The Australian Conservation Foundation has welcomed news the Murujuga rock art on WA’s Burrup Peninsula has been added to the World Heritage list and called on Environment Minister Murray Watt to safeguard the site’s outstanding values by rejecting Woodside’s application to extend its North West Shelf gas export hub to 2070.
Overnight, UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee added Murujuga to the World Heritage list – without imposing previously recommended conditions that Australia end industrial emissions on the Burrup Peninsula to protect the rock art.
This change followed intense lobbying by the Australian government to remove the conditions.
“The ancient rock art at Murujuga is of outstanding cultural value and deserves World Heritage listing,” said ACF CEO Kelly O’Shanassy.
“The ancient petroglyphs at Murujuga document 50,000 years of continuous occupation and the rich heritage of the Aboriginal people of this area. The site has significance for humankind, is irreplaceable and we commend the World Heritage Committee for recognising it.
“The world is now watching. The onus is on the Australian government to make sure the values recognised by UNESCO are not jeopardised by ongoing industrial pollution.
“If Minister Watt is serious about protecting Murujuga’s now globally recognised values and wants to ensure the site doesn’t move to the World Heritage ‘in danger’ list, he should reject Woodside’s proposal to extend its gas hub when he makes his final decision.
“UNESCO already has Australia on notice over the deteriorating state of the Great Barrier Reef.
“ICOMOS (the International Council on Monuments and Sites), the principal adviser to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee on cultural heritage matters, numerous independent scientific studies and the WA government’s own rock art monitoring program have found industrial emissions are damaging the Murujuga petroglyphs.
“The NW Shelf gas export hub is by far the single largest source of emissions damaging the rock art. Analysis released by ACF in 2024 shows lifetime emissions from Woodside’s gas export hub would be more than 13 times Australia’s annual emissions from all sources.
“Minister Watt has still not made a final decision on the North West Shelf extension. We urge him to reject it to safeguard Murujuga’s outstanding cultural values.”
Contact details:
Josh Meadows, 0439 342 992