Murujuga has been placed on the World Heritage list, but pollution concerns remain
The Murujuga rock art landscape on the Burrup Peninsula in Western Australia was listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as a heritage site late last week after intense lobbying by the federal government.
Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt was accompanied to the UNESCO meeting in Paris by representatives from the Western Australian government and Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation (MAC). Murujuga contains the world's largest, densest and most diverse collection of petroglyphs, a type of rock art where the design is carved into the surface of the rock. Some are estimated to be more than 50,000 years old.
They depict animals, plants and human figures and are visible due to the colour and contrast between the removed varnish layer and the underlying brighter weathered rind of the host rocks.
The site was put forward to UNESCO for World Heritage listing in 2023, but the application was referred back in May over concerns nearby acid emissions, including those from Woodside's Burrup gas hub, were degrading the art. The peninsula in northwest WA near Karratha is home to two gas plants, a fertiliser plant and iron ore and salt export facilities.
Senator Watt recently gave provisional approval for the Woodside North West Shelf project on the peninsula, which includes the Karratha gas plant, to continue operating until 2070.
Custodians celebrate listing, while concerns remain over pollution Raelene Cooper, Murujuga custodian of the Mardudhunera people and founder of Save our Songlines, has been in Paris with other First Nations leaders pushing for Murujuga to be listed as a World Heritage site, but with the explicit intention of ensuring any listing comes with strict conditions to sufficiently manage industrial impacts on the site. 'My family and community have worked for many years for World Heritage protection for Murujuga's ancient rock art," she said. 'This is a momentous day for our old people and our future generations, to have Murujuga's outstanding universal heritage values recognised by the world.
'Our rock art tells the stories of our people, and maintains our Songlines and bloodline connection to our ngurra (Country)."
Ms Cooper said while she was overjoyed about the World Heritage listing, she was deeply concerned about the pollution from surrounding heavy industry. Part of the government's lobbying efforts involved removing protections suggested by UNESCO's independent advisory body ICOMOS in May from the final approval. 'Fertiliser plants are still being built around our sacred sites and polluting gas plants will emit toxic acid on our rock art for another 50 years," she said. "But comments from World Heritage Committee members today send a clear signal to the Australian Government and Woodside that things need to change to prevent the ongoing desecration of Murujuga by polluting industry.
"Global scrutiny will now be applied to what is happening at Murujuga. We will continue to fight for protection for this very special place, and the world is now aware of what we are up against.'
Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation, which represents the collective voice of the Ngarda-Ngarli (Traditional Owners and Custodians), said they were elated to see the Murujuga Cultural Landscape recognised. 'While today's inscription is recognition of the hard work that MAC has put in ... over the past two years, more importantly, it is recognition of the way our ancestors have managed this extraordinary landscape for over 50,000 years," said MAC Chair Peter Hicks.
"World Heritage is the mechanism we will use to continue to do what we have always done: protect our culture for all future generations."
But Ben Smith, Professor of Archaeology (World Rock Art), at the University of WA, said that unless pollution is drastically curbed, the rock art is at risk of serious degradation. "While I celebrate Murujuga receiving the well deserved status of being listed as a World Heritage site, the nature in which the Australian Government handled the scientific findings on industrial impacts on Murujuga during this process reveals the extent to which they will go to play down the impacts of our gas industry," he said. "The scientific data clearly demonstrated the advanced weathering of the Murujuga petroglyphs from heightened levels of certain airborne pollutants from the nearby Woodside gas processing facility, yet we saw this repeatedly dismissed by different levels of government, with graphs and data being manipulated to back up the narrative that no conditions were required for the listing.
"One only hopes that Murujuga's listing as a World Heritage Site spurs the government to no longer shirk their responsibility to conserve and protect this globally significant rock art site, and we see proper measures put in place to stop the polluting gas industry from degrading our First Nations cultural heritage."
Foundation of culture Ngarluma woman Samantha Walker wrote to the nominations unit at the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and the director of evaluation unit at ICOMOS, urging the WHC to list Murujuga as a world heritage site with specific recommendations to have independent bodies monitor and manage industrial pollution at Murujuga. "Murujuga is more than just rock art – it is who we are," she wrote. "Murujuga contains Songlines and stories that define our identities as First Nations people, connecting us to our Elders and people that have walked before us. "Murujuga is the foundation of our culture.
"The health of Murujuga is the health of my people and the ngurra (Country) is crying out for help."
Ms Walker said Murujuga is sacred, but also has a dark history due to colonisation and the Flying Foam Massacre of 1868. "That history of colonisation is being continued on by the way that government allows multi-billion-dollar industries to operate on Murujuga without having to obtain free, prior and informed consent or listen to the people whose Country this is," she said. Ms Walker also expressed her alarm at the Environment Minister's provisional approval to extend the lifetime of Woodside Energy's North West Shelf gas plant to 2070. "It is unfathomable to imagine the French Government approving industrial pollution at the site of the 17,000 plus year-old Lascaux cave paintings .
"Why is there not more global outrage that Minister Watt and the Australian Government have given provisional approval for 40 more years of pollution that is damaging the 50,000 plus year-old Murujuga rock art on our Country?"
Environmentalists were also concerned the Woodside project extension could cause further damage. 'The world is now watching," Australian Conservation Foundation chief executive Kelly O'Shanassy said. "The onus is on the Australian government to make sure the values recognised by UNESCO are not jeopardised by ongoing industrial pollution." As part of the immediate inscription, the Australian Government will provide a state of conservation report for consideration in 2027. Murujuga will become the second place in Australia recognised on the World Heritage List solely for its First Nations cultural heritage, following the listing of Budj Bim in 2019 .
Senator Watt said it had been a great privilege to support the Traditional Owners and Custodians of Murujuga, who have protected the landscape for more than 50,000 years. 'The Australian Government is strongly committed to World Heritage and the protection of First Nations cultural heritage – and we will ensure this outstanding place is protected now and for future generations,' he said. A Woodside spokesperson said the company had been a "proud supporter" of the World Heritage nomination and assessment process and they looked forward to continuing to work closely with MAC on the continued protection and management of this globally significant area.
UNESCO added several other sites to its list, including the Xixia Imperial Tombs in China and the Faya Palaeolandscape in the United Arab Emirates.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
SBS Australia
2 days ago
- SBS Australia
'Rent is going up five times faster than wages': What's behind WA's housing crisis
Elizabeth Wright parks her ute beneath the shade of a tree at a quiet suburban park in Perth's north. It's not her first time here, and lately she's been coming more regularly — not for fresh air or a picnic, but to mentally prepare for something more confronting. The 38-year-old single mother gestures to the adjoining car park and says this is where she thinks she'd park on most nights. ''I would build a secure load on the back of my ute," Wright tells SBS News. "It's just about condensing life into a vehicle and [to] see what I can fit in the back of it." In a quiet moment by the water, Elizabeth Wright reflects on the uncertainty of life without stable housing. As rental prices soar, she's among a growing number of Australians facing an increasingly fragile future. Source: SBS News / Christopher Tan Wright, who is on income support, talks through the layout of her single-cab ute, with calm resolve: she's already planned how to convert it into a sleeping space. "I probably have to get a smaller bed than this … so I can fit a wardrobe on the side … and that's all I would really need," she says. "I always aim for minimalist living but maximalist style, and the past year and a half has really challenged me to do that." I can't have my daughter with me in that space. That's what's demoralising, that's what breaks me. Wright grew up in Perth and moved around frequently as a child due to her father's work. Later, she lived with her mum and stepdad until they decided to sell the family home to downsize in July last year. That was when her rental journey began — one she never imagined would lead her to scoping out bedding options for a ute. But after a year of renting across Perth — and facing three evictions through no fault of her own — she's rehearsing how to survive homelessness. A single mother on the brink of homelessness scopes out this park in Perth's north as a potential place to sleep. With nowhere stable to live, she's planning how to turn her ute into a last-resort shelter. Source: SBS News / Christopher Tan For now, Wright is couch surfing at her sister's rental, another single mother on the verge of being priced out of housing in Perth. "But, just sort of losing [my] home over and over again, after losing something I'd built myself [and] having to re-set up somewhere else … I am so over moving things," she says. Housing pressures most acute for WA renters Wright's story is becoming disturbingly common, not just in Western Australia, but across the country. According to a 2025 housing affordability study by Bankwest Curtin Economic Centre (BCEC), capital city house prices have surged by 59 per cent — an increase of more than $373,000 — with Perth and Brisbane recording an 84 per cent growth. Perth's median house price jumped from $463,000 in 2019 to $851,000 in February 2025, driven by investor interest and population growth. It's one of the steepest increases for a capital city in the past five years. Despite recent and forecasted interest rate cuts, as well as expanded government first home buying schemes, affordability in Perth is continuing to deteriorate. But it is renters who are feeling the sharpest edge. Perth recorded the steepest rise in advertised weekly rents nationwide between 2019 and 2024, outpacing all other capital cities. Source: SBS News The median advertised rent in Perth has climbed from $350 a week in 2019 to $650 by the end of 2024 — an 86 per cent spike that makes it the least affordable capital city for renters in the country. Along with the Northern Territory, WA is one of the two remaining jurisdictions that still allow "no-grounds" evictions. This describes a scenario in which landlords can evict tenants without providing a reason, as long as they give 30 days' notice at the end of a fixed-term lease or 60 days during a periodic lease. They can issue an eviction notice even if the tenant hasn't done anything wrong. There are seven other legal grounds for eviction, including property sales, hardship and tenant breaches. The lack of protection from no-fault termination leaves renters like Wright vulnerable. Growing risk of homelessness According to the most recent Census, 9,729 people were experiencing homelessness in WA in 2021 — a 114 per cent increase from the previous Census. That includes 2,315 people who reported sleeping rough. In the last financial year, Shelter WA says nearly 25,000 people sought help from specialist homelessness services in WA, representing an 18 per cent jump over the decade. Housing advocate Jordan van den Lamb says the crisis is no longer isolated to the most vulnerable. "We're seeing 10,000 people experience homelessness each month," he says. "Most people have felt this pressure in the last three years. Renters are choosing between their rent and medication, groceries, bills." Housing advocate Jordan van den Lamb says soaring rents and weak protections are pushing more Western Australians to the brink. "We can't rely on a market solution to fix a market failure," he says. Source: SBS News / Christopher Tan Shelter WA estimates a person earning $70,000 a year would now spend 58 per cent of their income on rent alone. "I am pretty sure constantly moving out … unless you want to … is not what the great Australian dream is for housing," Wright says. The power imbalance Tenants are increasingly afraid to speak up. Alice Pennycott, principal tenancy lawyer at Circle Green Community Legal, says she sees this fear every day. "People come to us for advice on repairs, but then they hesitate — worried that if they complain, their lease won't be renewed," Pennycott says. There's no way to challenge a no-grounds eviction. Unless the notice itself is invalid — the reason doesn't matter. Victoria and NSW have scrapped no-fault evictions. NSW introduced reforms in May, allowing landlords to terminate leases only for specific reasons, such as selling the property, renovating, or moving in themselves. Advocates say the WA government is reluctant to act, fearing landlords may exit the market. But Pennycott says that's not a justification for inaction. Alice Pennycott from Circle Green Community Legal is calling for urgent reforms to end no-grounds evictions and improve protections for people at risk of losing their homes. Source: SBS News / Christopher Tan "We are not saying landlords shouldn't be allowed to evict people," Pennycott says. "We are saying we just want a reason and we are supporting introducing more reasons into the legislation." A broken market Even with 20,500 homes completed in 2024 — the most in seven years — WA still fell short of its National Housing Accord target of 25,000 dwellings. Since March 2023, only 694 new rental dwellings have been added in Perth, which represents a growth of just 0.4 per cent. Over the same period, the population has surged by 119,000, leaving a rental shortfall of 7,700 homes. Vacancy rates have ticked slightly above 2 per cent but remain well below healthy levels. "Rent is going up five times faster than wages," van den Lamb says. "We can't rely on a market solution to fix a market failure." Even with 3,300 social homes delivered and 5,800 more promised by the WA government, waitlists continue to grow. Demand for social housing in WA has surged, with the waiting list ballooning and urgent applications rising sharply over the past six years. Source: SBS News More than 21,000 people are now waiting for public housing. The average wait time is 151 weeks. Among priority applicants, including people escaping domestic violence or homelessness, demand has jumped 330 per cent in six years. 'You didn't choose that life' For many Western Australians, financial stress is only the beginning. "People used to get a termination notice and say, 'Well, I'll just find another rental.' Now they're saying, 'Where am I going to go?'" Pennycott says. Accessing legal support is becoming more complex, she says. People are looking for help more than ever because they have fewer alternatives. We hear from people every day who don't know where they'll sleep next week. The cumulative toll on renters like Wright is immense. "If you can't have your children with you, or you're both living in a car and you didn't choose that life, that's not just hard, it's dehumanising," she says. "How is it that we live in such a beautiful and privileged society, and there are so many people without somewhere to live?" Systemic change needed The latest BCEC report titled 'A long way from home' outlines a comprehensive plan to tackle WA's housing crisis, and calls for urgent investment in both rental and public housing. Short-term recommendations include expanding the Commonwealth Rent Assistance scheme and making the WA Rent Relief Program permanent. The program has already helped over 2,700 renters remain in their homes. At Circle Green Community Legal, frontline staff take calls from renters facing mounting housing stress. Many are seeking urgent advice after receiving eviction notices or struggling with unaffordable rent hikes. Source: SBS News / Christopher Tan The report also calls for more crisis and transitional accommodation, particularly for women and families escaping domestic violence. In the medium term, it recommends fast-tracking housing completions, scaling up social and affordable housing using the state's investment fund, and targeting new developments at first-home buyers and key workers, such as childcare educators, retail and hospitality workers, health support workers, and general administrative services. It also calls for incentives for build-to-rent developments and enforceable standards for rental properties. Among its long-term recommendations, the report urges the WA government to commit to delivering 24,000 new homes each year — including a minimum of 1,200 new or repurposed social dwellings — and to replace stamp duty with a more efficient system to support household mobility. Small steps, but a long way to go In 2024, the WA government updated its Residential Tenancies Act, with the first tranche of changes allowing pets and minor modifications in most rentals and limiting rent increases to once every 12 months. The reforms were introduced in addition to the ban on rent bidding and retaliatory actions from landlords brought in earlier that year. However, there's still no cap on rental increases. In a statement to SBS News, a state government spokesperson declined to say whether it would abolish "no grounds" evictions entirely. "Recommendations for a second phase of reforms are expected to be finalised for consideration later this year," the spokesperson said. "Stage two will consider a range of further measures to protect renters, including setting minimum standards, the collection of bonds, rents and other charges, and clear definitions of boarding and lodging. "Consultation with stakeholders will guide the second phase of these reforms." Seen through her office window, tenancy lawyer Alice Pennycott works to support renters navigating an increasingly hostile housing market. She says more and more people are reaching out with nowhere else to turn. Source: SBS News / Christopher Tan But advocates say these measures barely scratch the surface. "It doesn't address the heart of the problem: renters being protected from being thrown out into the street into homelessness," Pennycott says. WA court data shows more than 1,500 eviction applications have been filed annually in the last four years, not including informal or unchallenged cases. BCEC figures also reveal that nearly two-thirds of single women renters in WA aged 55 and over are living in poverty, with half in the "severe poverty" category. "There's a growing awareness now. Everyone knows someone who's been impacted — whether it's rent hikes, eviction, or just the stress of trying to find a place to live," Pennycott says. "[But] we've been lobbying for change since 2019." Sitting beneath the trees by the Swan River, Elizabeth Wright reflects on the emotional toll of housing insecurity. With support systems stretched and options running out, she says no-one should be forced to raise a child from the back of a car in a country as wealthy as Australia. Source: SBS News / Christopher Tan For Wright, the crisis isn't just about statistics — it's about recognising the humanity of renters. We treat housing as a commodity, but it's a basic human right. Wright's wish is singular: All she wants, she says, is a place to call home again. "I just want to give my daughter a secure place to grow up. "Not a car, not someone else's couch. A home."
ABC News
7 days ago
- ABC News
Stolen Generations survivors, descendants want WA redress scheme expanded
Standing with Western Australia's beaming premier on the steps of parliament, Angela Ryder smiled briefly for a photo. Readers are advised that this article may contain an image of Indigenous people who have died. The announcement of a redress scheme for survivors of WA's Stolen Generations was something the 62-year-old Goreng/Wiilmen Noongar woman had spent years fighting for as part of Yokai, a group of survivors who came together in 2013. But for Ms Ryder and her sister Meredith Edmonds, the day was also bittersweet. Authorities took them and their siblings from their family's farm near Tambellup, 320 kilometres south of Perth, to Roelands Native Mission in 1973, after the scheme's cut-off date of July 1, 1972, meaning they are not eligible for the reparation payments the scheme provides for. "There was physical, emotional and sexual abuse that occurred during my time at the missions and also during my time in other state facilities," Ms Ryder said. Ms Ryder was 10 years old when she was first put in Roelands. She was later returned home, only to be forcibly removed again and twice sent to Wandering Mission, about 120km south-east of Perth. Ms Edmonds was just six and was removed four times in total, spending time in Roelands, Wandering and Marribank. Court records show the sisters were declared neglected and committed to state custody, though neither could recall ever attending court and both reported living a happy, stable life with their parents before they were taken. A government report from that year shows children in WA could be committed to state care if their parents were found to be neglectful or if they themselves were deemed "neglected by virtue of his own behaviour". The siblings will miss out on the $85,000 individual payments to be offered to individual survivors. But Ms Edmonds said what was more upsetting was the disregard for her lived experience. "We were still getting assimilated and put into missions after that date," she said. The state government told the ABC the cut-off date aligned with when the Native Welfare Act 1963 was repealed, replaced with the Aboriginal Affairs Planning Authority Act 1972. The new act abolished the Department of Native Welfare and created the Aboriginal Affairs Planning Authority, which was no longer directly involved in out-of-home care for Aboriginal children in WA, though records show it continued to fund missions into the 1980s. A national inquiry into the Stolen Generations found about one in 10 Aboriginal people in WA were in institutions in 1972, the majority children. The report showed the number of children committed to state care started to decline around this time but removals did continue. The Healing Foundation, an organisation supporting Stolen Generations survivors and their families, said it could take some time for shifts in practice to follow legislative change. Binjareb Noongar woman Alice Kearing said there were many more Stolen Generations survivors in WA removed after the cut-off date, including herself. She was taken to Roelands in 1974, aged four. Earlier this year, the 55-year-old was invited to share her own experiences at a series of events about WA's Stolen Generations. She was in the middle of one such presentation in late May when news of the redress scheme broke. "They talked about a cut-off date … I didn't know how to react," Ms Kearing said. "I felt like, 'What was I doing here? What was I doing, doing this presentation?' Ms Kearing said she immediately thought of her brothers, who had spent much of their time at Roelands trying to protect her, and would also miss out. "They were my heroes … that's a scar that won't go away ever." Ms Ryder and Ms Edmonds have called for the cut-off date to be based on when the state's last missions closed in the late 1980s. Ms Kearing said the cut-off date should be removed altogether. "Take that burden off my family." First Nations people taken after the cut-off date are not the only survivors to miss out on reparations. Many members of the Stolen Generations taken within the eligible time frame died waiting for the WA government to commit to a redress scheme. Noongar woman Isobel Bevis's mother was one of eight siblings torn from their parents and country in 1960. Only two of them are still alive. Ms Bevis said their deaths were not a "get out of jail free" card for the government. "I think it's disrespectful … of Premier Roger Cook to exclude those that have passed." Ms Bevis has written to Mr Cook asking him to reconsider the eligibility criteria. In a petition to the state government, Kariyarra Noongar woman Sharon Todd additionally advocated for repatriation and counselling programs to be funded, as well as headstones for those who have died. Ms Todd's late parents were both members of the Stolen Generations, and in 2021, she established WA's first Indigenous funeral service. "[The criteria] is putting a bandaid over the wounds of some without looking at all of us," she said. "Not knowing our language and not knowing the extended relationships … it makes it really difficult to move forward with confidence and clarity of where we belong." A 1997 inquiry by the Australian Human Rights Commission into the Stolen Generations said descendants should be included in reparations to acknowledge the long-lasting intergenerational trauma caused by forced removals. This has not been written into WA's redress scheme, despite Mr Cook acknowledging in his speech in May that the forced removal of children had "caused cycles of disadvantage and intergenerational trauma". The state government said the scheme was focused on living individuals who suffered as a result of their removal but that survivors of those who died after the scheme was announced could apply on their behalf. "The WA government is working with Stolen Generations organisations on additional measures to address healing and truth-telling," a spokesperson said. The scheme is expected to open to applications later this year.
ABC News
20-07-2025
- ABC News
Queer communities in outback WA 'ready for change' with historic roadshow
When Jesse Cussen arrived in the remote West Australian town of Halls Creek more than a decade ago, they remember having to conceal parts of their identity. "I was 20 years old and I very much felt like I had to hide parts of myself and not experience my queerness," they said. This year Jesse, who is now based in Broome, returned to the town as part of the first Kimberley SBLGBTIQA+ Roadshow they co-facilitated with their colleague, Halina Kolatowicz, after they were approached by the state government. The term SBLGBTIQA+ encompasses "brother boys" and "sister girls", which are terms used within some Indigenous communities to describe transgender and gender-diverse people. "To go back there and find such an amazing group of passionate, open people who were really keen to start something special and create social change — I burst into tears," Jesse said. Halina recalled feeling isolated when she first arrived in Broome more than a decade ago. "[I was at] the developmental stages of even finding out my sexuality and my identity as a queer black woman," she said. As part of the roadshow, which was supported by Kimberley Blak Pride and Rainbow Futures WA, the pair travelled throughout the region consulting with more than 100 people, documenting the lived realities and aspirations of queer people across the Kimberley for the first time. "There was lots of isolation. People were [craving] connection," Halina said. "People would face homophobia and violence in rural towns. But there's also been a lot of celebration." With the Kimberley region being approximately twice the size of Victoria, they found every community was unique in its experiences and challenges. Sign up for ABCQueer's monthly newsletter, delivering the ABC's best stories and content for LGBTQIA+ folks and their allies. In some towns the pair heard stories of people being asked to remove pride flags from their workplaces. "Places like Broome and Kununurra have established pride festivals and communities have really been able to flourish and connect," Jesse said. "Other towns like Wyndham, Fitzroy Crossing, Halls Creek particularly, there was really a profound silence when it came to queer issues and identities." The roadshow identified significant gaps in access and safety for queer people navigating the health and education sectors. "There's no support for teachers or practitioners, so that needs to change. We need training and development in policies and queer cultural awareness," Halina said. "One of the recommendations from the report is more support to develop whole-school approaches and provide cultural training for teachers and staff." The roadshow identified ongoing barriers for people accessing culturally safe and inclusive health care, especially for trans and gender-diverse people, with some doctors being uncomfortable prescribing hormone therapy. "We don't have people with expertise in queer health, that is a huge barrier," Halina said. A report will now be presented to the state government as part of the first LGBTIQA+ Inclusion Strategy that was announced last year. While the roadshow highlighted ongoing challenges, the pair found communities were ready for change. "There's still so much violence, homophobia, discrimination and fear — really it stems down to a lot of fear of the unknown," Halina said. Jesse said the Kimberley needed its own "bespoke approach". "One of the things we noticed was the queer community groups that are really eager to collaborate, to work with others and create change together," they said. "We have people who are already working with the rodeos and footy clubs in the East Kimberley and we'd love to do that in the West Kimberley." For Jesse, transitioning in Australia's far north-west has "not been straightforward". "I'm steadily trying to build more space where I can live my truth," Jesse said. "The roadshow was a really important part of that for me."
