Australia's biggest gas project will be allowed to continue operating until 2070 after receiving the final tick of approval from the federal government.
Environmental advocates and Traditional Owners have expressed concern about the 40-year extension of the North West Shelf development in Western Australia's Pilbara region, on the same peninsula as the ancient Murujuga rock art.
Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt said the government had imposed 48 restrictions on the project to protect the world-heritage-listed carvings, while allowing gas and oil processing to continue.
"The conditions will ensure that this project will be operated in a way that does not cause unacceptable impacts to the Murujuga rock art," he said.
Pressed on the definition of an "unacceptable impact" and whether there was an acceptable level of damage to the petroglyphs, Senator Watt said he wouldn't get into "semantic debates" but was "very invested" in protecting the rock art.
Preliminary approval for the four-decade extension was granted to gas company Woodside in May, and since then the business has been negotiating with government officials over the exact conditions placed on the processing hub.
Senator Watt said the final restrictions are more specific than those originally set down, and will require the site to reduce emissions of some gases by up to 60 per cent.
The federal government has also imposed extra legal protections on part of the Murujuga heritage site, forcing companies to consult with local Indigenous groups to protect the 40,000-year-old carvings.
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But environmental advocates have reacted angrily to the extension, accusing the Albanese government of unleashing a "carbon bomb".
The Australian Conservation Foundation said the carbon emissions stemming from the North West Shelf over its lifetime would be 13 times greater than Australia's total annual emissions.
"No matter where Australian gas is burned, it puts people and nature in harm's way by fuelling more extreme weather," the group's climate program manager Gavan McFadzean said in a statement.
Independent Senator David Pocock described the approval as "a betrayal of Australians".
"It's a betrayal of the people and places we love," he told AAP.
Some Pacific leaders have warned locking in the project would hurt Australia's credibility on climate change and harm the nation's standing in the region.
Senator Watt rejected those suggestions, telling reporters in Brisbane the decision complied with international law, and saying Labor had "massively advanced" Australia's contribution to fighting climate change.
Murujuga traditional custodian Raelene Cooper on Thursday said the government would be at risk of international legal action for threatening the heritage status of the rock art if it greenlit the project.
"We are all asking the same question across Australia and the Pacific - what is this government doing?" she said.
Woodside welcomed the approval, insisting it was committed to protecting the Murujuga rock art.
"This final approval provides certainty for the ongoing operation of the North West Shelf Project," executive vice president Liz Westcott said in a statement.
