Australian ancient rock art sites are threatened after government extensions of nearby gas mega plants
The Australian government recently extended the life of LNG projects near the 50,000-year-old rock art sites in the country’s remote areas, prompting archaeologists to alert additional environmental damage.
On May 28, Australia’s Environment Minister Murray Watt conditionally approved Woodside Energy’s request to extend the life of the Northwest shelf gas plant for forty years. Reutersthe existing approval of the project is scheduled to expire in 2030.
The Northwest Shelf Gas Plant is located on the Hamburg Peninsula (also known as Murujuga), a region located on the country’s remote western coast and is estimated to be also located in the region.
Benjamin Smith, professor of archaeology at the University of Western Australia, noted that the image of the site includes descriptions of the world’s first human face, and Murujula is unique to an ancient rock art object located in a place.
“Just say that Europe’s oldest rock art is 34,000 years old,” he told him. Art newspapernoting that the contaminants from the factory expansion will put all petroglyphs at a “serious risk”.
Reuters It was also reported that Watt said the approval of the project extension was subject to strict conditions, “particularly related to the impact of air emission levels” and that the impact of emissions on Murujiga rock art was considered part of the government’s assessment process.
“I made sure that the proper protection of rock art was at the heart of my proposed decision,” Watt said.
Watt provided Woodside Energy with 10 days to deal with confidential conditions regarding air quality and cultural heritage management, and then the Secretary of Environmental Protection will make a final decision on the project’s requirements expansion.
Smith told Art newspaper Before knowing these conditions, archaeology professors will “understand pressure” on the newly elected Labour government of the newly elected Anthony Albanese.
Smith told Art newspaper. “The first time we saw these conditions were public, and by then it was too late (change them).
In 2023, ecological concerns over the Northwest Shelf Gas Project on Murujuga Rock Art prompted an activist to spray Woodside’s logo onto artworks on display at the Western Australian Museum of Art in Perth. Joana Veronika Partyka promised to commit a crime to damage Frederick McCubbin’s paintings, but later claimed that his personal property was raided by authorities after denied access to his electronic devices. She was not indifferent to failure to comply with the order to allow access to her data.
