Australia resolves dispute with Aboriginal leaders to extend largest gas project until 2070

Australia’s largest gas development, Woodside’s North West Shelf, has received final approval to continue operations until 2070, after partially resolving concerns over potential risks to a nearby sacred Aboriginal cultural site.

Environment Minister Murray Watt confirmed the approval on September 12, placing 48 additional conditions on the project to safeguard the ancient Murujuga Rock Art. According to the Australian ABC, these include requirements to cut certain gas emissions by 2030 and achieve net zero by 2050.

The decision comes nearly four months after Watt gave Woodside 10 days to respond to his provisional approval for the extension. The North West Shelf covers a processing and export facility at Karratha, near the World Heritage-listed Murujuga rock art, believed to be 60,000 years old.

"In making this decision, I have imposed 48 strict conditions that will avoid and mitigate significant impacts to the Murujuga rock art," Watt said.

The measures will ensure the project will "not cause unacceptable impacts" to the heritage site, "including restricting air emissions which otherwise could have accelerated damage."

Among the conditions is a legal requirement for industry to consult with Indigenous communities on protection strategies, alongside a “robust” monitoring system to verify compliance with emissions limits.

Responding minutes after the announcement, Woodside's Chief operating officer Liz Westcott said the decision included rigorous conditions to safeguard cultural heritage but stressed the project’s economic importance. She noted it had "paid more than AUD 40 billion (approx. $26 billion) in royalties and excise, supported thousands of Australian jobs and contributed well over AUD 300 million (approx. $300 million) to communities in the Pilbara through social investment initiatives and infrastructure support."

Westcott also highlighted the scale of production: the project has generated more than 6,000 petajoules of domestic gas.

"If used just for household electricity, this is enough to power homes in a city the size of Perth for approximately 175 years," she said.

Still, the approval has sparked legal and political scrutiny. It comes just a day after the climate minister of the nearby island of Vanuatu warned Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that the project could breach Australia’s international climate obligations. The warning follows a landmark ICJ advisory opinion declaring that all states are legally obliged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address the impacts of climate change.

The Greens party have condemned the project as a "carbon bomb," while Albanese has defended it as essential for ensuring "energy security" during the transition to renewables.

By Nazrin Sadigova