‘It’s a cover-up’: Rock art expert accuses WA government of lying in emissions report

A world-renowned rock art specialist has accused the Cook government of trying to cover up the extent of damage from industrial emissions on petroglyphs etched into rocks on the Burrup Peninsula in WA’s north-west.

University of Western Australia archaeologist Professor Ben Smith claims the government lied in the executive summary of an 800-page report on industrial emissions and the Murujuga rock art, released late on Friday, that suggested current emissions were not impacting the rock art.

Renowned global rock art expert Ben Smith outside WA Parliament.Credit: Hamish Hastie

But Premier Roger Cook’s office was adamant neither he nor his office made any edits to the report and labelled the claim offensive and factually incorrect.

The Curtin University-produced report was released just days before the deadline for federal Environment Minister Murray Watt’s decision on Woodside’s proposal to extend the life of its North West Shelf assets, including those on the Burrup, until the 2070s.

Smith said the science in the report was sound, but claimed the executive summary, which he tore up at a media conference on Tuesday, had twisted the findings to suggest emissions were at OK levels.

“This document is not worth the paper that it is written on. It’s a disgrace, a disgrace to Australian science and my colleagues at Curtin, I’m sure, are as angry about this as I am,” he said.

“We want to see the science used properly by this government to protect the cultural heritage of Murujuga. We do not want to get a pack of lies and a bunch of bullshit that we see in this executive summary.

“The minister cannot make a decision on the expansion of North West shelf on the basis of this propaganda document.”

The report did find that one type of rock on the peninsula had increased porosity on its surface, which was linked to the operation of the Dampier power station over the 1970s and 1980s.

This finding in the executive summary was repeated by Cook.

But Smith rubbished that suggestion and said the report itself identified that the power station emitted 4000 tonnes of the pollutants known to create porosity in that type of rock every year, whereas the current levels of those pollutants from industry near the rock art now was 20,000 tonnes per annum.

One of the engravings at the rock art gallery in Murujuga national park.Credit: Emma Young

“If Roger Cook is right ... that those industrial emissions in the 1970s and 1980s damaged the rock art, if he’s right, this is even more alarming,” he said.

“He’s let the genie out of the bottle. That means that current emissions are five times more serious.”

Smith lamented what he described as a gag on Curtin rock art scientists as a result of the multimillion-dollar contract with the government to conduct the monitoring program.

He also pointed to a piece of rock art that was taken from Murujuga in the early 90s, and which was the subject of one of his own studies in Germany, that found there was no porosity, suggesting the damage recorded had occured in the last 40 years.

A spokesman for Cook said neither the premier or his office made any edits whatsoever to the report.

“These claims are offensive and factually incorrect,” he said.

The report into the Indigenous heritage site of Murujuga, on the Burrup Peninsula in WA’s north-west – near gas giant Woodside’s proposed expanded operations – sought to address years of scientific uncertainty over whether prolonged industrial pollution on the peninsula had affected the site, which is the subject of a World Heritage bid.

The WA government said the program had delivered the largest and most reliable data set on rock art in the world, tracking air quality, rock surface chemistry, rainfall, and pH levels.

But WA Greens climate change spokeswoman Sophie McNeill demanded Watt delay his decision over concerns it would be influenced by the report’s executive summary.

McNeill also flagged the revelations around the rock art may prompt legal challenges of any approval.

“We know that there is opposition to this project across Australia, and I would not be surprised at all if what we’ve heard this morning by from Professor Smith provides encouragement in terms of a judicial review of this decision,” she said.

Cook was contacted for further comment, but backed his assessment of the report during a press conference earlier on Tuesday.

“I know the findings are based upon longitudinal and extensive research in relation to the impacts of industrial developments,” he said.

“I also note that that report itself is peer-reviewed, and so the science is in. If there’s contrary science, well that should be presented in the scientific corners, but we’ll be guided by the science on this, not from the media commentary.

“The science has said that modern industrial developments do not have a long-term impact in terms of the quality of air.”

Murujuga traditional owner Raelene Cooper has also launched a fresh Federal Court challenge to the proposed long-term expansion of the Karratha gas plant.

Watt was approached for comment.

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