Rock Art Research

The Western Australian and Commonwealth governments approved in November  2024 – May 2025 the Woodside Energy North-West Shelf Project Extension Proposal to continue operations until 2070 on Murujuga in northwest Western Australia. The project will emit  over four billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents and around 10,000 tonnes of nitrogen  dioxide annually. Murujuga is the site of the world’s largest rock art gallery, showing the  culture and spiritual beliefs of its inhabitants for potentially 50,000 years. The priceless and irreplaceable petroglyphs were created until the 1868 massacres of the Traditional Owners, the  Yaburara people. Murujuga is sacred to the Original Australians. The government approvals  were based partly on the second report from the industry-funded, government-administered  Murujuga Rock Art Monitoring Program (MRAMP). The Western Australian government  claimed, ‘The research indicates that the current levels of the pollutants of most concern for  the rock art are lower than the interim guideline levels’. An evaluation of the MRAMP report  shows that current levels of pollutants have already damaged the outer ferromanganese rock  varnish and weathering rind, both essential for the preservation of the petroglyphs. Six main  findings confirm this. First, the MRAMP field studies identified elevated rock porosity in  the areas immediately around contemporary industry. Second, the MRAMP climate chamber  experiments show that nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide gases create pores even in the  base rock, which is more resistant than the outer rock coatings. Thirdly, the MRAMP claim  that rainfall is now neutral to alkaline is contrary to previous studies and likely due to sea/ dust contamination from the location of receptors. Fourthly, the MRAMP claim that rock  surface pH has increased one unit is due to a change in methods. Fifthly, MRAMP microbial  studies show that the Cyanobacteria and other microorganisms that created the rock varnish  are depleted in the most polluted industrial areas, while the Geodermatophilus genus which is  resilient to low pH and dissolves manganese and iron from rock varnish is concentrated near  industry. Finally, recent independent research has suggested that the manganese content of  the rock varnish is now half the concentration it was in 1994. These findings affirm that emissions are currently degrading the Murujuga petroglyphs beyond natural rates. With continuing government approvals, where is justice for the massacred Yaburara people?