Environment Minister Murray Watt has approved the extension of Woodside's North West Shelf gas project, despite refusing to meet with Traditional Owners and not having considered a heritage protection application.
Traditional Owners and conservation groups say the decision to extend the life of the gas project from 2030 to 2070 puts the ancient rock art of Murujuga, which is adjacent to Woodside's Karratha Gas Plant on the Burrup peninsula, at risk.
Mardathoonera woman Raelene Cooper, a custodian of Murujuga and a former chair of the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation, had a simple response to Senator Watt's green light for Woodside.
"See you in court," she said.
"I'm not on my own, I'm bringing warriors from this ngurra (Country) with me."
Ms Cooper made a Section 10 application under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act to former Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek in February 2022 and last Thursday launched action in the Federal Court to compel Senator Watt to consider it.
She also invited the Minister to visit Murujuga, asking him to leave a legacy to his grandchildren that they could be proud of.
Woodside's Karratha Gas Plant, which is part of the North West Shelf Project. Credit: Save our Songlines
But scientists - including one who worked on the project - have already criticised the report.
UWA Professor of World Rock Art Benjamin Smith says the report shows strong evidence that rock art at Murujuga is currently being degraded by Woodside's Burrup Hub – but that the executive summary has watered down the findings and is intentionally misleading.
The ABC has also reported that the report's chief statistician, Emeritus Professor Adrian Baddeley, wrote to staff from WA's Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) on Tuesday afternoon to outline his concerns about the way one of the graphs in the paper had been altered, saying the change "constitutes unacceptable interference in the scientific integrity of the project".
Senator Watt said the environment approval was subject to strict conditions, particularly relating to the impact of air emissions levels from the operation of an expanded on-shore Karratha gas plant.
"In this case, the impact of air emissions on the Murujuga rock art that forms part of the Dampier Archipelago was considered as part of the assessment process," he said.
"I have ensured that adequate protection for the rock art is central to my proposed decision."
However, those 'protections' may not be enough to satisfy conditions for World Heritage status.
In March 2024, the Australian Government nominated Murujuga, which has hundreds of thousands of petroglyphs, which are thousands of years old, for UNESCO World Heritage status.
But a new report by the body that advises the United Nations on World Heritage nominations has recommended Australia end acidic pollution on the Burrup Peninsula.
The ‘conditions of integrity and authenticity’ of Murujuga are ‘vulnerable due to industrial emissions, considered the majorly adversely affecting factor for the petroglyphs’, ICOMOS (the International Council on Monuments and Sites) determined in its report to UNESCO.
An agenda for UNESCO’s meeting in July shows the draft decision is set to be deferred and the nomination sent back to the Australian government to address the risks to World Heritage values, including ‘the total removal of degrading acidic emissions currently impacting upon the petroglyphs (a type of rock art that's carved into the surface) of the Murujuga Cultural Landscape.’
ICOMOS also notes current regulatory frameworks to protect Murujuga are insufficient, including Australia’s primary nature law, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
The Australian Conservation Foundation’s climate campaigner Piper Rollins said ICOMOS had clearly identified Woodside’s North West Shelf gas hub as the primary risk to the ancient rock art at Murujuga.
“UNESCO is essentially saying to the Albanese Government 'you can’t have your cake and eat it, you are going to have to choose between World Heritage or Woodside’s toxic gas extension, the two cannot coexist," she said.
“Woodside’s facility is scheduled to shut down in a few years, that’s what should happen, it should not be extended.”
ACF’s First Nations lead Josie Alec, a Traditional Owner at Murujuga, said she was "appalled" by Minister Watt's lack of community consultation before making this decision.
“What’s happening to the rock art at Murujuga is like Juukan Gorge in slow motion," the Kuruma Marthudunera woman said.
“The UNESCO World Heritage nomination of the rock art will be a farce if 40 more years of acid pollution is allowed to damage the petroglyphs at Murujuga.
“Environment Minister Watt should do everything in his power to protect the rock art, not protect the gas industry.”
Analysis released by ACF in 2024 shows lifetime emissions from the Burrup gas hub would be more than 13 times Australia’s annual emissions from all sources.
Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe said the Federal Government had been ignoring Ms Cooper's heritage protection application for more than three years.
"Once again, First Peoples are being excluded from decisions about our own land," she said.
"There is no way to justify this project – not when it will release billions of tonnes of emissions, not when we’re watching Murujuga’s sacred rock art being erased by pollution, and not when communities across this continent right now are suffering the impacts of climate collapse."
Senator Thorpe said Labor had shown in the previous term that protecting big industry is more important to them than protecting Country.
"The Minister flew to WA to meet with stakeholders but refused to meet with Murujuga Custodians," she said.
"Choosing Reconciliation Week to push through this decision, while side-lining First Peoples, is not just disrespectful – it’s disgraceful.
"Scientists have revealed how the WA Government has manipulated the truth and interfered in the rock art monitoring process - Minister Watt is basing his decisions on the back of this scandal.
"There is clear evidence that industrial pollution is destroying Murujuga’s ancient rock art, which is some of the oldest and most sacred cultural expression on Earth."
Woodside's proposal to extend the operating life of its gas project from 2030 to 2070 has been under assessment for six years.
The government twice delayed a final decision until after the election, following approval from the WA government.
Senator Watt has rejected last-minute objections to the extension from Greenpeace and the Conservation Council of WA, which said the minister had declined to meet them.
The Minister has given Woodside 10 business days to respond to the proposed decision.
