Australian politicians protest UNESCO’s concern about ancient rock art
Senior Australian politicians are opposing UNESCO concerns that the ancient rock art in Western Australia is threatened by a proposed expansion of nearby gas projects, a fight that UNESCO has tried to hit by putting these millennium-old works on its World Heritage List.
Rock Art is located in Murujuga, and it is believed that there are 1 million rock paintings, some dating back to 47,000 years. The official website of Western Australia Park notes that the site is home to “one of the world’s most diverse collections of rock art.”
Many say all this rock art is facing pollution threats from the Karasha Gas Plant, part of the Northwest Shelf Project, which has been operating since the 1980s. The Karratha gas plant is operated by Woodside Energy.
Woodside is seeking to expand its plant, but expansion efforts have been controversial and the emissions generated have been reviewed. According to the ABC, Woodside said it will achieve a net zero business by 2050 and claimed the project will help Australia’s transition from coal energy.
The Australian government reported that Murujiga rock art was in “overall condition” and there was no indication that “acid rain or deposition was causing damage to rock art”.
But in May, the International Commission on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) advised UNESCO that the Murujiga rock art “is considered a major adverse factor for rock poets due to industrial emissions, which is a vulnerable factor.” ICOMOS recommended UNESCO send the World Heritage Site back to the Australian Government so that the government can “prevent any further industrial development adjacent to and within the Murujiga cultural landscape”.
Now, the debate has only deepened. This week, guardian Australian Environment Minister Murray Watt personally sought to get UNESCO to reject some of ICOMOS’s claims, the report said. according to guardianWatt said the ICOMOS report contained “de facto inaccuracy”. Watt tells Watt guardian.
according to guardian According to a document released by Western Australia, there is evidence that the Murujiga region was affected by pollution in the 1970s and 1980s, but pollution declined in 2014.
The debate about rock art seems to be unresolved. ABC reported this week that in Paris next month, members of the Murujiga Aboriginal Company and other Australian representatives will be on the reasons why rock art should be on UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites.
