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Outrage as 30,000-year-old Aboriginal rock carvings are defaced

endangered rock art on the burrup peninsular photo courtesy FARA

26 September 2007 - Prehistoric Australian rock carvings up to 30,000 years old have been vandalised, with some people pointing the finger of blame at supporters of a £5 billion liquefied natural gas plant.

The ancient Aboriginal carvings on the Burrup Peninsula in Western Australia state were defaced during a long-running row over the nearby construction of a liquefied natural gas project by Woodside Petroleum.
"Those markings are now there for at least the next 10,000 years," said Robin Chapple, WA director of the conservation group, Minerals Policy Institute.

"It is humankind's pre-history," Chapple told local radio. "Out there is motifs and material that date back 27,000-30,000 years, possibly the first human faces ever replicated on the planet."

Unknown vandals used a metal implement to deface carvings of kangaroos and fish, which fall outside a government heritage order protecting 99 per cent of Aboriginal rock art in north-western Australia's Pilbara region.

Woodside Petroleum argues that it can protect the rock art, while mining the natural resources which are expected to produce around 5 million tonnes of LNG a year.

But the project has provoked outrage from indigenous rights activists and environment groups because the company plans to move 150 ancient rock engravings to make way for the development, due to be operational by 2010.

The company is due to make a final decision on the Pluto project by the end of the year, subject to final government environmental approval.

But with an national election imminent and voters increasingly concerned about conservation issues, Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull is under pressure to order an inquiry into Woodside's Pluto gas project, which is already under construction.

The state government estimates the Burrup Peninsula has more than 10,000 engravings on over 500 sites.

Chapple has called on Turnbull, who is at risk of losing his Sydney-based seat in the election expected in months, to push Woodside to move the controversial LNG plant site.

To pressure the minister, advertisements for The Friends of Australian Rock Art were placed in the local newspaper, urging voters to demand an inquiry into the heritage values of the WA rock art.

"Calling on the minister to review the state's decision is a very valid attempt to ensure that the values of the Burrup are retained," Chapple said.

A spokeswoman for Turnbull said the Pluto proposal was being given careful consideration.

"A decision will be made which is informed by the relevant facts and within the law," she said.

Woodside spokesman Roger Martin said the company was working with Aboriginal people on the preservation of the rock art to ensure the LNG plant could go ahead as planned.

"We are not destroying rock art, we are not blowing up rock art, we are not sticking rock art behind wire," he said. .

Source: The Daily Mail UK

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