill MLC, and then just wonderful to head off inland on a deliberately slow listening tour of the Eastern Kimberley with Georgia and Gabby.
We met with Emily Carter and Amy at the Marnin Women's Centre and Early Learning Centre in Fitzroy Crossing, with Ben Cross in Halls Creek and out at Purnululu, with Sophie Mung at Frog Hollow and the Purnululu Independent School, with Sally Oliver from ALSWA in Kununurra, with Aunty Jean O'Reeri and Sally Martin at Doon Doon and up in the Speewah Valley, and finally with Kim Bridge back in Kununurra. We even got to stop in at the famous Warmun Arts Centre!
Much of what we heard will be familiar to anyone who has followed our work on the Martuwarra and the Speewah – rivers and Country under pressure from extraction proposals, and Traditional Owners barely being consulted. Hearing it on Country, from the people who carry the obligation to look after these places, is a different thing entirely. It is why we've brought it straight back into the Parliament.
Pilbara Trip with Tim
Later that month, I was in the Pilbara travelling through Port Hedland, Tom Price, Wakathuni, Karijini, Newman and Jigalong with Tim Clifford MLC and our teams.
The Pilbara is a phenomenal place with ancient cultures and stunning landscapes, but there are also profound social issues impacting people. The themes raised with us over and over again were the lack of appropriate housing and safe drinking water, huge gaps in health services, a shockingly bad road into Jigalong that is putting people's lives at risk, and the very real impacts of the extraordinary wealth gap across the region.
I was also struck by the astounding beauty and cultural significance ofthe art across the region and the power of First Nations led programs in advocacy and education, delivering services, keeping culture strong and caring for Country.
IN THE PARLIAMENT:
Brad Pettitt and I co-hosted the first First Nations Roundtable for this term of Parliament on 20 August 2026, bringing together 18 women leaders from across the State.
It was a powerful and important gathering focused on amplifying the voices of First Nations women.
The representatives described serious and urgent issues in their communities, transformational First Nations led work being done to address these issues, and the need for a power shift and genuine self-determination.
Kimberley Water in Focus
While we had Aunty Professor Anne Poelina and Aunty Jean O'Reeri in town for the Roundtable, we took the opportunity to host a lunchtime session at Parliament for MPs from across the political spectrum to hear their stories and understand what's needed to protect the Kimberley's water.
The session traced water Country from the Pentecost and Chamberlain rivers on Aunty Jean's Country, to the Dunham and the Ord – which Nganjuwarr Traditional Owner Sally Martin spoke for over Zoom from Broome – to the Martuwarra on Aunty Anne's Country. These living rivers are all currently under pressure from extraction proposals, industrial development and water planning processes that too often treat them as a resource to be allocated rather than a system to be protected.
What the speakers made clear is that Traditional Owners are not being properly heard in the decisions being made about their water. Decisions taken in Perth about allocation and extraction have consequences hundreds of kilometres away that are irreversible.
It was heartening to see MPs from across the Chamber in the room, and I want to thank Aunty Anne, Aunty Jean and Sally for their generosity in making the trip and sharing what they did. This is a conversation we intend to keep bringing into the Parliament.
The legislation I was focused on this last sitting fortnight was an amendment Bill to the Working With Children Act.
The change brings WA into line with the rest of the continent, 8 months later than committed to, so that when someone loses their WWC card or is issued an interim or negative notice, WA officials are readily alerted and can act to ensure this is reflected in WA.
It is a simple but vital piece of legislation and unacceptable that it took so long for the Cook Government to get it to the Parliament.
During debate, I was told that the Phase 2 reforms ‒ also critically important to keeping kids safe ‒ will be in place along with all the recommended reforms that the Government has committed to arising from the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse by December 2027.
Audit of the Delivery of Forensic Medical Exams
After extensive advocacy from the community sector, a significant increase in Greens pressure over the past few months and our recent request to the OAG to conduct an audit into the delivery of FMEs, we are delighted that an audit is now underway.
Channel 10 ran a story on FME access in WA here – thank you to Angel for so bravely sharing her story, and to 10 News Perth for airing this exclusive.
The submission period has now closed, and we are looking forward to the OAG’s report.
I delivered Members Statement on the stunning Speewah Valley and Dunham River on Nganjuwarr Country, and the mighty Martuwarra.
I’ve shared my Members Statement on the Speewah Valley in three parts: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.
I am delighted to have two student placements working on research related to the Northern Jarrah Forests and Men's Behaviour Change Programs.
I'm also very excited to be working with ECU's Centre for People, Place and Planet on the newly formed Parliamentary Experience Program, through which we'll be giving researchers and students a deeper connection to the parliamentary process, and receiving research briefs and assistance on key environmental and social issues.
IN THE COMMUNITY:
Secret Harbour By-Election Campaign
The Secret Harbour by-election campaign is well underway at the time of writing this! Our Greens candidate Rhi Davies has been out on the doors and at pre-poll, and it's been a joy to be campaigning with her.
Rhi has made sure the issues that actually matter to this community are being talked about in a campaign where a lot of the other players have preferred to say very little.
Rhi and I spoke about there only being one party that will fully fund family and domestic violence crisis response and prevention, and that’s The Greens (WA). We also talked about the impact of bird flu on the penguins and pelicans in Secret Harbour, particularly on Penguin Island.
On 4 August I joined the WA Forest Alliance at Dune Beer Co in Kinjarling Albany for Beers not Bauxite – a fundraiser for the campaign to end forest mining in the Northern Jarrah Forests.
I spoke about where the campaign is at, including the Exemption Order saga which has shown us exactly whose interests this Government is protecting, and where we need to go in order to Stop Alcoa.
Huge thanks to Alex Saurin, Dune and the WA Forest Alliance for putting it on and to everyone who came out on a Tuesday night in the middle of winter to stand up for these forests!
Binalup, Menang I First Light, First People
It was such a joy to attend the opening of this astoundingly beautiful and evocative exhibition on the 26 of July. Albany Kinjarling is leading the way on how to commemorate the 200 years of colonisation with honesty, truth telling, grace and walking together and this exhibition sits right at the heart of that.
A huge congratulations to Aunty Carol Petterson, Nic Dunlop and all the participating elders and other Traditional Owners.
Talk About Taboo with Grace Tame
- I was invited by Phoenix to attend this very heartening and important session with Grace Tame on 15 July. It was a full room of specialist sexual violence response and prevention experts, advocates and service providers. The speeches were exemplary and the commitment to end the scourge of sexual violence in the community was second to none.
Student Film Interviews
- I participated in a John Curtin film production, assisting four delightful year 12 students with their documentary about Alcoa and the Northern Jarrah Forests.
Surfers for Climate Film Screening
- Surfers for Climate came to Albany Kinjarling on the 26th of July. I joined them for a screening of their short film on Scott Reef and discussion about the critical need for this magnificent place to be protected from Woodside’s Browse proposal.
Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again by Alice Birch opening night 17 July
- The opening night of this show was marvellous. Huge kudos to my good friend Nelson Blake who co-directed and to Alice Birch and all the actors. It is a powerful piece of theatre about women, feminism, sexuality and society that is very well worth seeing.
Albany Sports Motorplex Water Contamination
- I’ve continued meeting with locals on this important issue, supporting them with accessibility to information and their efforts to protect sensitive farm land, waterways and wildlife from a very poorly positioned development.
Nanarup
- The Nanarup community and everyone who loves this magic part of the world are horrified by a Water Corporation proposal to build a desal plant right on the stunning bay. I’ve been struck by how poor and disrespectful the community engagement has been and I’ll continue supporting this community to push for better long term strategic planning, lower impact water supply approaches and improved community engagement.
IN THE MEDIA:
Stolen Generations Redress Scheme
I was interviewed by The Australian for an article they recently published about WA Labor’s Stolen Generation Redress Scheme and the harm caused by the delays of their own processes.
Stolen Generations survivors in WA were promised redress within three to four months. The average wait is now about ten months, less than 20% of applications have been paid, and 41 people have died before their application was even assessed.
Survivors have already waited 54 years for this state to recognise the harm done to them. They should not be made to wait again because the Government didn’t resource its own scheme.
I responded to the story that the Western Power employee who was jailed for raping a colleague had received a lighter sentence after his colleagues provided ‘good character references’. Good Character References for sexual offences must be urgently abolished. The Cook Labor Government recently announced they will ban good character references for all criminal cases.
Short-Stay Housing in Denmark
I spoke to the Denmark Bulletin about the role short-stay accommodation is playing in Denmark's rental market.
There are 215 entire houses listed on Airbnb in Denmark and just one house officially listed for long-term rent. If those homes went back into the long-term market, up to 1,000 people or 215 families would have somewhere to live.
Short-term rentals in the metro area are already capped at 90 nights a year. Regional communities in the grip of the same housing crisis deserve the same protection, and that's a job for the State Government, not under-resourced local councils.
Safety in WA Prisons
I spoke to WAtoday and Nine News in July about the Cook Government's decision to go to the Supreme Court to block the transfer of a trans woman from a men's prison to a women's prison. She transitioned while inside, and the State Administrative Tribunal had already ruled in favour of her move.
The SAT's determination would have been based on a thorough understanding of the safety considerations involved. For the Government to intervene to try to overturn that decision is unacceptable.
Prisons in WA are not safe places, and that is because of mismanagement and overcrowding. That is what the Cook Labor Government should be focused on – keeping all inmates safe.
One Nation has used this case to whip up transphobia in the middle of a by-election campaign. Let's not pretend for a second that One Nation cares about women. This is dog whistling, and it needs to be called out.
Shut the F*ck Up, Pauline
A few weeks ago, Pauline Hanson called domestic violence a “two-way street”. Soon after, an interview from 2025 resurfaced where she claimed that domestic violence prevents police from dealing with “real crime”.
There’s so much I could have said in response, but sometimes a few words do the job! So, I shared a simple post that seemed to say what a lot of people were thinking, and it went viral with over 1.5million views and counting!
We had hundreds of people asking for a t-shirt, so we made one. T-Shirts can now be purchased via the Australian Greens website here.
Header photo: Jess Beckerling MLC at Purnululu National Park.