Santos spat over Barossa gas project pipes in Tiwi sacred sites

Songlines and sacred burial sites are at risk if Santos starts laying undersea pipes at the Tiwi Islands for its $5.3bn Barossa gas project, the Federal Court has heard.

Crocodile man songlines and sacred burial sites are at risk if Santos starts laying undersea pipes at the Tiwi Islands for its $5.3bn Barossa gas project, the Federal Court has heard on the first day of an urgent trial brought by traditional owner Simon Munkara.

But Santos claimed in their opening remarks that there were no sites of archaeological potential, and will argue there is no commonly held traditional set of beliefs that meant the spirituality of the Tiwi Islands could be disturbed.

Mr Munkara, represented by the Environmental Defenders Office, won a temporary injunction in mid-November, with Federal Court judge Natalie Charlesworth ruling Santos cannot fully lay undersea pipes until at least January 2024 as the 262km pipeline off the Tiwi Islands would cause irreparable harm to traditional owners’ connection to the sea.

A trial to rule on a permanent outcome in the matter kicked off on Monday, with Mr Munkara’s barrister Kateena O’Gorman saying their case centred on five arguments, including that the crocodile man songline “lives in freshwater source and travels in the deep sea”.

Ms O’Gorman said there were “tangible” cultural heritage risks if the project went ahead, including a report that identified 163 different sites of archaeological potential, and that there were other sacred cultural sites along the route of the pipeline.

She said Santos failed to consult with traditional owners about that report, which identified the sites.

“They actively withheld that report,” she said.

For Santos, barrister Vanessa Whittaker SC told the court the case is jeopardising a “project of such economic progress”.

“What the respondent says … is that the applicant will not establish there are cultural or heritage features. that require the seabed along the route of the pipeline to be undisturbed,” Ms Whittaker said.

“The applicant will not establish there are underwater sites with archaeological potential,” she said.

“There is no community belief the pipe will interfere with … spiritual creatures. The applicant will not establish there is a coherent commonly held tradition, set of beliefs and customs that is sufficiently accepted or described as having normative content for the community as a whole.”

Work on Santos’s Barossa gas facility has been suspended since last year after the Federal Court found the oil giant failed to consult local Indigenous people ­adequately.

Santos is still waiting for offshore safety authority NOPSEMA to rule on its updated environment plan, but had intended to finish laying the undersea pipes to mitigate the risk of any delays.

It cannot resume drilling until the regulator gives it the green light, but Santos has said it can only meet its production targets for first gas by early 2025 if work can resume by December 3.

If Mr Munkara is ultimately successful, Santos could be forced to develop a new environmental plan for the project. The previous version of the plan, developed after Santos was barred from drilling, took more than a year to establish.

Originally published as Santos spat over Barossa gas project pipes in Tiwi sacred sites