• Major regional service location
• Key port facility with $100m upgrade in planning.
• Key source of key minerals such as titanium as well as oil.
• Major tight wet gas resources with world scale prospective resources.

The largest town in the Kimberley, Broome is a major service centre for the region including home to the only regional university.  

Having been the victim of attacks in previous wars, the Shire of Broome understands the vulnerability of our northern coast first hand and is an active participant in the North West Defence Alliance.

The North-West Mobile Force (Norforce) Kimberley Squadron is headquartered in Broome with troops and facilities across the region.  These units are part of a high priority team responsible for Army reconnaissance and surveillance in remote areas.

Broome Port provides a diverse service including passenger cruise ships, livestock and bulk product exports with volumes returning post COVID. A $100m floating dock is planned for construction by a private developer.  The busy Broome International Airport is an important connector route across the north and to Perth and has been recently upgraded to cater for the expanding interstate and fledgling international destinations.      

Whilst the Shire of Broome currently plays a minor role in resource production, the imminent commencement of the Thunderbird Mineral Stands project will be significant.   The site offers a mineral resource including 18.6 million tonnes of zircon, 5.9 million tonnes of high-titanium leucoxene, 6.5 million tonnes of leucoxene and 61.7 million tonnes of ilmenite.  These are critical minerals for the military as well as civil uses.  For example, titanium has replaced aluminium in many aeroplane parts due to the ability to resist heat and corrosion in the fastening elements, airframe and landing gear.  

Canning Basin in the Western Kimberley has a major tight wet gas resource with world scale prospective resources. The US Energy Information Agency reported in 2013 that the Canning Basin has the largest potential of its type in Australia and the eighth largest in the world.  Buru Energy holds the dominant acreage position in the Canning Basin with the conventional Ungani Oilfield in production and shipping out through the Wyndham Port to South East Asian refineries. Buru is currently drilling Rafael 1 which has a targeted mean prospective resource (gross) 69 million barrels of oil.  A gas pipeline runs along the southern margin of the Canning Basin to Telfer, one of Australia’s largest gold mines.  From a defence perspective, these oil, gas and mineral assets are an important resource for Australia into the future.