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SBS Australia
6 days ago
- General
- SBS Australia
Murujuga has been placed on the World Heritage list, but pollution concerns remain
More than a million pieces of ancient rock art have secured World Heritage status in a bittersweet listing for Traditional Custodians, scientists and environmentalists, who are fearful nearby industrial activity is damaging the engravings. The Murujuga rock art landscape on the Burrup Peninsula in Western Australia was listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as a heritage site late last week after intense lobbying by the federal government. Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt was accompanied to the UNESCO meeting in Paris by representatives from the Western Australian government and Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation (MAC). Murujuga contains the world's largest, densest and most diverse collection of petroglyphs, a type of rock art where the design is carved into the surface of the rock. Some are estimated to be more than 50,000 years old. They depict animals, plants and human figures and are visible due to the colour and contrast between the removed varnish layer and the underlying brighter weathered rind of the host rocks. The site was put forward to UNESCO for World Heritage listing in 2023, but the application was referred back in May over concerns nearby acid emissions, including those from Woodside's Burrup gas hub, were degrading the art. The peninsula in northwest WA near Karratha is home to two gas plants, a fertiliser plant and iron ore and salt export facilities. Senator Watt recently gave provisional approval for the Woodside North West Shelf project on the peninsula, which includes the Karratha gas plant, to continue operating until 2070. Custodians celebrate listing, while concerns remain over pollution Raelene Cooper, Murujuga custodian of the Mardudhunera people and founder of Save our Songlines, has been in Paris with other First Nations leaders pushing for Murujuga to be listed as a World Heritage site, but with the explicit intention of ensuring any listing comes with strict conditions to sufficiently manage industrial impacts on the site. 'My family and community have worked for many years for World Heritage protection for Murujuga's ancient rock art," she said. 'This is a momentous day for our old people and our future generations, to have Murujuga's outstanding universal heritage values recognised by the world. 'Our rock art tells the stories of our people, and maintains our Songlines and bloodline connection to our ngurra (Country)." Ms Cooper said while she was overjoyed about the World Heritage listing, she was deeply concerned about the pollution from surrounding heavy industry. Part of the government's lobbying efforts involved removing protections suggested by UNESCO's independent advisory body ICOMOS in May from the final approval. 'Fertiliser plants are still being built around our sacred sites and polluting gas plants will emit toxic acid on our rock art for another 50 years," she said. "But comments from World Heritage Committee members today send a clear signal to the Australian Government and Woodside that things need to change to prevent the ongoing desecration of Murujuga by polluting industry. "Global scrutiny will now be applied to what is happening at Murujuga. We will continue to fight for protection for this very special place, and the world is now aware of what we are up against.' Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation, which represents the collective voice of the Ngarda-Ngarli (Traditional Owners and Custodians), said they were elated to see the Murujuga Cultural Landscape recognised. 'While today's inscription is recognition of the hard work that MAC has put in ... over the past two years, more importantly, it is recognition of the way our ancestors have managed this extraordinary landscape for over 50,000 years," said MAC Chair Peter Hicks. "World Heritage is the mechanism we will use to continue to do what we have always done: protect our culture for all future generations." But Ben Smith, Professor of Archaeology (World Rock Art), at the University of WA, said that unless pollution is drastically curbed, the rock art is at risk of serious degradation. "While I celebrate Murujuga receiving the well deserved status of being listed as a World Heritage site, the nature in which the Australian Government handled the scientific findings on industrial impacts on Murujuga during this process reveals the extent to which they will go to play down the impacts of our gas industry," he said. "The scientific data clearly demonstrated the advanced weathering of the Murujuga petroglyphs from heightened levels of certain airborne pollutants from the nearby Woodside gas processing facility, yet we saw this repeatedly dismissed by different levels of government, with graphs and data being manipulated to back up the narrative that no conditions were required for the listing. "One only hopes that Murujuga's listing as a World Heritage Site spurs the government to no longer shirk their responsibility to conserve and protect this globally significant rock art site, and we see proper measures put in place to stop the polluting gas industry from degrading our First Nations cultural heritage." Foundation of culture Ngarluma woman Samantha Walker wrote to the nominations unit at the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and the director of evaluation unit at ICOMOS, urging the WHC to list Murujuga as a world heritage site with specific recommendations to have independent bodies monitor and manage industrial pollution at Murujuga. "Murujuga is more than just rock art – it is who we are," she wrote. "Murujuga contains Songlines and stories that define our identities as First Nations people, connecting us to our Elders and people that have walked before us. "Murujuga is the foundation of our culture. "The health of Murujuga is the health of my people and the ngurra (Country) is crying out for help." Ms Walker said Murujuga is sacred, but also has a dark history due to colonisation and the Flying Foam Massacre of 1868. "That history of colonisation is being continued on by the way that government allows multi-billion-dollar industries to operate on Murujuga without having to obtain free, prior and informed consent or listen to the people whose Country this is," she said. Ms Walker also expressed her alarm at the Environment Minister's provisional approval to extend the lifetime of Woodside Energy's North West Shelf gas plant to 2070. "It is unfathomable to imagine the French Government approving industrial pollution at the site of the 17,000 plus year-old Lascaux cave paintings . "Why is there not more global outrage that Minister Watt and the Australian Government have given provisional approval for 40 more years of pollution that is damaging the 50,000 plus year-old Murujuga rock art on our Country?" Environmentalists were also concerned the Woodside project extension could cause further damage. 'The world is now watching," Australian Conservation Foundation chief executive Kelly O'Shanassy said. "The onus is on the Australian government to make sure the values recognised by UNESCO are not jeopardised by ongoing industrial pollution." As part of the immediate inscription, the Australian Government will provide a state of conservation report for consideration in 2027. Murujuga will become the second place in Australia recognised on the World Heritage List solely for its First Nations cultural heritage, following the listing of Budj Bim in 2019 . Senator Watt said it had been a great privilege to support the Traditional Owners and Custodians of Murujuga, who have protected the landscape for more than 50,000 years. 'The Australian Government is strongly committed to World Heritage and the protection of First Nations cultural heritage – and we will ensure this outstanding place is protected now and for future generations,' he said. A Woodside spokesperson said the company had been a "proud supporter" of the World Heritage nomination and assessment process and they looked forward to continuing to work closely with MAC on the continued protection and management of this globally significant area. UNESCO added several other sites to its list, including the Xixia Imperial Tombs in China and the Faya Palaeolandscape in the United Arab Emirates.
SBS Australia
6 days ago
- General
- SBS Australia
Australia insists industry and rock art 'can coexist' after heritage listing of ancient site
Murujuga, a peninsula in north-west WA near Karratha, contains the world's largest collection of rock art engravings. Environment Minister Murray Watt recently gave provisional approval to an extension of a nearby gas and oil project. There are concerns the project could seriously degrade the Aboriginal rock art engravings. Environment Minister Murray Watt says the recent World Heritage listing of an ancient Indigenous rock art site will not influence the government's final decision about an extension of a contested gas project in the area. Murujuga, a peninsula in north-west WA near Karratha, contains the world's largest collection of rock art engravings, known as petroglyphs, with some of its one million pieces estimated to be more than 50,000 years old. It's also home to two gas plants, a fertiliser plant and iron ore and salt export facilities. In May, Watt gave conditional approval to an extension of oil and gas production company Woodside's North West Shelf project to 2070. The project, Australia's largest gas and oil development, includes Woodside's Karratha Gas Plant, adjacent to Murujuga on the Burrup peninsula. There are concerns that the project's continuation and subsequent pollution will cause significant damage to Indigenous rock art in the area. 'Industry can coexist with rock art', Watt says On Monday, when asked if the site's World Heritage listing could influence the final decision on the Woodside extension, Watt said it wouldn't. "No, it won't apply to any decisions that are currently underway or that have happened previously", Watt told ABC's RN Breakfast radio program. Murujuga contains the world's largest collection of rock art engravings, known as petroglyphs. Source: Supplied / Save Our Songlines The environment minister said the decision meant any future development in the precinct would need to comply with World Heritage rules. He also said that it was clear "industry can coexist with rock art". "I said that we would be applying strict conditions, and preservation of the rock art was central to my decision [to provisionally approve the North West Shelf extension] when I made that a few weeks ago," Watt told ABC. "But I guess this is also a way of keeping future governments and future industry honest, to make sure that it does have this extra layer of protection against any inappropriate development in the future." Watt visited UNESCO'S headquarters in Paris ahead of the listing, saying it would ensure stronger legal protections for the more than a million pieces of rock art. The site was previously put forward to UNESCO for listing in 2023, with the application referred back in May this year. In its decision to list Murujuga, UNESCO recommended that both state and federal government address concerns that nearby acid emissions — including from Woodside's Burrup gas hub — were degrading the art. But it stopped short of implementing recommendations by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) — an advisory body which offers guidance to UNESCO on heritage sites. The association had recommended that the World Heritage listing be deferred until Australia detailed how it would eliminate "harmful acidic emissions that currently affect the petroglyphs". There are concerns that nearby acid emissions are degrading the rock art at Murujuga. Source: Supplied / Save Our Songlines The government responded by saying the recommendation was driven by "factual inaccuracies", and successfully argued concerns would be met and that Murujuga should be heritage-listed immediately. Mardathoonera woman and Murujuga traditional custodian Raelene Cooper, who was at the UNESCO meeting, welcomed the World Heritage listing but criticised the removal of recommended protections, including halting industry expansion. "Today, Australia rewrote the World Heritage listing in the interests of the gas industry," she said. "Global scrutiny will now be applied to what is happening at Murujuga," Cooper said. "You cannot have industry and culture coexist. It's never happened. It never works." Shortly after Watt granted provisional approval to the North West Shelf extension, Cooper launched legal action to try and protect the site. Mardathoonera woman and Murujuga traditional custodian Raelene Cooper said Australia had rewritten the World Heritage listing in the interests of the gas industry. Source: AAP / Dan Himbrechts The Greens welcomed Murujuga's World Heritage listing on Friday but warned that the world was watching and urged Watt to reconsider the draft approval. "UNESCO had warned that Woodside's gas plant threatened the longevity of the rock art prior to the listing, but Minister Watt successfully lobbied other nations when he should have simply rejected Woodside's climate bomb extension in the first place," Greens leader Larissa Waters said in a statement. The nomination process was driven by the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation (MAC) on behalf of Traditional Owners the Ngarda-Ngarli. MAC chair Peter Hicks said on Friday it had been an "Indigenous-led process" in partnership with state and federal governments, thanking them for undertaking their roles "without undermining Indigenous decision-making within the process". Could industrial pollution damage rock art? Last month, a study out of Germany's Bonn University said the industrial emissions from the facilities cause lower pH and higher acid levels in the local rainwater and on the rock surfaces. "The rock varnish on petroglyph-bearing rocks from Murujuga is highly likely impacted by local industrial pollution, with weathering rates most likely already accelerated due to the lower pH of the rainwater," the study said. — With additional reporting by the Australian Associated Press.
SBS Australia
12-07-2025
- General
- SBS Australia
'Momentous day': Australia's ancient rock art site gets UN approval for World Heritage listing
An ancient Indigenous rock art collection in Western Australia has been recognised as a World Heritage-listed site. The Murujuga rock art landscape 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. They depict animals, plants and human figures, and are visible due to the colour and contrast between the removed varnish layer and the underlying brighter weathered rind of the host rocks. The site was previously put forward to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation in 2023 but Australia's application was referred back in May. UNESCO recommended state and federal governments address concerns that nearby acid emissions, including those from Woodside's Burrup gas hub, were degrading the art. The North West Shelf gas project is seen with a petroglyph of a turtle at Murujuga Cultural Landscape in Burrup Peninsula, Western Australia. Source: Supplied / Save Our Songlines / Conservation Council of Western Australia The peninsula in northwest WA near Karratha is home to two gas plants, a fertiliser plant and iron ore and salt export facilities. Mardathoonera woman and Murujuga traditional custodian Raelene Cooper, who was at the UNESCO meeting, said she welcomed the global recognition of Murujuga but cautioned that industry could still harm the rock art site . 'This is a momentous day for our old people and our future generations, to have Murujuga's outstanding universal heritage values recognised by the world," she said. "Meanwhile, fertiliser plants are still being built around our sacred sites and polluting gas plants will emit toxic acid on our rock art for another 50 years. "We will continue to fight for protection for this very special place, and the world is now aware of what we are up against." Watt said in the French capital overnight, "For more than 50,000 years, the Ngarda-Ngarli people have protected and managed this significant land and seascape — and today, I am proud to announce that Murujuga will receive another level of protection via the World Heritage system." "The Murujuga nomination had the free, prior and informed consent of the five language groups who all come together to care for Murujuga today," he added. Australia has 21 properties on the World Heritage list, which includes the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park and the Great Barrier Reef. UNESCO added several other sites to its list overnight including the Xixia Imperial Tombs in China and the Faya Palaeolandscape in the United Arab Emirates.
ABC News
08-07-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Pilbara rents more expensive than mortgages across every single suburb
Home owners were disappointed by the Reserve Bank's decision on Tuesday to hold the cash rate at 3.85 per cent. But despite the unexpected hold, Karratha resident Bianca Dawson said she was glad she purchased her house. "We have no regrets about buying," she said. Her relief at exiting the rental market is not a surprise. A recent Domain report found the Pilbara accounted for 11 of the top 12 suburbs across Australia with the biggest discrepancy between the cost of renting and buying a home. In Karratha, 1,500 kilometres north of Perth, the median house price ranges from $545,000–$755,000, depending on the suburb. But rents in the town have surged to well over $1,000 per week. "Our median [rent] now is at $1,350 a week, but what's happened compared to the rest of the country is the housing prices actually haven't gone up as much," Mayor Daniel Scott said. "They have risen, but they haven't risen as fast. "We are now in a unique position where if you move to Karratha, particularly if you're a young person, you can get a good-paying job … and you can buy a house." The City of Karratha's population is expected to increase in the coming years, with modelling showing the population reaching 30,000 by 2030. Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre director Alan Duncan said the report was not surprising. "The population has grown across all regional areas of WA by around 2.2 per cent, but at the same time our rental stock has flatlined," Professor Duncan said. "That pressure is the thing that's really sort of pushing rents higher." But buying is far from a guarantee for people in town looking for somewhere to live. Ray White Karratha managing director Richard Naulls said a shortage of housing generally continued to pose challenges for the community. "Obviously we've got a shortage of housing. It's always about supply and demand," he said. Mr Naulls also said the high rent yield attracted interstate investors. "They're trying to get a 10 per cent return sort of thing," he said. "You're not going to get that sort of return putting your money in a term deposit." Bianca Dawson said she and her partner were lucky they purchased privately. "There were lots of people at the home opens, lots of calls from real estate agents and things like that, saying it was time to put the offer in if we wanted to," she said. Although the mortgage itself worked out cheaper, Ms Dawson said there were other costs. "Land rates here are crazy high because they're to do with the rental value of the property," she said. "With the water, you don't just pay your water bill; you have to pay for the usage and the rights and everything like that. "Home and contents insurance was way more expensive than what we would have ever thought." The situation has forced the local council to intervene. The City of Karratha adopted a policy providing accommodation to low and middle-income earners at its June council meeting, as well as investing in a project that will see 37 new residences. Cr Scott said the project was funded out of necessity. "The council made a decision to invest $26 million plus GST, which we funded from our infrastructure reserves to make that project in Baynton West … a reality," he said. "The city doesn't really want to own all these properties, but we recognise there's a market failure and we're playing our role to get more accommodation in the city." Mr Naulls said these new construction projects would likely see property prices increase. "It's been very stable, very gradual, but as soon as this construction takes off, you'll see investors, companies coming to town," he said. "That's where prices then get pushed up, and it makes it more difficult for people to buy or afford to buy."
ABC News
06-07-2025
- ABC News
UNESCO to make final world heritage assessment on WA's Murujuga rock art
From the air, the meaning of Murujuga becomes clear. The Ngarluma-Yaburara word translates to "hip bone sticking out". It paints an evocative bird's-eye view of the Burrup Peninsula, which juts into the Indian Ocean north of Karratha, 1,500 kilometres north of Perth. In 2023, the Murujuga Cultural Landscape was nominated for inclusion on the World Heritage List, culminating in a multi-generational campaign for international recognition. The referral is contentious among activists, who have condemned the federal government for extolling the area's heritage values while simultaneously approving heavy industry nearby. A final decision from UNESCO's World Heritage Committee is expected in the coming week. Central to the bid are between one and two million petroglyphs dotting Murujuga's rocky red mounds and shadowy ravines. It is arguably the densest single concentration of rock art on the planet. Traditional custodians say these ancient engravings inscribe a living cultural tradition and human creative genius. Here are some of those stories, handed down for more than 50,000 years. Aboriginal people have gathered at Murujuga for millennia. Five language groups, known collectively as the Ngarda-Ngarli, have connections to the land: the Ngarluma, Mardudhunera, Yaburara, Yindjibarndi, and Wong-Goo-Tt-Oo peoples. Yindjibarndi man and Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation (MAC) director Vincent Adams says the rock art is a "cultural signpost" for those travelling on country. He stops at Nganjarli, one of Murujuga's most prominent "galleries", to point out a ghostly carving near the gorge's entrance. Hundreds of visitors pass the figure unawares, with photography of the image prohibited according to cultural law. "We call that the Marrga in Ngarluma-Yinjibarndi," Mr Adams says. "He's normally classified as a six-toe, six-finger figure, different to us, always dressed in headgear." The Marrga features in a host of Pilbara creation stories from "when the world was soft", like how the kangaroo got its tail and how the emu lost the ability to fly. "We couldn't just walk up onto anybody's country. We needed permission," Mr Adams explains. "How we got that permission? We see this significant site, and we know people are close. "[We] make fire, smoke. People inside the gorges will see this smoke, they come out to see who it is." The Marni, as the petroglyphs are called, signify the practical and religious significance of Ngurra, or country. They constitute a visual language: "footsteps" crossing boundaries of speech, marriage, and skin groups to form the basis of local lore. "We have symbols that have been marked around the Burrup that tell us we are in a sacred place, a special place," Mr Adams says. Stepping deeper into Nganjarli, Mr Adams recounts the meetings between cultural groups that once took place there. Yinjibarndi people would travel to the coast from inland and convene with the peninsula's first inhabitants, the "saltwater" Yaburara people. "Yaburara … meaning sea, sea breeze," he says. Mr Adams says the Yinjibarndi sought out the Yaburara during the season of Muhlu, when the days grew shorter and the weather cooler. They bartered for bush tucker and the fruits or "sweets" budding by the ocean. But in the late 19th century, the custodianship of Murujuga changed forever. One of Nganjarli's later additions captures what is thought to be Francis Thomas Gregory's ship, the Dolphin, which anchored off the peninsula in 1861. The settlers' arrival had a life-changing impact on the local Aboriginal communities. Colonial-era violence at the hands of settlers and local police, such as the 1868 Flying Foam Massacre, devastated the Yaburara people. The Ngarda-Ngarli adopted Murujuga, dubbed "orphan country" because its owners could no longer care for it alone, melding artistic traditions and interpretations. "They depict stories of connection to country: how me, you, everyone here today connects to this place," Mr Adams says. He describes a kangaroo-like motif with three stripes on its back. It also taught hunters what game they would find. "When we want something to eat, we go to the supermarket," Mr Adams says. "Here [it is] no different." A handful of the creatures recorded by the rock art are frozen in time. "You'll see animals that are no longer here … megafauna, they call it," Mr Adams says. "He still got a songline today, belong to us even though he's gone." Some petroglyphs act as "increase sites", where rituals are performed to replenish resources. "If we run low on emu, we do ceremony; next year, big mob [of] emu," Mr Adams says. Special configurations mark paths and ceremonial grounds for men's and women's business, as well as warnings to unwelcome intruders. There is even, not pictured for cultural reasons, a tableau of a man and woman in what Mr Adams refers to, with a booming laugh, as the world's "oldest sex education" lesson. A short drive from Nganjarli, the spinifex-strewn hills give way to a sheltered bay. This is Hearson's Cove, so named for a member of Francis Gregory Thomas's crew mistakenly shot by his fellows as they headed ashore. Long before, it was known as Binabarranha. When Ngarluma woman Belinda Churnside looks out at this landscape, she sees her "old people", including her mother. "She's a very proud Ngarluma woman … I wouldn't be doing this today if I didn't acknowledge and support her fight, determination, and leadership," she says. As MAC vice-chair, Ms Churnside departed on Sunday for Paris, where a delegation of custodians will hear the UNESCO World Heritage decision firsthand. "To actually carry the fight for your old people … they want us young people now to support them and fight the fight until we do get this World Heritage," she says. Both MAC and the federal government have protested against a draft decision knocking back the bid amid fears industrial emissions could damage the petroglyphs. Others say it is a rallying cry for stronger protection. For Mr Adams, the looming outcome is immaterial in the face of deep time. "One day, [industry] will be gone, [but] this will still be here," he says. "People like me will be telling that story in 200, 300 years' time."
