Murujuga World Heritage Status Threatened by Industrial Pollution

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As an Australian delegation gets ready to head to Paris to advocate for World Heritage status for Murujuga, home to the world’s most ancient collection of rock art, the expansion of Woodside’s nearby gas project encounters a new challenge.

Friends of Australian Rock Art (FARA) are opposing the Western Australian government’s environmental approval for extending the life of Woodside Energy’s extensive North West Shelf venture, which includes the Karratha gas plant.

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 at Murujuga, with the Federal Court to hear the case in mid-July.

The FARA 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 effects on rock art.

And while the WA Government has come under fire from scientists for misrepresenting the Murujuga Rock Art Monitoring Program report released in May, both the state and federal governments are relying on it to support their claim that heavy industry and ancient rock art can coexist.

However, ICOMOS, the organization that advises on the inclusion of sites on the World Heritage List, disagrees, along with Traditional Custodians and numerous scientists.

French connection

Ms Cooper, a former chair of the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation, is also heading to Paris with other representatives from Save our Songlines, a campaign coordinated by Murujuga Traditional Custodians to protect the Burrup from industrial damage, to the 47th Session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.

On May 29, UNESCO published their draft decision to defer World Heritage status for Murujuga until the Australian Government addressed the risks to World Heritage values, incluging “the total removal of degrading acidic emissions currently impacting upon the petroglyphs of the Murujuga Cultural Landscape”.

Hours later, federal Environment Minister Murray Watt announced provisional approval of Woodside’s North West Shelf extension until 2070, giving the company 10 days to respond, which has since been extended.

“The United Nations wrote to the Australian government almost three years ago and they ignored it, just like the Albanese government has ignored every piece of evidence presented to them about industrial damage to Murujuga’s sacred rock art,” Ms Cooper said.

“I am heading to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee session in Paris to ensure that UNESCO recognizes the threats posed by Woodside, even if Anthony Albanese and Murray Watt prefer otherwise.”

Ms Cooper is in favour of World Heritage status for Murujuga – and worked towards it when she chaired the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation.

But members of Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation are subject to a no-objections clause contained in the Burrup and Maitland Industrial Estates Agreement (BMIEA), signed by representatives of the Ngarluma-Yindjibarndi, Wong-Goo-Tt-Oo, and Yaburara Mardudhunera peoples in 2003, meaning they are essentially gagged from objecting to development.

In a statement to NITV Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation (MAC) said they believe the draft recommendation to refer the nomination back to the Australian Government “does not fully reflect the extensive scientific evidence already in place”.

MAC said the Murujuga Rock Art Monitoring Program (MRAMP), a partnership between MAC, the WA Government and Curtin University, is the most comprehensive study of its kind, which has delivered two years of peer-reviewed data and is developing Environmental Quality Criteria to guide air quality protections for the rock art.

“The claim that ‘total removal of degrading acidic emissions’ is necessary is not supported by the data,” the statement said.

“Further mitigation, such as ammonia-releasing pollution controls, could actually increase environmental risk by making the atmosphere more alkaline.

“MAC also notes that the Outstanding Universal Value of the site has already been confirmed by ICOMOS, and that the nomination meets all integrity, authenticity, and management requirements.”

MAC chairperson Peter Hicks said the nomination should stand on the strength of the site’s outstanding universal value, independent of any political or industrial agendas.

“Some campaigns have unintentionally complicated the process by redirecting focus away from the cultural significance of the Murujuga landscape itself and failing to consider the rigorous science underpinning our stewardship,” he said.

But rock art expert from UWA Professor Benjamin Smith has accused the WA Government of misrepresenting the science in the MRAMP, writing in The Conversation that the report itself contains important findings – but saying the WA Government’s report summary and subsequent political commentary downplays the ongoing impacts of acidic emissions from industry on the unique rock art.

“Industrial pollution has degraded the rock art and will continue to do so until the industrial pollution levels at Murujuga are reduced to zero,” Professor Smith wrote.

MAC representatives will attend the UNESCO World Heritage committee meeting in Paris and are working closely with the Australian Government.

“The MRAMP … confirms that industry and cultural heritage can coexist when properly managed,” the MAC statement said.

But Ms Cooper disputes the idea that Murjuga is unaffected by heavy industry.

“People need to know what’s going on in our Country, people need to know what’s going on on the Burrup,” she told NITV.

“It is a cash cow for others other than the people that belong here.

“And it’s absolutely disgraceful the way the government has disrespected the people of this nation, the Aboriginal people in this in this country.

“We’re not asking for much, we’re asking that you leave our sacred places alone, our significant sites – this is where our law comes from.”

Ms Cooper said she was going to Paris to speak for Country.

“Murray Watt has said he is lobbying UNESCO to overturn this decision but the Australian government needs to take seriously the human rights violations the UN alleges are occurring at Murujuga, including the impacts to human health and to the rock art from acid rain,” she said.

“If they don’t, I will ensure that the entire world is aware of what the Albanese Government is allowing to unfold at Murujuga, and the damage that is already occurring to this site of outstanding universal heritage value.

“UNESCO needs to know about the scale of the destruction and cultural desecration from government and industry, and they need to impose a moratorium on any further damage as a condition of World Heritage listing.”

The unique collection of rock art at Murujuga contains petroglyphs carved into the surface of the rocks, including the earliest depiction of a human face and extinct animals.

World’s oldest art gallery

“This place is for everybody,” Ms Cooper said.

“This is a history beyond anyone’s ability to even understand.

“These rock art carvings are 50,000 plus years old and that’s incredible to have rock art that depicts the first human face, animals that are extinct.

“This place should be of value not only for the Custodians and the First Nations people and Aboriginal people from this area, but for everybody and we should be showcasing this in a way where everyone globally can come and see this and visit this place.

“It just blows my mind that we have something so unique.”

Senator Watt’s office did not respond to NITV’s questions.