Calls for Woodside extension to be delayed until rock art study released

There are calls for the federal government to further delay a decision to extend the life of a major Woodside gas project in Western Australia's north until the release of a report into potential damage to nearby rock art.

Woodside Energy wants to continue producing liquefied natural gas until 2070 as part of the North West Shelf project 1,500 kilometres north of Perth.

The 40-year extension would also pave the way for the $30 billion Browse joint venture with Woodside, BP and Japanese gas giant Mitsui.

A federal government decision was due to be handed down before the end of March but was this week delayed for a second time until after the federal election.

While critics have labelled it a political move, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the environment department was going through the proposal "properly" and suggested Peter Dutton's plans to approve the project within 30 days of taking office could result in a legal challenge and further delays.

Government 'needs more time'

Environmental groups, including the head of the Australian Conservation Foundation's climate change program, Gavin McFadzean, have vehemently opposed the North West Shelf extension after concerns about emissions from the project.

There has also been a long-running debate about whether industrial projects on the Burrup Peninsula, including Woodside's gas plants, are accelerating the deterioration of more than a million ancient petroglyphs across the wider region, also known as Murujuga.

"The WA government took six years to approve the North West Shelf. This has only been with the federal government for a few weeks," Mr McFadzean said.

Air quality monitoring ongoing

Murujuga is home to some of the oldest rock art known in the world and the area is being considered for a UNESCO World Heritage listing.

In 2019, the state government signed a partnership agreement with the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation (MAC) to support the implementation of a $27 million rock art monitoring program.

MAC represents the interests of five traditional owner groups for the peninsula.

A key part of the five-year study is to establish acceptable and unacceptable emissions standards to protect the rock art.

The data gathered throughout the project will then be used to set air quality monitoring standards and be used by the WA government to regulate industry.

But a full report from the study and a finalised set of standards is not due to be published until 2026.

Woodside's North West Shelf project will be required to comply with those air quality standards, and an interim guideline is supposed to be released alongside the second-year monitoring results.

Interim findings from the first year of the program were released at the end of 2023 and found some "spatial trends" had been observed, but no firm conclusions could be drawn about trends in rock surface condition and any relationship to air quality over time.

The project's art conservator, Andrew Thorne, told the ABC in 2023 that if the industry was causing a rapid deterioration of the petroglyphs it could be detected, in a year or two.

A report into the second year of monitoring was supplied to the WA government in June 2024 but has not been made public.

Conservation groups and academics have tried to access the report through Freedom of Information, but attempts have been rejected.

It was originally slated for public release by the end of 2024, but that timeline has now shifted to the first half of 2025.

Professor Ben Smith from the University of Western Australia said that the delay was "completely unacceptable".

He is not part of the monitoring program, but has spent years researching the rock art's condition.

"Particularly in the year when approvals are being given on the expansion of the operating license for the North West Shelf," Professor Smith said.

A spokesperson for the WA government's environment department said all publications were peer-reviewed by multiple internationally recognised experts to ensure that when it was time to draw conclusions, the findings can withstand scrutiny.

Federal department requests report

Industry bodies have heavily criticised the federal government's decision to delay the extension of Woodside's project, saying it undermines investor confidence.

But Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has rejected suggestions his government was stalling the decision.

"We will get on with it but in accordance with the law," he said.

It is understood the federal government department responsible for considering Woodside's extension proposal is yet to provide Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek with its decision brief.

In February, the department requested the draft copy of the second year of rock art monitoring from the WA government, which it supplied.

Murjuga Aboriginal Corporation would not be drawn on whether the second-year results should be made public before the federal government made a decision on the North West Shelf extension.

But its executive Kim Wood said they wanted the best science considered in any government decision-making.

"MAC's position is that any approval process relating to industry on Murujuga should be informed by the best available scientific findings in order to ensure the long-term protection of significant heritage and environmental values," he said.