A controversial gas project faces another hurdle, as environmental and Aboriginal activists launch an 11th-hour bid to overturn a state government approval.
Friends of Australian Rock Art are challenging the Western Australian government’s environmental approval to extend the life of Woodside Energy’s massive North West Shelf venture.
The Supreme Court action against the WA government and Woodside will argue the state did not consider the impact of climate change that would result from the project, including its effect on Indigenous rock art in the area.
‘Woodside’s proposed North West Shelf extension is one of the most polluting fossil fuel projects in the world, and will have severe consequences both for the Murujuga rock art and for the environment of Western Australia as a whole,’ the group’s spokeswoman, Judith Hugo, said on Tuesday.
Following WA’s approval in December, federal Environment Minister Murray Watt gave provisional approval last month to push out the life of the project from 2030 to 2070.
Woodside is currently considering the strict federal conditions on cultural heritage and air quality, which Senator Watt said would ensure the 60,000-year-old Murujuga Indigenous rock art was not destroyed.
Final approval has not been made, and activists believe their case in the WA courts could impact that green light, as it takes into account legal assessments of whether the project can satisfy federal laws.
Mardathoonera woman Raelene Cooper previously launched legal action against the Commonwealth in a bid to compel it to consider a heritage application to protect rock art, with the Federal Court to hear the case in mid-July.
Mardathoonera woman Raelene Cooper (centre) previously launched legal action against the Commonwealth in a bid to compel it to consider a heritage application to protect rock art, with the Federal Court to hear the case in mid-July
WA didn’t weigh the climate change impact when extending a controversial gas project, activists say
Woodside’s project is based on the Burrup peninsula in northwest WA, an area known as Murujuga.
It is nominated for UNESCO World Heritage listing as it contains the world’s largest collection of Aboriginal rock art.
The company said it was aware of the legal challenge.
‘We have confidence in the robustness of the state government’s comprehensive approval process,’ a spokesman said.
‘As the matter is before the court, we have no further comment.’
