An Ancient Rock Art Site Is Under Threat as Australia Extends the Life of a Gas Plant

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2 days ago

The Australian government recently extended the life of a liquified natural gas project near a 50,000-year-old rock art site in a remote area of the country, prompting an archaeologist to raise alarms about additional environmental damage.
On May 28, Australia's Environment Minister Murray Watt conditionally approved a request by Woodside Energy to extend the life of its North West Shelf gas plant for four more decades until 2070. The conditional approval followed a six-year review 'dogged by delays, appeals and backlash from green groups,' according to Reuters, and the project's existing approval was set to expire in 2030.
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The North West shelf gas plant is located on the Burrup Peninsula (also called Murujuga), an area on the remote Western coast of the country where an estimated one million petroglyphs are also located.
University of Western Australia archaeology professor Benjamin Smith noted the site's images includes the world's first depictions of human faces and Murujula is unique for how many items of ancient rock art are located in one place.
'Just to put it in context, the oldest rock art in Europe is some 34,000 years old,' he told The Art Newspaper, noting that pollutants from the plant extension will put all of the petroglyphs at 'grave risk'.
Reuters also reported that Watt said the approval of project extension was subject to strict conditions, 'particularly relating to the impact of air emissions levels', and the impact of emissions on the Murujuga rock art was considered as part of the government's assessment process.
'I have ensured that adequate protection for the rock art is central to my proposed decision,' Watt said.
Woodside Energy was given 10 days by Watt to respond to confidential conditions on air quality and cultural heritage management before the environmental minister would make his final decision on the requested extension for the project.
Smith told The Art Newspaper that until those conditions are known, the archaeology professor will 'keep up the pressure' on the newly re-elected Labor government of Anthony Albanese.
'As a scientist, I'd like to see those conditions be strict; we need to ensure that the operations don't continue to damage the rock art,' Smith told The Art Newspaper. 'The first time we'll see those conditions is when they're made public and by that point it's too late (to change them).'
In 2023, ecological concerns about the North West Shelf gas project on the Murujuga rock art prompted one activist to spray paint Woodside's logo onto an artwork on display at the Art Museum of Western Australia in Perth. Joana Veronika Partyka pled guilty to criminally damaging the painting by Frederick McCubbin, but then fought a charge of counter-terrorism after claiming her personal belongings were raided by authorities after she had declined to give access to her electronic devices. She had pled not guilty to failing to adhere to an order to allow access to her data.
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