Latest news with #SaveOurSonglines
Sky News AU
4 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Legal challenge against Woodside extension expected
The federal government is expected to face a legal challenge on the approval of Woodside Energy's North West Shelf gas plant extension. Environmental and Indigenous activists say the gas plant threatens the erosion of rock art in the area. Labor has agreed to give "Save Our Songlines" founder Raelene Cooper at least three days' notice before formal approval of the project. The commitment will give the traditional custodians an opportunity to file an injunction against the decision.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Indigenous and climate advocates team up to take on global energy company and protect rock art
A bid to compel the government to consider a heritage application to protect Indigenous rock art is going to court as three environmental activists declare they 'successfully hoaxed' Woodside. The preliminary hearing follows Environment Minister Murray Watt's interim approval of Woodside's North West Shelf extension until 2070, a controversial gas project in Western Australia. The call has flared tensions, with environmental and Indigenous groups arguing it will slow efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions and have a ruinous effect on nearby ancient petroglyphs. Mardathoonera woman Raelene Cooper said she was thrilled the case against the newly appointed environment minister was moving forward without further delays. 'It's rude to have someone waiting for such a long time,' the Save our Songlines co-founder said outside the Federal Court in Sydney. The court determined Ms Cooper's case would be heard in the week of July 14. Senator Watt attached heritage and air quality conditions to the approval and those are yet to be formally agreed to by the Australian energy giant. Ms Cooper said the North West Shelf and other industrial developments at Woodside's Burrup Hub posed risks to the rock art - concerns and evidence laid out in full in a cultural heritage assessment the minister is yet to consider. The Burrup Peninsula, in WA's Pilbara region and known as Murujuga to traditional owners, contains some of the world's largest and oldest collection of petroglyphs. The 'section 10' heritage application was originally lodged in early 2022. 'I am furious that the minister would make a decision to lock in ongoing and irreversible damage to my country before addressing my application,' Ms Cooper said. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the conditions attached to the pending approval of the North West Shelf extension would address concerns about the rock art. 'The local Aboriginal corporation there, I've met with them in the past, they're very supportive of industry,' he told ABC radio on Friday. 'They want to make sure there's protection, but they support those jobs and that economic activity.' In a separate case, three protesters were fined $10,000 each after targeting a Woodside annual general meeting with stench gas and flares. Disrupt Burrup Hub's Gerard Mazza, Jesse Noakes and Tahlia Stolarski pleaded guilty to charges laid over their protest at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre in April 2023. 'Today we were fined for attempting to create false belief - in other words, we pranked Woodside,' Ms Stolarski told supporters outside Perth District Court after the verdict. 'We are guilty of pulling off a highly successful hoax. 'One day, perhaps Woodside and the WA government will be pulled before a court like this one (and) be charged with much more serious crimes, and their victims will be future generations and all life on earth.'
Perth Now
28-05-2025
- Politics
- Perth Now
Major decision made on gas project
Woodside has been given the early go-ahead to operate the controversial North West Shelf gas project until 2070 in the first major decision taken by newly installed Environment Minister Murray Watt. Following a drawn-out six-year approvals process, the Queensland senator confirmed the preliminary approval on Wednesday ahead of the May 31 deadline, granting an extension of the Karratha gas facility that is one of the biggest in the world. The preliminary go-ahead comes alongside strict conditions to limit the impact of air emissions on the Murujuga rock art. Under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, Woodside will now have 10 business days to respond to the conditions set by Senator Watt. Its response will focus on how it can implement the guidelines ordered by the minister. From there, Senator Watt will make his final decision. Woodside has been granted approval to operate the North West Shelf gas project until 2070. Save Our Songlines Credit: Supplied In a short statement, Senator Watt said the stipulations would ensure 'adequate protection for the rock art'. 'My responsibility is to consider the acceptability of the project's impact on protected matters,' he said. '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.' Previously, the West Australian state government had green-lit the project; however, the extension required federal sign-off. Former environment minister Tanya Ms Plibersek twice delayed a decision on the gas project until after the federal election. Prior to the May 3 election, the Coalition had committed to fast-track a decision within 30 days after winning government following delays under the first-term Albanese government. On Wednesday, it was also revealed that Australia's bid to list Western Australia's Burrup Peninsula, located near Karratha, as a UNESCO World Heritage protected site was knocked back, with the draft decision stating the 'degrading acidic emissions' were impacting the Aboriginal rock art. Environment Minister Murray Watt has given the project preliminary approval. NewsWire / John Gass Credit: News Corp Australia It said UNESCO referred the application back to Australia to 'prevent any further industrial development adjacent to, and within, the Murujuga Cultural Landscape' and 'develop an appropriate decommissioning and rehabilitation plan for existing industrial activities'. On Monday, Anthony Albanese appeared to foreshadow the gas project's approval, speaking about the importance of gas as a way to firm Australia's renewables-dominated energy grid. 'You can't have renewables unless you have firming capacity, simple as that,' the Prime Minister told reporters. 'You don't change a transition through warm thoughts, you do it through a concrete proposal, which is the expansion of renewables, up to 82 per cent of the grid. 'But the way that occurs is it needs firming capacity to occur.' The extension will undoubtedly draw criticism from the Greens, with party leader Larissa Waters accusing the government of '(locking) us into dirty gas out to 2070' . 'We have enough gas already, we don't need this expansion and we certainly don't need this trigger to open up gas fields,' she told the ABC on Tuesday. 'This would be a terrible decision, and this the first climate test for the reality of Albanese government. Is it really how they want to start the term?' More to come
Perth Now
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Perth Now
Professor accuses government of lying
The Western Australian government has been accused of lying in the summary of a report about the impact of industrial pollution on Aboriginal rock art in the Pilbara to support an extension to Woodside's North West Shelf gas plant. UWA professor of archaeology Benjamin Smith said he had blown the whistle on the summary of an 800 page report released by the WA government late last week examining the impact of industrial emissions on Murujuga rock art. The Cook government has denied the allegation. The report was produced by the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation, Department of Water and Environmental Regulation and scientists from Curtin University, which the professor claims were gagged from commenting on its findings. Professor Smith has studied the impact of pollutants on rock art for the past six years and claims the WA government covered up evidence that industrial pollutants have degraded rock art and misrepresented findings in the report. 'This report contains very serious evidence that industrial emissions are currently damaging the rock art of Murujuga,' he said. Aboriginal rock art of an emu pictured at Murujuga where Woodside want to extend its North West Shelf gas plant for another 40 years. Save Our Songlines Credit: Supplied Professor Smith said experiments showed rocks at Murujuga were damaged by industrial pollutants at accelerating elevated porosity, which meant they looked liked Swiss cheese under a microscope, rather than hard, even surfaces. He said the government tried to blame elevated porosity on a Dampier power plant that operated in the 1970s and 1980s that produced 4000 tonnes of pollution, but current emissions from industry were now five times higher. 'That means current emissions are five times more serious, we have five times the level of destruction of Murujuga rock art than we had in the 1970s and 80s, according to the Murujuga rock art report,' he said. A state government spokesman denied the allegations saying the claims were offensive and factually incorrect. The premier told media at a press conference the science has said that modern industrial developments do not have a long-term impact in terms of the quality of the rock art. 'There was one incident back in the 1970s associated with an old generation power plant, that is what people have pointed to as being the most damaging period during the age of the rock art.' A turtle carved into rocks at Murujuga where Woodside operate the North West Shelf gas facility. Save Our Songlines Credit: Supplied Professor Smith tore up a copy of the summary at a press conference telling media the document was a disgrace and not worth the paper it was written on. 'The minister cannot make a decision on the expansion of the North West Shelf on the basis of this propaganda document,' he said. Woodside has operated the facility for 40 years and have environmental approval to operate the gas plant until 2030, but need government approval to extend operations beyond next decade. The WA government approved Woodside's expansion in December, but the project needs environmental approval from the federal government before it can continue past 2030. Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt is due to make a decision by the end of the month on whether to grant Woodside an extension to continue operating the North West Shelf gas plant until 2070. Woodside's North West Shelf gas plant. Save Our Songlines Credit: Supplied The North West Shelf is one of the world's biggest producers of liquefied natural gas, environmentalists argue it is one of the biggest polluters of greenhouse gas emissions in the Southern Hemisphere. WA Greens spokesman Sophie McNeil called on Minister Watt to delay making a decision on the North West Shelf extension in the wake of these 'shocking revelations.' 'There is a clear discrepancy between the findings of the 800 page report and of the summary, which we know was written by department officials,' she said. 'We have serious concerns about the ability of the minister to make this decision in this short period of time, because that report is incredibly technical reading.' Mr Watt declined to comment.
ABC News
23-05-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Pilbara traditional owner launches legal challenge to stall North West Shelf gas decision
A Pilbara traditional owner has launched a last-minute legal bid to halt the federal government's decision on an extension of Woodside's North West Shelf gas project. Lawyers for Raelene Cooper, a Mardudhunera woman and founder of the activist group Save our Songlines, filed the order yesterday at the Federal Court in Sydney. "I'm proud to be speaking on behalf of my people," Ms Cooper told the ABC. Woodside Energy is seeking to extend its Karratha North West Shelf gas facility, about 1,500 kilometres north of Perth, for another 40 years. It was given the go-ahead by the Western Australian government in December following a six-year assessment, but still requires Commonwealth approval. Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt has pledged to deliver the twice-delayed ruling by the end of next week. Ms Cooper's legal action demands Mr Watt first resolve an application lodged in February 2022, calling for the ancient rock art of Murujuga National Park to be protected. The application, submitted by Ms Cooper under Section 10 of the 1984 Aboriginal Heritage Protection Act, argues Woodside's industrial developments on the Burrup Peninsula pose a threat to thousands of Aboriginal petroglyphs. Section 10 allows the minister to make a declaration for the preservation of significant cultural heritage areas and halt works that could cause "injury or desecration". The federal government committed $17.7 million in its 2024-25 budget to reduce the backlog of Section 10 applications still awaiting a declaration. "It's absolutely ludicrous," Ms Cooper said. "I expect a decision and expect an answer. Ms Cooper has previously taken legal action against the government and resources companies over the development of the Pilbara. In 2023, she successfully suspended approval for Woodside's approval to carry out seismic testing off the Pilbara coast. Ms Cooper said she hoped the application would factor into the minister's potential extension of the North West Shelf project, which is expected in the coming weeks. Murujuga is home to some of the planet's oldest known rock art, and is nominated for UNSESCO World Heritage listing. The impact of industry emissions on the area, however, remains contentious. "How does the government actually say in one breath, '[There is] universal value in this place', and then, in the next breath, 'Yeah, just destroy it all,'" Ms Cooper said. In 2019, the state government announced a $27 million partnership with the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation (MAC) to monitor the effects of air quality on the petroglyphs. The program's interim findings were inconclusive, although Mr Watt told ABC Perth this week that the most up-to-date data would inform his decision. Ms Cooper's 2022 application includes testimony from several Pilbara traditional owners, describing fears that the environment and rock art would be harmed by further industry. In the time since that application was submitted to the federal government, then-Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek approved a $4.5 billion fertiliser plant outside Karratha despite those same concerns. "They've ripped up several hills to put in the Perdaman project since my Section 10 has been … submitted to government," Ms Cooper said. "It's been absolutely excruciating having to wait and then go back and forth to government." Mr Watt's decision on the North West Shelf follows a two-day trip to Perth, where he met with environmentalists, Indigenous groups, and business leaders on a range of policy issues. No Pilbara traditional owner groups or delegates were present at those meetings. Sean-Paul Stephens is the chief executive at Ngarluma Yindjibarndi Foundation (NYFL), the representative body for the land subject to Mr Watt's environmental approval. NYFL has been party to a land access agreement with Woodside since 1990. Mr Stephens said his organisation had not heard from Mr Watt, despite multiple requests to his office. "We're expecting them to come back with a proposed meeting date, but we would have preferred to have that date lined up this week while there's meetings going on in Perth," he said. "Any decisions that affect country, and affect the social, cultural and economic wellbeing of the First Nations community should be made or, at least, be informed while being on country. Mr Watt did not comment on the matter, despite multiple requests from the ABC.
