One of the two court cases that have been standing in the way of a final decision over Woodside’s massive North West gas project has been adjudicated, three years after the process began.
In 2022 traditional custodian Raelene Cooper applied to the federal environment minister, requesting that further fossil fuel development of Murujuga, also known as the Burrup Peninsula in northern Western Australia, cease to protect its cultural heritage.
Traditional owner Raelene Cooper.Credit: Save Our Songlines
The region contains one of the world’s most significant rock art sites, which Cooper argued would be damaged by construction and emissions from the proposal to extend Woodside’s gas project from 2030 to 2070.
But three years later the minister has yet to make ruling, prompting Cooper to call on the federal court to instruct the current environment minister, Murray Watt, to make a determination before September 12.
Justice Angus Stewart ruled today that three years was too long a delay for the minister and the federal department to make its decision, but declined to issue a deadline for the decision, saying he expected the department to do so in the coming weeks.
The government was ordered to pay Cooper’s costs.
The federal government has already given conditional approval for the project’s extension, but negotiations over attached environmental conditions are thought to have delayed the final decision.
Critics of the project say it will not only damage the cultural heritage of the critical site, but will undermine Australia’s contribution to the global effort to reign in global warming.
A Supreme Court challenge by Friends of Australian Rock Art to the Western Australian government’s decision to approve the development will return to court in October.
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