Cook Government announces popular WA tourist attraction Horizontal Falls will close years after boat crash

Visitors will have four years left to travel through Horizontal Falls after the Cook Government announced plans to phase out the tours by March 2028 — a blow to tourism in the Kimberley described by one operator as stopping visitors to the Louvre from seeing the Mona Lisa. Environment Minister Reece Whitby said Friday that boat tours through the Horizontal Falls or Garaan-ngaddim — located about 250km from Broome and once described by David Attenborough as one of the world’s greatest natural wonders, will be phased out, but promised “new experiences” would take their place. Traditional owners had ramped up calls for an end to passage through the gap after a jet boat crash in 2022 that injured dozens of tourists. Mr Whitby said a working group, including the tourism industry and traditional owners, would design new experiences and advise the Government on new investments. Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures, the company which operated the boat involved in the accident, will still travel through the gap until its licence expires in March of 2028 — while all other operators will have to stop at the end of 2026. The cyclone season means the tours will likely end around the winter of 2027. Access to the surrounding waters and air will still be allowed. Just two months ago, Tourism Minister Rita Saffioit told The West the Government wanted to keep the falls open. “We want to see Horizontal Falls remain open to visitors, so those economic benefits can continue to flow – especially to the local community,” she said at the time. BlueSun Travel owner Kevin Bailey — whose company runs boat tours through the falls — described the move as “ridiculous” and compared it to the Louvre Museum in Paris banning visitors from seeing Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa painting. “I can say categorically that the most popular tour in the Kimberley is to the Horizontal Falls, and it’s not close,” he said. Mr Bailey said he had run tours in the northwest for 20 years and the dramatic increase in visitors had meant a huge amount of revenue being paid to native title owners from tour operators. “I don’t see any damage being done to the falls. (Visitors) don’t even step on land, they step on a pontoon,” he said. “It is containable, manageable and sustainable. Once again this is politics and it’s being led by people who don’t understand tourism.” The veteran tour operator said the only damage being done to the falls was from natural erosion. Mr Bailey said he worked well alongside Seaplane Adventures, but said the decision to allow them to operate for longer than other businesses was “completely biased”. Dambeemangaddee traditional owners welcomed the decision, saying they “finally feel heard” after campaigning for the change since the 1990s. “We hope that Talbot Bay and Garaan-ngaddim will continue to attract visitors to this iconic destination. But it is about moving away from dangerous thrill rides,” the corporation said in a statement. “We believe there are better ways that visitors can experience the magic of Horizontal Falls and support us to protect this sacred site. “We understand that change can be scary. But like the changes to climbing Uluru, we hope that in time people will understand and respect our decision to put cultural heritage values and safety first.” Broome-based Liberal MLC Neil Thomson vowed his party would reverse the call in the unlikely event they won the 2025 State election. Mr Thomson — who is also shadow environment spokesman — blasted the Government’s spin, announcing the closure with a media release titled ‘New tourism experiences to be developed for Horizontal Falls’ that did not say what those experiences would be. “That is the way this Government announces the loss of 58 jobs in the tourism sector. The minister should be ashamed of the way that it was presented,” he said. “We are seeing this Government callously throw away years of investment made by tourism operators who have taken the great risk to go and set up those experiences, which are internationally and nationally seen as iconic.” Mr Thomson said a WA Liberal Government would guarantee continued operations and work with traditional owners on an agreeable set of guidelines. Tourism Council WA CEO Evan Hall said the experience was a “once-in-a-lifetime bucket list experience” that could not be experienced “from the sidelines”. Mr Hall said the Council hoped multi-day cruises staying one night in Talbot Bay would continue and estimated a loss of $15 million and 58 full time jobs from the region due to closing day tours through the falls. “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,” he said. “It is difficult to see how this can be best achieved by closing down a world-renowned nature-based experience. “ Mr Hall said tourism operators should be allowed to continue “traversing” the Falls to ensure Aboriginal tourism experiences and business partnerships remained viable. Mr Whitby defended his decision as a “positive change” that was “based on mutual respect”. “This decision reflects the Government’s dual responsibilities to respect the cultural views of traditional owners and the need to protect and support WA’s tourism industry,” he said. “We want people to experience Indigenous culture as an essential, vibrant partof visiting jointly managed national and marine parks across Western Australia.” Seaplane Adventures issued a statement that committed to working with the Dambimangari Aboriginal Corporation on a “transition to a culturally appropriate program”.