March of industry threatens Aboriginal rock art

SYDNEY - The planned expansion of a massive industrial site on a remote part of the Australian coastline threatens to destroy hundreds of ancient Aboriginal rock engravings.

The petroglyphs, which depict humans, mysterious abstract motifs and extinct animals such as the Tasmanian tiger, are etched into boulders and rock faces on the Burrup peninsula in Western Australia.

Carved by Aborigines over the course of more than 20,000 years, they share the 20km-long peninsula with huge natural gas refineries and iron ore shipment centres.

Conservationists say the impending expansion of the industrial complex will destroy hundreds if not thousands of carvings, in the latest chapter in a decades-old battle between Aboriginal heritage and the demands of modern economic development.

They argue that bulldozing or removing any of the petroglyphs would be cultural vandalism akin to the Taleban's destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan.

"It's the equivalent of finding oil under Stonehenge and deciding to blow it up," said Tom Perrigo, the director of the National Trust of Western Australia.

"This is a world treasure, the largest collection of rock art in the world. There could be a million carvings out there they've not even been properly surveyed."

The West Australian Government said last week that it would fight an attempt to have the art placed on the National Heritage list, which would afford greater protection, saying such a move would have "potentially grave consequences" for expansion.

"We are trying very hard to work with industry and the Aboriginal community to minimise any impact on rock art sites while also managing the multibillion-dollar industry," the Department of Industry said.

Much of the development was likely to occur away from the boulder-strewn gullies and rocky uplands where petroglyphs are found, the department claimed.

Woodside Energy concedes its planned clearing of 100 hectares of west coast land for a gas refinery will destroy rock carvings.

But "60 per cent of the peninsula has already been set aside for conservation", said Woodside spokesman Rob Millhouse. "There are carvings all over the peninsula. It's impossible to preserve every one."

Industrial development first started in the area, near the town of Karratha in the north of Western Australia, in the 1970s. It is estimated that at least 4800 petroglyphs have already been destroyed since then.

In addition to the rock art, there are millennia-old standing stones, stone circles and grinding stones used to sharpen tools.

Around 10 per cent of the peninsula has been built on so far but there are plans to develop a further 30 per cent.

Last year the World Monuments Fund placed the peninsula on a list of the world's 100 most endangered sites.

"It's ludicrous to think industry [will] not impact on the rock engravings," said Ken Mulvaney, the president of the Australian Rock Art Research Association. "It's like putting a factory next door to Stonehenge."

Federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell will decide in September whether the site should be listed. "He's our only hope," said Perrigo. "There's no sense in crying the art that's already lost but we're saying enough is enough. It's time to draw a line."