The multi-million-dollar investment will go towards conservation efforts by Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation to support World Heritage Listing requirements.
The state government announced today it would direct $9.1 million to Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation’s (MAC) Murujuga Rock Art Monitoring Program.
The investment comes after the federal government gave final approval for Woodside Energy’s plan to extend its nearby Karratha gas plant in September.
The approval of the North West Shelf extension was months before the rock art on the Burrup peninsula was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt’s sign off in September after a four-month negotiation process was understood to include 50 conditions designed to protect the culturally significant area.
Curtin University will carry out the monitoring program, which will help MAC to meet the World Heritage Listing reporting requirements.
Despite considerable backlash from environmentalists and traditional owners, Premier Roger Cook was also in support of Woodside’s extension alongside the federal government.
“We have delivered major wins for Western Australia’s environment, including ending native forest logging, committing to get out of government-owned coal before the rest of the country, and created national and marine parks equivalent to the size of Tasmania,” he said in a statement today.
Environment Minister Matthew Swinbourn was similarly positive about the investment.
“This investment strengthens the leadership of the Ngarda-Ngarli and supports the long-term transition of the monitoring program to traditional custodians,” he said.
“No government has done more to safeguard Murujuga’s environmental and cultural values.”
The Ngarda-Ngarli include the five traditional owner and custodian groups of Murujuga.
The rock art monitoring report released earlier in the year was criticised after the state government’s involvement was called into question.
The report, prepared for MAC and the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER), was published by the state government in May.
The findings from the Murujuga Rock Art Monitoring Program claim emissions at the time from the oil and gas industry were below the levels that could affect the rock art in the Burrup peninsula.
An email sent by the report’s lead scientist Benjamin Mullins was obtained by the ABC under Freedom of Information laws in August.
In the email, DWER was said to have been involved in writing the summary.
As of October, two appeals had been launched after the federal government handed down the green light for Woodside’s Karratha gas plant.
The Australian Conservation Foundation, an environmental group led by Adam Bandt, said it would protest Mr Watt’s decision based on his analysis of economic benefits and the impacts of climate change.
