Bid for World Heritage rock art listing ramps up
Environment Minister Murray Watt will travel to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) headquarters in France to try get the Murujuga rock art landscape in Western Australia listed as a World Heritage site.
The site had previously been put forward to UNESCO but Australia's application was referred back in May, with recommendations state and federal governments address concerns nearby acid emissions, including those from Woodside's Burrup gas hub, were degrading the art.
But Senator Watt, who said Australia had consistently shown international leadership in promoting First Nations people and combating climate change, wants to update the committee on conservation at Murujuga.
"All Australians can be immensely proud of our heritage sites, both ancient and modern," he said.
"Not only is Australia home to many cultures from across the world but also the world's oldest continuous living culture."
Senator Watt will also offer other updates on other World Heritage-listed sites including the Greater Blue Mountains, the Gondwana Rainforests and the Great Barrier Reef, which has been a subject of concern in recent years due to several waves of coral bleaching amid rising ocean temperatures.
The announcement of Senator Watt's trip coincides with protests set to take place outside Woodside's Perth office on Wednesday, where climate activists will oppose the pending North West Shelf extension decision at the Burrup peninsula and the proposed Browse gas field at Scott Reef.
The Murujuga area contains the world's largest, densest and most diverse collection of rock art engravings, known as petroglyphs, and some are estimated to be more than 50,000 years old.
Friends of Australian Rock Art in June challenged the Western Australian government's environmental approval to extend the life of Woodside's North West Shelf project.
They argued the state did not consider the climate change impact the project would increate, and the affect it would have on Indigenous rock art.
AAP has reached out to Woodside for comment.
The company's website has said it seeks to avoid impacts on cultural heritage or minimise and mitigate the impacts.
An ancient First Nations rock art collection could become a World Heritage-listed site as the federal government ramps up lobbying efforts.
Environment Minister Murray Watt will travel to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) headquarters in France to try get the Murujuga rock art landscape in Western Australia listed as a World Heritage site.
The site had previously been put forward to UNESCO but Australia's application was referred back in May, with recommendations state and federal governments address concerns nearby acid emissions, including those from Woodside's Burrup gas hub, were degrading the art.
But Senator Watt, who said Australia had consistently shown international leadership in promoting First Nations people and combating climate change, wants to update the committee on conservation at Murujuga.
"All Australians can be immensely proud of our heritage sites, both ancient and modern," he said.
"Not only is Australia home to many cultures from across the world but also the world's oldest continuous living culture."
Senator Watt will also offer other updates on other World Heritage-listed sites including the Greater Blue Mountains, the Gondwana Rainforests and the Great Barrier Reef, which has been a subject of concern in recent years due to several waves of coral bleaching amid rising ocean temperatures.
The announcement of Senator Watt's trip coincides with protests set to take place outside Woodside's Perth office on Wednesday, where climate activists will oppose the pending North West Shelf extension decision at the Burrup peninsula and the proposed Browse gas field at Scott Reef.
The Murujuga area contains the world's largest, densest and most diverse collection of rock art engravings, known as petroglyphs, and some are estimated to be more than 50,000 years old.
Friends of Australian Rock Art in June challenged the Western Australian government's environmental approval to extend the life of Woodside's North West Shelf project.
They argued the state did not consider the climate change impact the project would increate, and the affect it would have on Indigenous rock art.
AAP has reached out to Woodside for comment.
The company's website has said it seeks to avoid impacts on cultural heritage or minimise and mitigate the impacts.
An ancient First Nations rock art collection could become a World Heritage-listed site as the federal government ramps up lobbying efforts.
Environment Minister Murray Watt will travel to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) headquarters in France to try get the Murujuga rock art landscape in Western Australia listed as a World Heritage site.
The site had previously been put forward to UNESCO but Australia's application was referred back in May, with recommendations state and federal governments address concerns nearby acid emissions, including those from Woodside's Burrup gas hub, were degrading the art.
But Senator Watt, who said Australia had consistently shown international leadership in promoting First Nations people and combating climate change, wants to update the committee on conservation at Murujuga.
"All Australians can be immensely proud of our heritage sites, both ancient and modern," he said.
"Not only is Australia home to many cultures from across the world but also the world's oldest continuous living culture."
Senator Watt will also offer other updates on other World Heritage-listed sites including the Greater Blue Mountains, the Gondwana Rainforests and the Great Barrier Reef, which has been a subject of concern in recent years due to several waves of coral bleaching amid rising ocean temperatures.
The announcement of Senator Watt's trip coincides with protests set to take place outside Woodside's Perth office on Wednesday, where climate activists will oppose the pending North West Shelf extension decision at the Burrup peninsula and the proposed Browse gas field at Scott Reef.
The Murujuga area contains the world's largest, densest and most diverse collection of rock art engravings, known as petroglyphs, and some are estimated to be more than 50,000 years old.
Friends of Australian Rock Art in June challenged the Western Australian government's environmental approval to extend the life of Woodside's North West Shelf project.
They argued the state did not consider the climate change impact the project would increate, and the affect it would have on Indigenous rock art.
AAP has reached out to Woodside for comment.
The company's website has said it seeks to avoid impacts on cultural heritage or minimise and mitigate the impacts.
An ancient First Nations rock art collection could become a World Heritage-listed site as the federal government ramps up lobbying efforts.
Environment Minister Murray Watt will travel to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) headquarters in France to try get the Murujuga rock art landscape in Western Australia listed as a World Heritage site.
The site had previously been put forward to UNESCO but Australia's application was referred back in May, with recommendations state and federal governments address concerns nearby acid emissions, including those from Woodside's Burrup gas hub, were degrading the art.
But Senator Watt, who said Australia had consistently shown international leadership in promoting First Nations people and combating climate change, wants to update the committee on conservation at Murujuga.
"All Australians can be immensely proud of our heritage sites, both ancient and modern," he said.
"Not only is Australia home to many cultures from across the world but also the world's oldest continuous living culture."
Senator Watt will also offer other updates on other World Heritage-listed sites including the Greater Blue Mountains, the Gondwana Rainforests and the Great Barrier Reef, which has been a subject of concern in recent years due to several waves of coral bleaching amid rising ocean temperatures.
The announcement of Senator Watt's trip coincides with protests set to take place outside Woodside's Perth office on Wednesday, where climate activists will oppose the pending North West Shelf extension decision at the Burrup peninsula and the proposed Browse gas field at Scott Reef.
The Murujuga area contains the world's largest, densest and most diverse collection of rock art engravings, known as petroglyphs, and some are estimated to be more than 50,000 years old.
Friends of Australian Rock Art in June challenged the Western Australian government's environmental approval to extend the life of Woodside's North West Shelf project.
They argued the state did not consider the climate change impact the project would increate, and the affect it would have on Indigenous rock art.
AAP has reached out to Woodside for comment.
The company's website has said it seeks to avoid impacts on cultural heritage or minimise and mitigate the impacts.
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The Advertiser
13 hours ago
- The Advertiser
A Hawaiian road trip with family, fierce waves and unforgettable moments
Road-trip ready in Oahu. Picture: Getty Images By Lance Richardson Updated July 11, 2025, first published July 12, 2025 You have not truly arrived in Hawaii until you spot one of the countless feral chickens strutting somewhere it does not belong. My first sighting is on the freeway heading into Honolulu; the chicken steps off the median strip into heavy traffic, apparently suicidal, and I think: Yes! I have missed this strange and wonderful place. Subscribe now for unlimited access. or signup to continue reading All articles from our website The digital version of Today's Paper All other in your area I first visited the island of Oahu some 15 years ago. That trip was part of an ongoing effort to escape from family and expectations - to shake everything familiar for a while and taste true freedom. I figured I would travel for a bit, like many young Australians do, and then settle down in Sydney and grow up. But I never got around to returning home again. I kept travelling, moving further and further away from where I'd started, until I found myself living near Boston, a permanent exile. This time I have come to Oahu not to escape family, but to be reunited with it. My parents have just disembarked from an international cruise. My husband and I have flown in to meet them for a few days of leisure. The plan is to tour the island in a rental car together, driving my mother and father from secluded beach to shrimp shack, just as they used to drive my siblings and I around during school holidays. Waipio Fruit Shack in Hawaii. Picture: Hawaii Tourism Authority We find them in a Waikiki hotel, drinking with other Australians - friends who also took the cruise - in a seventh-floor hallway. This happy hour celebration, unsanctioned by the hotel staff, is an economic response to the brutal exchange rate. "We went to a tiki bar and had two cocktails each, and it was $180!" one of the women tells me, her voice quivering with righteous indignation. My mother is sipping a drink mixed from various bottles on a table. My father, dressed in a festive Hawaiian shirt, holds out a paper cup full of Jim Beam - a welcome toast. Aloha. Anybody who sees their parents only sporadically knows that ageing tends to happen in jump cuts. You hold an image in your head of what they looked like during the last meeting, and then suddenly, in a disconcerting flash, you are forced to revise that image, superimposing years and wrinkles over their faces. The impression is only heightened on this trip because a mysterious illness has recently left my father with less than half his lung capacity, and shockingly underweight. In the afternoon, we shuffle slowly through the enormous outdoor mall of Waikiki, catching up on news from Down Under, and I have a moment of vertigo as I realise that my parents have somehow grown old when I wasn't paying attention. The writer (second from left) with his family. My father soon returns to the hotel to rest. For our first Hawaiian dinner, we escort my mother to join the line at Marugame Udon on Kuhio Avenue, where an "Udon master" stretches fresh noodles in the window like a magician performing tricks. After we finally get served and take a seat inside, my mother declares that the dashi broth is "not bad" - it is excellent, in fact - before revealing, with a resigned sigh, that my father has started using a cane with a fold-out chair. The Windward Coast and North Shore Oahu is a modest 1546 square kilometres in size, with a coastline of just 365 kilometres. A drive is the optimal way to explore the island, and the best one takes you up the east side - the Windward Coast, so-named for the trade winds that blow in across the Pacific - then west along the wild North Shore, and then south through the island's verdant centre, right back to Honolulu, forming a convenient loop that can be completed in a single morning and afternoon. We start at Leonard's Bakery, which is marked by a hard-to-miss Vegas-style neon sign. Leonard's Portuguese donuts, called malasadas, explode with guava, coconut or macadamia nut cream, so your hands end up sticky on the steering wheel. "It's like eating air," coos my mother from the backseat, the pink donut box cradled by her side as we head out of the city. Diamond Head, an enormous volcanic tuff cone, rises from the island like a meteor impact. We pause at the Amelia Earhart marker - commemorating her first solo flight from California to Hawaii in 1935 - then continue through expensive oceanfront neighbourhoods where warning signs announce a Tsunami Hazard Area. (Beautiful views come with a measure of risk.) After about 20 minutes of driving, we reach the Holona Blowhole Lookout. The ocean explodes through a tiny chute, sending a plume of water high into the air. But my attention is drawn to the road ahead, which hugs a prehistoric coast so spectacular it seems straight out of Jurassic Park: steep crenulated cliffs, and beaches that would, anywhere else in the world, be the kind of attractions promoted on the cover of brochures. Diamond Head. Picture: Hawaii Tourism Authority/Tor Johnson We head up to Kailua and stop at Kalama Beach Park. There are no tourists to speak of, only locals walking their dogs, a guy washing his muscle car, more of those endearing chickens. My father perches on a piece of driftwood to catch his breath, and the rest of us wander down past palm trees to a tide the temperature of last night's dashi broth. People live here, I want to shout, waving my hands around at the obscene beauty. People get to see this every day! As we head farther north, I start to keep a list of all the places I would frequent if this were my home, fantasising a different kind of life. The stalls selling peach cobbler. The orchid farm. The Waiahole Poi Factory, for squid luau and ice cream. The guy grilling huli-huli chicken over mesquite wood by the side of the road. In Punaluu, we stop for lunch at the bright yellow Shrimp Shack, an old truck with rusted-out wheels. "Wouldn't want to drive anywhere with those," Dad whispers. The menu is scrawled on a surfboard, and spice comes in four levels: mild, medium, hot or "lava". We carry our meals across the road to yet another beach, and once the plates are licked clean, I stick my head in Ching's Punaluu Store, which is decorated with portraits of the early Chinese families who once lived in the area, fishing for mahi-mahi in the shallow barrier reef. Luluku Road at Hoomaluhia Botanical Garden on the Island of Oahu. After lunch, the road bends east, and we reach the North Shore, so renowned for its mammoth waves that surfers will flock here and throw themselves into the water as though hypnotised. My father is a veteran of the Australian Navy, and he was briefly stationed on Oahu during the 1970s. "Did you ever make it to the North Shore?" my husband asks from the driver's seat. "You wouldn't have got past the first pub!" my mother interjects, and Dad does not deny it. There are no turtles on Turtle Beach, but Sunset Beach, which hosts the Vans World Cup of Surfing each year, is baking under a hot sun. A lifeguard with a motorised surfboard seems more interested in the waves than he does in patrolling. As I burrow my feet into wet sand, a surfer with a prosthetic leg runs past me shouting "Dude!" - and throws himself bodily into the ocean. A shrimp shack restaurant. Picture: Getty Images Our last stop of the day, a place I have been hyping up to my parents for months, is Matsumoto Shave Ice in Haleiwa Town. Ice cream, shaved ice, flavoured sugar syrup, azuki beans, and mochi balls add up to a divine island treat. "It's nice, it's different," my mother says, in a voice so exactly like Kath Day-Knight that it makes me homesick. Then it is straight back through the centre of the island, past pineapple plantations, a Buddhist temple, various military installations. (The US military controls 21 per cent of Oahu's land area.) The mountains are incredible from this angle, but as the sun starts to dip, I hear the unmistakable sound of an older man snoring in the back seat. Look, who doesn't need a break from their parents? If you find yourself on Oahu and want a bit of quiet time, here is a tip. Head to the Kuli'Ou'Ou neighborhood in Honolulu. Park in the backstreets, fill your backpack with bottles of water, and walk to the edge of the forest reserve. The Kuli'Ou'Ou Ridge Trail is 6.5 kilometres, and takes about three sweaty hours from start to finish. Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head. Picture: Getty Images The trail climbs upwards through tropical forest, then up a staircase cut into the side of the Ko'olau range, until you reach a lookout so high it is said you can see the islands of Molokai and Lanai on a clear day. Honolulu unfurls down below to the south. Waimanalo, to the east, nuzzles around a turquoise bay. The view is transcendent. The silence is absolute. Peace. The next morning, we herd my parents into the car and hit the road again. This time we head west from Honolulu, passing Pearl Harbour, where the USS Arizona continues to plume oil from its watery grave. The western side of Oahu is known as the Leeward Coast, a more remote world divided from the rest of the island by the Wai'anae Range. If visitors come here at all, it is usually to see Aulani, the Disney resort - which we speed right past on the Farrington Highway. Dashboard decoration. Picture: Getty Images You cannot drive a full unbroken circle around Oahu. There is no road beyond Ka'ena Point. We came close to one side of the break with our shaved ice at Haleiwa; now we approach the other side by stopping at Keawaula Beach, just past a radar station labelled "US Space Force". The beach is completely deserted, the antithesis of busy Waikiki. We fan out across the sand, making our way towards an ocean that is colder and wilder than it is on other parts of the island. My father, struggling for breath, pauses at a steep incline in the dunes, and watching him, I have a sudden memory of childhood: Dad with a stick, delighting me and my siblings by carving Allan Salisbury's Snake into the sand of some Australian beach. In this remote place so far from home, I am overcome, for a moment, with deep gratitude that we can make this Hawaiian road trip together. Like all parents, my folks can be annoying sometimes, but gosh I love them. Getting there: Hawaiian Airlines, Jetstar and Qantas fly from Australia to Oahu, the main gateway to all the Hawaiian islands. From Oahu, the other islands are a short inter-island flight away. There is also a ferry service connecting Maui and Lanai. Touring there: Several companies offer a day trip around the island, but the optimal way of touring is self-guided with a rental car collected at the airport. This being America, be sure to max out the insurance options. When to go: The summer months (June to August) are beautiful but busy on Oahu, as are the winter months (December to March), which is peak surfing season on the North Shore. Consider visiting during the spring or autumn shoulders, when the weather is still fine and the crowds are thinner. Explore more: The writer travelled at his own expense
Sydney Morning Herald
15 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Asia is flush with ancient marvels, but nothing matches these caves
Another visitor uses FaceTime to show a loved one the inside of the cave. She also sings a hymn to mark her visit. I had only been to one cave, but already the trip felt worthwhile. The devotion of these visitors shows a journey to Ajanta is more pilgrimage than tourist stop; these structures date back more than millennia but are alive with culture and meaning today. At one point I watched a Thai monk in saffron robes record a video post about Ajanta for his TikTok feed. The caves of Ajanta were excavated from the basalt and granite cliff in two phases, the first in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC and another in the 5th and 6th centuries AD. The site was abandoned for centuries until a British hunting party stumbled on the caves while in pursuit of a tiger in 1819. The variety of structures is striking. My first stop at Cave 26 was a worship hall (called a chaitya) but the majority of Ajanta's structures are austere monasteries (called viharas) with symmetrical square layouts. Some of these ancient monasteries have multiple stories and wide pillared balconies; one had a dozen monk cells each with two stone beds. The cultural spectacle of Ajanta is enhanced by its landscape; the forested valley of the Waghora River which runs below the caves is a spectacular backdrop for visitors as they explore. Near the centre of the Ajanta complex is a prayer hall with a large stupa known as Cave 10; it is one of the three oldest excavations, dating to about 100 BC. Historians have concluded this cave contains the oldest surviving Buddhist paintings, including images from the life of the Buddha. It is also, perhaps, the world's earliest known place of congregational worship. A nearby cluster of caves that date from around 600 AD are adorned with vibrant frescos. These mostly narrate stories of the Buddha's previous incarnations known as the Jataka tales. UNESCO's description of Ajanta caves says its paintings and sculptures have 'had a considerable artistic influence.' These early masterpieces foreshadow centuries of Buddhist art now found in many nations across Asia. In some of the caves, staff wearing masks and white coats undertake preservation work on the paintings. Those with the most extensive murals have canvas shades to reduce sunlight and temperature control systems to help preserve the works inside. As the sun climbs at Ajanta, the crowds grow. Most visitors have come from across India to experience this remarkable part of their national heritage. But Ajanta is not an isolated wonder. Only 100 kilometres south-west are the Ellora caves, another impressive complex of 34 ancient monasteries and temples dug side by side into a basalt cliff. The monuments at Ellora, which are spread over two kilometres, were mostly constructed later than Ajanta's – between about 600AD and 1000AD – but are the product of three religious traditions of ancient India: Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism. Ellora's centrepiece is the astonishing Kailasha temple excavated in the 8th century. Archaeologists believe this enormous structure – over 90 metres long, 53 metres wide and 30 metres high – was sculpted from a single rock and took several generations to complete. Three huge trenches were bored into the cliff face using hammer and chisel before the temple and its surrounds could be shaped. The complex (also known as Cave 16) has all the elements of Hindu temple including a central shrine, a gateway, surrounding cloisters and subsidiary shrines. In the courtyard are life-sized stone elephants and two towering, intricately carved pillars. The rich decorations include giant deities, amorous couples and panels depicting scenes from Hindu epics. Near the Kailasha temple is the Teen Tal, a three-story Buddhist monastery also carved into the rock face in the 8th century. Visitors can climb an internal staircase to its spacious stone verandahs and view impressive sculpture galleries on each level. Day trips by taxi can be taken to both Ajanta and Ellora from the city of Aurangabad, which has a variety of hotels and good transport connections to major Indian cities including Mumbai and Delhi.
The Age
15 hours ago
- The Age
Asia is flush with ancient marvels, but nothing matches these caves
Another visitor uses FaceTime to show a loved one the inside of the cave. She also sings a hymn to mark her visit. I had only been to one cave, but already the trip felt worthwhile. The devotion of these visitors shows a journey to Ajanta is more pilgrimage than tourist stop; these structures date back more than millennia but are alive with culture and meaning today. At one point I watched a Thai monk in saffron robes record a video post about Ajanta for his TikTok feed. The caves of Ajanta were excavated from the basalt and granite cliff in two phases, the first in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC and another in the 5th and 6th centuries AD. The site was abandoned for centuries until a British hunting party stumbled on the caves while in pursuit of a tiger in 1819. The variety of structures is striking. My first stop at Cave 26 was a worship hall (called a chaitya) but the majority of Ajanta's structures are austere monasteries (called viharas) with symmetrical square layouts. Some of these ancient monasteries have multiple stories and wide pillared balconies; one had a dozen monk cells each with two stone beds. The cultural spectacle of Ajanta is enhanced by its landscape; the forested valley of the Waghora River which runs below the caves is a spectacular backdrop for visitors as they explore. Near the centre of the Ajanta complex is a prayer hall with a large stupa known as Cave 10; it is one of the three oldest excavations, dating to about 100 BC. Historians have concluded this cave contains the oldest surviving Buddhist paintings, including images from the life of the Buddha. It is also, perhaps, the world's earliest known place of congregational worship. A nearby cluster of caves that date from around 600 AD are adorned with vibrant frescos. These mostly narrate stories of the Buddha's previous incarnations known as the Jataka tales. UNESCO's description of Ajanta caves says its paintings and sculptures have 'had a considerable artistic influence.' These early masterpieces foreshadow centuries of Buddhist art now found in many nations across Asia. In some of the caves, staff wearing masks and white coats undertake preservation work on the paintings. Those with the most extensive murals have canvas shades to reduce sunlight and temperature control systems to help preserve the works inside. As the sun climbs at Ajanta, the crowds grow. Most visitors have come from across India to experience this remarkable part of their national heritage. But Ajanta is not an isolated wonder. Only 100 kilometres south-west are the Ellora caves, another impressive complex of 34 ancient monasteries and temples dug side by side into a basalt cliff. The monuments at Ellora, which are spread over two kilometres, were mostly constructed later than Ajanta's – between about 600AD and 1000AD – but are the product of three religious traditions of ancient India: Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism. Ellora's centrepiece is the astonishing Kailasha temple excavated in the 8th century. Archaeologists believe this enormous structure – over 90 metres long, 53 metres wide and 30 metres high – was sculpted from a single rock and took several generations to complete. Three huge trenches were bored into the cliff face using hammer and chisel before the temple and its surrounds could be shaped. The complex (also known as Cave 16) has all the elements of Hindu temple including a central shrine, a gateway, surrounding cloisters and subsidiary shrines. In the courtyard are life-sized stone elephants and two towering, intricately carved pillars. The rich decorations include giant deities, amorous couples and panels depicting scenes from Hindu epics. Near the Kailasha temple is the Teen Tal, a three-story Buddhist monastery also carved into the rock face in the 8th century. Visitors can climb an internal staircase to its spacious stone verandahs and view impressive sculpture galleries on each level. Day trips by taxi can be taken to both Ajanta and Ellora from the city of Aurangabad, which has a variety of hotels and good transport connections to major Indian cities including Mumbai and Delhi.
