Murujuga Custodian Sues Environment Minister Over Inaction on Sacred Rock Art Protection
23 May 2025 – As the federal government prepares to decide the fate of Woodside’s 50-year North West Shelf gas extension, Murujuga traditional custodian Raelene Cooper has launched legal proceedings in the Federal Court against the Minister for Water and the Environment, Murray Watt.
The legal action seeks to compel the Minister to finally address her long-standing application for heritage protection under Section 10 of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984.
Ms Cooper’s application, first submitted in February 2022, calls for urgent protection of the ancient Murujuga rock art — the oldest and largest petroglyph site on Earth — from the encroachment of the Burrup Hub industrial expansion, including the North West Shelf project.
Despite receiving the findings of an independent cultural heritage assessor in June 2023, the federal government has not made a decision on the matter. Now, with approval of the North West Shelf expansion looming, Ms Cooper and her legal team from Johnson Legal are asking the courts to step in.
“I am sick of waiting for the government to do its job,” said Ms Cooper. “If the Minister waits any longer, there will be nothing left to protect.”
This legal development intensifies scrutiny on the controversial Burrup Hub expansion, which includes the Scarborough and Browse gas fields, Pluto and North West Shelf LNG facilities, and the newly built Perdaman fertiliser plant — the latter approved by former Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek without traditional custodians’ consent. The expansion is widely criticised for contributing to climate change and for its potential irreversible damage to cultural heritage.
Ms Cooper, a Marduthunera woman and former Chair of the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation, has been a vocal opponent of industrial developments on the Burrup Peninsula. In her statement, she described the expansion as “a death sentence for the oldest and largest rock art site on earth,” expressing deep frustration that successive Environment Ministers have not personally visited Murujuga before making decisions with such profound consequences.
“If the Minister approves the North West Shelf extension before addressing my application,” she warned, “he will be locking in the very threat that I have sought to prevent.”
Cooper’s Section 10 application received support from hundreds of people and organisations and urges the government to apply the principle of free, prior and informed consent — a core tenet of international Indigenous rights — before authorising any further industrial projects in the region.
The timing of the legal action is pointed. Just last month, lawyers for Ms Cooper wrote to Minister Watt demanding he act on her application before ruling on the Woodside extension. While his department has acknowledged the letter, there has been no further public response.
Murujuga, home to more than a million rock carvings some of which date back 50,000 years, is a living cultural landscape that continues to hold immense spiritual significance for the Traditional Custodians. For years, scientists and custodians alike have raised concerns that acid gas emissions from nearby industry are degrading the petroglyphs. Yet development has proceeded.
Ms Cooper also took aim at the Labor government’s embrace of what she called “Peter Dutton’s policy,” referring to the Opposition Leader’s 2022 campaign pledge to fast-track the very project now under Minister Watt’s consideration.
This court case may determine not only whether the Murujuga rock art receives overdue federal protection, but also whether ministers can sidestep statutory obligations to assess Indigenous heritage claims before greenlighting long-term fossil fuel developments.
Read more on our previous coverage:
Burrup Hub Expansion Threatens Murujuga Rock Art and Scott Reef
Stay tuned as this story unfolds in the Federal Court — a pivotal moment for climate, culture, and Country.
Burrup Hub Expansion Threatens Murujuga Rock Art and Scott Reef
Woodside Burrup Hub gas project state approved, up to feds
13 December 2024 – The Western Australian government’s decision to approve the extension of Woodside’s North West Shelf gas plant until 2070 has sparked outrage from environmentalists, scientists, filmmakers, and traditional custodians.
This expansion, the largest fossil fuel project in the Southern Hemisphere, is set to emit over six billion tonnes of greenhouse gases while threatening the globally significant Murujuga rock art and the pristine marine ecosystem of Scott Reef.
Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has 30 business days to make a decision on the project extension.
Scott Reef: A Marine Treasure Under Threat
Located 300 kilometers off the Western Australian coast, Scott Reef is one of the nation’s most biodiverse coral reefs, home to over 1,500 species, including reef-building corals, endangered turtles, sea snakes, and migratory whales such as the pygmy blue whale.
Woodside plans to drill up to 50 gas wells near the reef, some as close as two kilometers, posing significant risks of habitat destruction, catastrophic oil spills, and disruption to marine ecosystems.
A team of scientists, filmmakers, and conservationists, including renowned author Tim Winton and musician John Butler, recently visited Scott Reef to document its beauty and the threats it faces. Their upcoming documentary highlights the reef’s breathtaking biodiversity and the devastating impact of Woodside’s Browse gas project.
John Butler
John Butler described the reef as “a wild and sacred place, a jewel of the Kimberley coast that must be protected at all costs.”
“Woodside’s Browse gas proposal is not about jobs or our economy, it’s not about our climate or our community – it’s about Woodside’s profit. Scott Reef is one of the most beautiful, pristine parts of the planet. I journeyed to this incredible coral reef with some of Australia’s most successful campaigners to stop Scott Reef from being completely exploited by Woodside’s proposal for more than fifty gas wells.”
Tim Winton
Tim Winton echoed these sentiments, emphasizing the urgency of the fight to preserve such unique ecosystems. “If we lose Scott Reef, we lose a piece of what makes Australia special,” he said.
“Wild places feed our spirit. And our bodies. And our planet. They are not a luxury – they’re a necessity. The world’s coral reefs are in desperate trouble, and Scott Reef is like a sentinel. If we lose Scott Reef, it’ll signal the end for all coral reefs. And when they cook and die, we’ll be left with a poorer, harsher world.
“The idea that your kids, and their kids and their kids’ kids, might never have the chance to see a place like Scott Reef – it disturbs me, it makes me angry. The injustice of it bewilders me.
“Thousands upon thousands of people got together to save Ningaloo Reef, thousands of people got together to save James Price Point –– and they’re going to do the same to save Scott Reef. Because this isn’t just about rescuing one remarkable place – it’s about saving our climate, our planet, our home.”
Dr Ben Fitzpatrick, director of Oceanwise Australian and the leader of the Coastal and Marine Ecosystem Group for the International Union for Conservation of Nature, said:
“Scott Reef is one of Australia’s most distinctive coral reef ecosystems. It’s the largest offshore oceanic reef in Australia and it’s extremely significant from a biodiversity perspective. Visiting Scott Reef, and seeing the endemic sea snakes, the large marine fauna and the marine mammals like turtles and manta rays first-hand, I can see clearly how the imposition of Woodside’s oil and gas plans on this environment would threaten some of the world’s most amazing marine environmental values.”
Murujuga Rock Art
Murujuga, on the Burrup Peninsula, is home to an estimated one million petroglyphs, some of which are over 50,000 years old. For more photos of these incredible ancient petroglyphs, see our story here.
This extraordinary site, nominated for UNESCO World Heritage status, holds immense cultural and spiritual significance for the Mardudhunera, Ngarluma, Yaburara, Yindjibarndi, and Wong-Goo-Tt-Oo peoples.
Emissions from Woodside’s Burrup Hub risk eroding these ancient carvings, permanently erasing a vital connection to Australia’s earliest human history.
Mardudhunera woman and former Chair of the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation, Raelene Cooper, has been vocal in her opposition to the project.
“Once the toxic gas has eroded our sacred sites, the knowledge and identity of who we are as traditional custodians will be lost and gone forever,” she said. “This isn’t just about the survival of my culture; it’s about the survival of all people.”
A Test for Australia’s Climate Commitments
The WA government’s decision to approve the Burrup Hub extension comes despite widespread community opposition and a record number of appeals. The project undermines Australia’s climate commitments and raises questions about the federal government’s willingness to stand up to the fossil fuel industry.
Anna Chapman, Fossil Fuels Program Manager at the Conservation Council of WA, condemned the approval as a “monumentally destructive decision” that prioritizes short-term profits over long-term environmental and cultural sustainability.
“This decision locks in huge volumes of fossil fuel production until 2070, pushing us beyond climate tipping points and destroying the ancient Murujuga rock art,” she said.
The focus now shifts to federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek, who has the power to block the project under the Albanese government’s climate policies.
Conservationists and traditional custodians are urging her to protect Murujuga and Scott Reef, emphasizing that the decision will define Australia’s commitment to climate action and cultural preservation.
The Fight to Protect Murujuga and Scott Reef
For traditional custodians like Raelene Cooper, the stakes are deeply personal. “Murujuga is a healing place,” she said. “We belong to this place, and Woodside is destroying it in front of our eyes. I am fighting for my old people and my family. This must stop.”
The campaign to halt Woodside’s Burrup Hub extension is a fight to protect Australia’s heritage—both cultural and natural. It is a call to preserve the irreplaceable treasures of Murujuga and Scott Reef for future generations and a test of whether governments will prioritize the planet over the fossil fuel industry.
The coming weeks will reveal whether Australia is ready to honor its responsibilities to its people, its environment, and its global climate commitments.
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