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Aiming to "strike a balance" between tourism and the concerns of local Indigenous populations, the Western Australian Government has announced that tourist craft will be banned from passing through gaps at the Horizontal Falls in the Kimberley region by 2028.

One of Western Australia's prime tourism drawcards, bringing thousands of people to the state’s north-west annually, the Falls result from seawater rushing through two short and narrow gorges about 300 metres apart with the ebb and flow of the tide.

However, local Aboriginal groups have been pushing for an end to tourist craft passing through the gaps.

Announcing that tourists will no longer be allowed to pass through gaps today, Western Australian Tourism Minister Rita Saffioti said the crossings will be halted as of 2026 and completely phased out by March 2028, suggesting that the Western Australian Government would work with tourism operators and traditional owners to develop "new tourism experiences" to showcase the site.

Under the new arrangement, the marine park's largest licensed tour provider, Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures, will continue to travel through the gap until its licence expires in 2028.

All other licensed operators will stop passing through the falls by the end of 2026.

Western Australian Environment Minister Reece Whitby added that visitor access and tourism would remain a key value of the marine park.

Dambimangari Aboriginal Corporation (DAC) said it welcomed the government's announcement to protect cultural heritage at Garaan-ngaddim (Horizontal Falls).

However, Tourism Council WA Chief Executive Evan Hall said the decision was a blow to tourists and tourism jobs, advising “traversing the Horizontal Falls is a national award-winning, once-in-a-lifetime bucket list experience that has been bringing visitors from around the world to the Kimberley.

"Without the worldwide appeal of traversing the Horizontal Falls, it will be extremely difficult to create commercially viable Aboriginal tourism experiences at the falls."

Hall said closing day tours alone would result in a lose of $15 million and 58 full-time equivalent jobs from the region per year.

Hall went on to call on the Western Australian Government to commit to retaining all existing access and tourism experiences within the state’s National Parks.

He noted “national parks are public land and waters that belong to everyone. the legislative objective of national parks includes promoting and facilitating nature-based tourism and public recreation - this is not achieved by restricting visitor access or closing successful nature-based tourism experiences.

“Sustainable nature-based tourism in National Parks needs to protect the natural environment, promote cultural heritage, and create jobs and tourism business opportunities on country for Traditional Owners and local destinations. It is difficult to see how this can be best achieved by closing down a world renowned nature-based experience.

Last year, tourists were injured when a jet boat crashed into a rock wall at the Falls - which form when seawater rushes with the ebb and flow of the tide through two short and narrow gorges about 300 metres apart.

Images. Horizontal Falls from the air (top) and with tourists passing through (below). Credit: Shutterstock.

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