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Does a 40-year extension on Burrup gas plant put 50,000-year-old Aboriginal rock art at risk?

The Federal Government's decision to extend the licence of Woodside Energy’s North West Shelf LNG plant has raised great concerns around the fate of 50,000-year-old Aboriginal rock art located in the region.

5 Jun 2025 9:00

Jo Pickup

Murujuga rock art: a landscape photograph of ochre red earth rocks, one of which has a line drawing/ engraving of an emu on it.

Visual Arts

To what extent are ancient Murujuga rock art petroglyphs like this one at risk of damage from Woodside’s Burrup peninsula LNG gas plant emissions? Image: Save Our Songlines.

Last week, when Federal Government Environment Minister Murray Watt signed off on a 40-year extension to Woodside Energy’s Pilbara-based Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) processing plant – granting it a licence to operate the site until at least 2070 – it was news the global corporate energy company felt it had waited a very long time to hear.

Scientists from both the University and the Monitoring Program have spent the past several years testing air pollution levels in the region.

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Jo Pickup

ArtsHub's Arts Feature Writer Jo Pickup is based in Perth. An arts writer and manager, she has worked as a journalist and broadcaster for media such as the ABC, RTRFM and The West Australian newspaper, contributing media content and commentary on art, culture and design. She has also worked for arts organisations such as Fremantle Arts Centre, STRUT dance, and the Aboriginal Arts Centre Hub of WA, as well as being a sessional arts lecturer at The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA).