Community anger is continuing to simmer after the life span of a mammoth gas project was extended for decades.
Woodside’s North West Shelf project – which hosts Australia’s biggest gas export plant – has been given the green light by the federal government to keep operating until 2070.
The Australian energy giant still has to accept conditions around heritage and air quality at the project on Western Australia’s Burrup Peninsula, home to ancient rock art, before the approval is made official.
The decision has been met with anger by environmental and Indigenous groups who argue it will trash efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions and have a ruinous effect on ancient petroglyphs.
Campaign group Disrupt Burrup Hub will on Friday gather outside the WA District Court, arguing the decision to extend the project’s life showed the government “cannot be trusted with protecting First Nations culture or our climate”.
The protest will double as a support rally for three people who targeted Woodside’s 2023 annual general meeting with stench gas and flares in what the group has previously said was an attempt to get the building evacuated.
Gerard Mazza, Jesse Noakes and Tahlia Stolarski have pleaded guilty to creating a false belief in their protest at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre in April 2023.
They will face the District Court for sentencing on Friday, having labelled their protest “a successful hoax” when they pleaded guilty to the charges.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his cabinet are set to head to WA next week where they are likely to face further protests.
Independent MP Kate Chaney, who represents the WA seat of Curtin, said she had heard from her constituents on the Woodside project more than on any other issue.
“People are deeply concerned about the North West Shelf going ahead and gas expansion. It’s overly simplistic to think Western Australia has one view,” she told ABC TV.
“There are people who work in the gas industry who recognise we need to have a transition, there’s so much potential for WA through renewables and green industry, and we need to shift our focus to that.”
The approval came just hours after the United Nations said industrial emissions at Karratha threatened the nearby rock art, likely sinking Australia’s attempts to secure heritage listing for the carvings if the extension goes ahead.
The Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation, which partners with the WA government in monitoring the preservation of the rock art, said a recent evaluation report found the site was in a good state of conservation and supported its World Heritage listing.
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