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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/01/australia-laws-to-protect-the-environment-dont-work-woodside-greenlight-proves-it>
"Australia’s law that is supposed to protect the environment and cultural
heritage doesn’t work. There are few, if any, people who argue otherwise.
A case study comes via environment minister Murray Watt’s statement of reasons
for his approval of a 40-year life extension of the Woodside-operated North
West Shelf gas plant in Western Australia.
The 74-page statement is illuminating on a few fronts. It shows the federal
environment department and Watt rejected claims by Woodside and the WA
government that acidic pollution from the plant – mainly nitrogen oxides and
sulphur dioxide – had not damaged ancient Indigenous rock art found across the
Murujuga cultural landscape that includes the peninsula.
Some of that rock art is estimated to be more than 50,000 years old. It
includes what is believed to be the oldest known representation of a human
face.
Watt also accepted department advice that future pollution from the North West
Shelf could contribute to damaging or degrading this extraordinary cultural
heritage. This conclusion raises plenty of questions about how the WA
government is handling what is meant to be an independent rock art monitoring
program. But from a federal point-of-view: so far, so good.
We now know Watt’s initial response was to approve the extension, but to
require Woodside to reduce acidic pollution to below the “detectable limit”
that affects rock art.
Woodside’s response was that this was “not technically feasible” and would
amount to an “effective refusal” of its plans. In other words, the conditions
would force it to stop operating the plant.
Here is where things get sticky. Woodside did not have to publicly appeal
Watt’s decision. It merely entered into private negotiations over the
conditions.
The statement of reasons tells us the end result. Watt softened his initial
position and instead imposed conditions that included acidic pollution having
to fall 60% by 2030 and 90% by 2061.
The minister acknowledged his decision to require progressive, rather than
immediate, cuts in acidic pollution meant there was a higher likelihood of
Murujuga’s natural heritage being affected “in the short-term”, but said any
impact “would be small and therefore outweighed by the social or economic
factors”.
Woodside welcomed this change as providing “certainty for the ongoing operation
of the North West Shelf Project, so it can continue to provide reliable energy
supplies as it has for more than 40 years”.
This is a pretty clear illustration of what some environmentalists have argued
for years: that the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC)
Act, introduced by the Howard government in 1999, is misnamed. Its main role is
to allow developments to be approved.
Environmental and First Nations’ cultural protection is weighed, but a
secondary consideration to getting stuff built. Impact on the climate is
basically not mentioned."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
