New Wanjina National Park

AAP

Thousands of angry unionists knocked on Premier Colin Barnett's office door to voice their frustration at overseas recruitment - only to find he was out campaigning thousands of kilometres away.

The massed ranks of Western Australia's union movement marched through Perth's main business district on Thursday, continuing a long-term protest against mining and construction companies using guest workers over Australians.

"We are a state that relies on trade, so we will not mandate local content," WA Commerce Minister Simon O'Brien said in response to Thursday's well-attended rally, which was led by construction and maritime union members.

Far away in the Kimberley, Mr Barnett was campaigning to raise his party's environmental credentials.

In their fourth announcement about the Kimberley in a month, the Liberals laid out a plan to create one of Australia's biggest national parks in the state's north.

The Class A Wanjina National Park, stretching from Walcott Inlet in the south to the Lawley River in the north, would provide the highest level of protection to the internationally recognised environment, rock art and cultural values, including those of the Wanjina people.

The park could cover up to 20,000 sq km - 2000 sq km bigger than Kakadu.

Planning minister John Day announced on Thursday that if re-elected at the March 9 poll, the government would build 500 affordable homes on big state-owned blocks within three years and loosen laws on granny flats to address WA's housing crisis.

Families and social welfare remained the focus for WA Labor, with a promise of more childcare services at schools and a new mental health facility north of Perth.

Leader Mark McGowan revealed a 10-point plan to tackle mental health, providing 50 extra community liaison officers and building a $95 million mental health facility at Joondalup Health Campus.

Mr McGowan claimed some of WA's most vulnerable had been let down by the government.

"Our mental health system is not working and too many patients are falling through the cracks," he said.

Labor also promised childcare facilities at all new primary schools and help for schools to set up out-of-school care.

Carmen Lawrence talks about the importance of the West Kimberley in a TED talk.

Rowley Shoals decision shows area tough

AAP 

February 04, 2013 3:22pm

THE decision not to re-release an oil and gas exploration permit near the Rowley Shoals Marine Park shows the offshore Kimberley region is proving difficult for the sector, an analyst says.

Federal Resources Minister Martin Ferguson will not re-offer the exploration permit W11-5, some 200km from the Kimberley coast and close to the Rowley Shoals, because no companies have applied for it since it was put up for grabs in April last year, his spokeswoman has confirmed.

There were also community concerns, she said.

Conservationists were up in arms in early 2012 when three permits including W11-5 were offered for exploration, although the hunt for oil and gas has been going on in the area for many years.

Shell's East Mermaid 1 well - smack in the middle of those three permits - was drilled in 1973 but abandoned due to technical problems and poor geological conditions.

The Rowley Shoals are a popular scuba diving site and are considered among the world's healthiest atolls.Woodside, no stranger to protests by conservationists with its contentious Browse gas hub plan at James Price Point north of Broome, is currently conducting seismic studies on permits north of Rowley Shoals, but says that activity is just to meet its obligations to retain the leases.

"This whole area is very difficult - you have to jump through a lot of hoops to get it going," State One Stockbroking analyst Peter Kopetz said.

While WWF Australia was pleased the W11-5 well was temporarily off limits to the oil and gas sector, it urged the federal government to create a permanent exclusion zone to the industry in the area.

On Browse, Mr Kopetz said it would be the economics of the project, not the vocal opponents, that would be the deciding factor in whether it proceeded.

Shell, with its preference for floating gas production, did not appear to be pushing the operator Woodside hard and was sitting back to see what happened, Mr Kopetz said.

While WA Premier Colin Barnett remains insistent the Browse hub must be built onshore where royalties will flow through to the state - rather than offshore, where the royalties will go to the Commonwealth - the project proponents would only choose a site that met their profitability criteria, he said.

"Why would someone lose money to appease someone?" Mr Kopetz asked.