Campaigners step up fight as Burrup UNESCO World Heritage decision looms

Raelene Cooper has accused the WA and federal governments of manipulating and misrepresenting scientific findings from a crucial research project.

Rock art on Western Australia's Burrup Peninsula. Picture: Murujuga Aboriginal Corp

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The Indigenous campaigner leading the fight against the North West Shelf LNG extension has cited Environment Minister Murray Watt’s decision not to publicly release the proposed conditions for the contentious project in her submission to ­UNESCO.

Save Our Songlines founder Raelene Cooper also used her submission to the international body – which will decide in the coming days whether to admit the rock art-rich Burrup Peninsula, or Murujuga, on Western Australia’s northwest coast to the World Heritage List – to accuse the WA and federal governments of manipulating and misrepresenting scientific findings from a crucial research project.

Federal and WA officials as well as representatives from Murujuga Aboriginal Corp are travelling to Paris this week in an attempt to overturn a draft recommendation against the World Heritage listing of Murujuga, which is home to more than one million ancient rock carvings. The draft finding recommending deferring the listing until the heavy industry on the surrounding Burrup Peninsula, including some of Australia’s largest industrial projects, was curtailed.

Ms Cooper and a number of her supporters have also travelled to Paris for the meeting, with Save Our Songlines having prepared a submission for the UNESCO panel to consider.

Indigenous woman Raelene Cooper, one of the founders of Save Our Songlines, with the North West Shelf gas project in the background.

A statement prepared in recent days by Ms Cooper for UNESCO reinforces her support for the World Heritage nomination and the proposed conditions in the draft decision handed to the body by the International Council on Monuments and Sites earlier this year.

That draft decision recommended referring the World Heritage application back to Australia to allow it 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”.

At the time of the draft decision, Senator Watt criticised what he said were the “factual inaccuracies” that had influenced the findings. Just days later, he gave conditional approval to Woodside’s plans to extend the operating life of the North West Shelf out to 2070.

Ms Cooper told UNESCO that the senator’s decision was an example of the Australian government taking action that was contrary to the recommendations presented to UNESCO, with the decision to keep the proposed conditions from the public exacerbating the issue.

“Save our Songlines is currently unable to provide detailed comment on the adequacy of any conditions that may be attached to this approval, because the minister has refused to release the proposed conditions, and they are subject to ongoing negotiation with the proponent (Woodside Energy),” Ms Cooper wrote.

“However, Save our Songlines believes any ongoing operations of the NWS facility are likely to result in unacceptable ongoing impacts to the heritage values of Murujuga, and are contrary to the ICOMOS recommendations for decommiss­ioning and rehabilitation of industrial development at Murujuga.”

While the attempts by the state and federal governments and MAC to salvage the listing will likely centre on presenting the recent findings of a rock art monitoring program, Ms Cooper told UNESCO she questioned the validity of that research.

Rock art on the Burrup Peninsula in Western Australia, home to the world's largest collection of rock art.

“Save our Songlines is further concerned that the Australian commonwealth government and West Australian state governments have engaged in manipulation and misrepresentation of scientific research in making the claim that pollution from LNG processing does not put the heritage values at risk,” she wrote.

“Save our Songlines believes this is the latest episode in an ongoing effort by the state party to enable industrial developments which are causing, and will continue to cause, profound and ongoing threats to Murujuga.”

Ms Cooper is a former chair of MAC but quit the organisation’s board after she established Save Our Songlines.

Current MAC chair Peter Hicks has been highly critical of attempts to disrupt the listing process, warning that environmental groups had hijacked the process for their own agendas.

Mr Hicks will be joined at ­UNESCO by WA Environment Minister Matthew Swinbourn and the lead scientist from the rock art monitoring program, Ben Mullins.

Mr Swinbourn said he was travelling to Paris to stand alongside Murujuga’s traditional owners as they seek to have the area’s outstanding cultural and historical values recognised.

“The scientific evidence shows that industry and cultural heritage can coexist when properly managed, and that current industrial activity is not damaging the rock art.

“Ongoing monitoring, undertaken in partnership between the WA government and MAC, will continue safeguarding this irreplaceable cultural heritage,” he said.

“World Heritage listing will further help protect the ancient rock art and cultural landscapes of Murujuga for generations to come.

“This is about ensuring the unique stories and significance of Murujuga are recognised and celebrated by the international community.”