Kim Beazley backs campaign to thwart Woodside’s North West Shelf LNG facility on the Burrup Peninsula

Former Federal Labor leader and WA Governor Kim Beazley is throwing his support behind a push to thwart a major Woodside project in order to save an ancient Aboriginal rock art site.

Mr Beazley and former WA premiers Peter Dowding and Carmen Lawrence are among more than 40 signatories to a letter appealing to federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek to reject approval for Woodside’s planned extension to the North West Shelf LNG facility on the Burrup Peninsula.

The letter, co-ordinated by Friends of Australian Rock Art, urges Ms Plibersek to block the application due to the project’s greenhouse gas emissions and the potentially “profound and irreversible” damage to the Murujuga rock art.

“Scientific evidence that industrial pollution from gas processing on the Burrup Peninsula is degrading the ancient Murujuga rock art is clear and compelling, and the outdated North West Shelf Facility is by far the largest contributor to the pollution load,” the two-page letter stated.

Ms Plibersek earlier this month described Murujuga as a “natural wonder of the world” after its UNESCO World Heritage Listing nomination progressed to the next stage.

There are an estimated one to two million rock art images at Murujuga, recording 50,000 years worth of history.

Mr Beazley confirmed to The West that he signed the letter but did not wish to comment further.

The letter comes as the Federal Government’s contentious offshore gas Bill appears set to be delayed for at least another six weeks as the Greens and independents frustrate its passage through Parliament.

The legislation designed to curb “lawfare” against major gas projects passed the lower house late on Tuesday but is unlikely to be put to a vote in the Senate before the Easter break.

Traditional owners, including Raelene Cooper, who fought Woodside’s Scarborough project in the Federal Court, were in Canberra on Tuesday to demand the Bill be dumped.

The legislation would allow Resources Minister Madeleine King — after consulting with Ms Plibersek — to change the consultation requirements on offshore gas projects, with the hope of avoiding a repeat of Ms Cooper’s legal fight with the gas giant.

“This legislation is another attempt to silence the voices of the traditional custodians speaking out to protect our country,” Ms Cooper told reporters in Parliament House.