Media Release: Supreme Court challenge launched against state environmental approval for Woodside's North West Shelf Extension
Friends of Australian Rock Art
17 June 2025
A Supreme Court challenge to the Western Australian state government approval for Woodside’s contentious North West Shelf extension has been launched by Friends of Australian Rock Art, Inc, (FARA) who commenced proceedings on Thursday 12 June.
Thursday was the final day of the six month statutory limitation period for lodging a challenge to the state approval decision.
The judicial review proceedings were served on Friday 13 June against the WA Minister for the Environment, Hon Matthew Swinbourn MLC, and Woodside, challenging the environmental approval granted by previous Environment Minister Hon Reece Whitby MLA in December 2024.
FARA will argue that the court must overturn the state decision because the decision maker did not properly follow the requirements of the Environmental Protection Act. It will be argued that the state assessment failed to consider the impact of climate change that would result from the project (including Scope 3 emissions) on the environment, which includes the Murujuga rock art landscape.
The proceedings could have implications for the project’s outstanding Commonwealth approval, which relies on the state assessment in an accredited assessment process under the EPBC Act.
The following statement is attributable to Judith Hugo, co-convenor of Friends of Australian Rock Art:
“Today the Friends of Australian Rock Art have launched legal proceedings in the WA Supreme Court to challenge the WA government’s state approval of Woodside’s North West Shelf extension.
“Woodside’s proposed North West Shelf extension is one of the most polluting fossil fuel projects in the world, and will have severe consequences both for the Murujuga rock art landscape and for the environment of Western Australia as a whole.
“FARA has made every effort to ensure these impacts are properly understood and assessed, however we believe the Minister has approved the project without meaningful consideration of these impacts, as required under the law.
“It is clear that the state government is providing enthusiastic support for Woodside’s ongoing gas exports, but that does not detract from the obligation to follow the requirements of our legislation, and that means ensuring the impacts are properly assessed and managed to acceptable levels before any approvals are granted.
“We can no longer stand by as Ministers make decisions to enable Woodside’s highly polluting gas developments while conveniently ignoring the legislation that is intended to protect our environment and heritage.
“FARA has taken the step to commence these proceedings in the WA Supreme Court to ensure that the serious and ongoing impacts of Woodside’s North West Shelf proposal are properly examined as required under the Environmental Protection Act.
“The Murujuga rock art is the largest and oldest rock art collection in the world with Outstanding Universal Values worthy of World Heritage Listing.
“There is clear and compelling scientific evidence that ongoing pollution from Woodside’s gas processing facilities are making climate change impacts worse, and harming the Murujuga rock art landscape and cultural heritage in other ways.
“The North West Shelf Extension will cause pollution equal to 12 coal-fired power stations every year until 2070, however the vast majority of these emissions were ignored by the WA Minister in approving the proposal.
“Our case aims to require the government to rectify this fundamental omission, so that the impacts of Woodside’s carbon pollution can be understood.
“A critical aspect of the assessment process is to inform the public, and the decision maker about the impacts of any proposal. That is what is required by the legislation, even if it is inconvenient for the Minister.
“We believe the impacts of climate change on the Murujuga Rock art and its cultural landscape will be significant and severe. We have consistently raised concerns regarding sea level rise, increased wildfires, extreme heat and flooding and coastal erosion on the heritage landscape. We have also raised concerns about impacts to the ongoing use and enjoyment of this landscape by custodians practising cultural traditions, and by researchers and visitors in a heating climate. None of these impacts were assessed or considered by the Decision Maker.
“As the WA Minister and state government have ignored these concerns, we look forward to an opportunity to have the issue considered by the WA Supreme Court.”
ENDS
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Media Contact: [email protected] or Sean Kennedy: 0447 121 378
A Drive with video and audio grabs from FARA co-convenors Judith Hugo and Susan Swain is available here.
Website: www.fara.com.au
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Background on the North West Shelf Extension and the case
Woodside’s proposed North West Shelf Extension seeks to extend the life of Australia’s largest LNG export facility on the Burrup Peninsula (Murujuga) until 2070. This proposal has been highly controversial due to its global climate change implications, and its impact on the Murujuga rock art and heritage landscape.
Impacts on the climate and the Murujuga rock art and cultural landscape:
With annual carbon pollution equivalent to 12 coal-fired power stations, the North West Shelf Extension proposal has been described by scientists as a subversion of the Paris Agreement, and a stampede towards increasing fossil fuel production. Woodside’s Burrup Hub expansions (of which the North West Shelf Extension is centerpiece) have been named the largest ‘carbon bomb’ in the Southern hemisphere, which would impose an obligation on future generations to remove 6 billion tonnes of CO2 out of the atmosphere.
The Murujuga rock art landscape has been described as the largest and most important rock art site in the world, dating back at least 40,000 years and containing the earliest known depiction of the human face. The rock art and cultural landscape has been proposed for World Heritage Listing by the Australian Government. On May 26, the expert body of the IUCN (ICOMOS) confirmed the Outstanding Universal Values of the site, but recommended the listing be referred back to the Australian Government to address the threats of industry. The North West Shelf Extension was named as the most significant threat to the Murujuga rock art landscape.
Impacts on the Murujuga rock art landscape include climate change impacts, including sea level rise, increased wildfires, extreme heat, flooding and coastal erosion on the heritage landscape. The ongoing use and enjoyment of the Murujuga cultural landscape by custodians practising cultural traditions, and by researchers and visitors, will also be severely impacted by a heating climate.
Assessment of impacts:
A critical function of Environmental Impact Assessment under the WA Environmental Protection Act 1986 is that the Decision Maker and the general public (via publication of the proposal and EPA Assessment Report), are informed about the impacts of the proposal on the WA Environment and heritage values.
The vast majority of emissions from the North West Shelf Extension are ‘scope 3’ or indirect emissions resulting from the combustion of the gas that will be exported. While these emissions have a direct impact on the environment by contributing to climate change, the state assessment did not consider these impacts.
Implications for Commonwealth approval:
The North West Shelf Extension proposal also requires Commonwealth assessment, and approval under the EPBC Act by the federal Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Murray Watt. The assessment process for this project under the EPBC Act is an ‘accredited assessment’ where the federal Minister relies upon the state assessment to meet the requirements of the federal legislation. If the state assessment is ruled invalid by the WA Supreme Court, this ruling could have implications for the federal decision.
Background on Friends of Australian Rock Art:
Friends of Australian Rock Art, Inc. (FARA) works to protect, preserve and promote Australian rock art, particularly the petroglyphs found in the Dampier Archipelago (including Murujuga/Burrup Peninsula) in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Fara engages with State and Federal government and industry to ensure no further industrial development takes place on the Burrup Peninsula, and that impacts of current operations are reduced. FARA liaises with existing companies to look at ways to minimise the impact of their activities (such as direct and indirect emissions, controlled actions, and land clearance). FARA works in conjunction with local traditional custodians to ensure that local knowledge is promoted in a culturally appropriate manner. From 2007 — 2022 FARA ran annual educational tours to the Burrup, allowing people from all over Australia and beyond to visit and marvel at the beauty and complexity of this cultural landscape.
Contact details:
Media Contact: [email protected] or Sean Kennedy: 0447 121 378