Custodian closer to rock art answers after 'rude' wait
Legal action launched by a traditional custodian will go ahead in a bid to compel the government to consider a heritage application to protect Indigenous rock art.
Mardathoonera woman Raelene Cooper said she was thrilled the case against the newly appointed environment minister Murray Watt was moving forward without further delays.
"It's rude to have someone waiting for such a long time," the Save our Songlines co-founder said outside the Federal Court in Sydney.
"I am furious that the minister would make a decision to lock in ongoing and irreversible damage to my country before addressing my application."
The court determined Ms Cooper's case would be heard in the week of July 14.
The preliminary hearing follows the minister's interim approval of Woodside's North West Shelf extension, a controversial gas project in Western Australia.
The call has flared tensions, with environmental and Indigenous groups arguing it will slow efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions and have a ruinous effect on nearby ancient petroglyphs.
Senator Watt attached heritage and air quality conditions to the approval and those are yet to be formally agreed to by the Australian energy giant.
Ms Cooper said the North West Shelf and other industrial developments at Woodside's Burrup Hub posed risks to the rock art - concerns and evidence laid out in full in a cultural heritage assessment the minister is yet to consider.
The "section 10" heritage application was originally lodged in early 2022.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the conditions attached to the pending approval of the North West Shelf extension would address concerns about the rock art.
"The local Aboriginal corporation there is, I've met with them in the past, they're very supportive of industry," he told ABC radio on Friday.
"They want to make sure there's protection, but they support those jobs and that economic activity."
In a separate case, three protesters are expected to be sentenced after targeting a 2023 Woodside annual general meeting with stench gas and flares.
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