Dorinda Cox (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I seek leave to table an explanatory memorandum relating to the bill.

Leave granted.

I table an explanatory memorandum, and I seek leave to have the second reading speech incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speech read as follows—

Today I commend this Bill to the Senate, a Bill to legislate against, and apply penalties to, the release of emissions that cause damage to First Nations rock art that has been recognised as culturally, historically, scientifically and archaeologically significant. Rock art that has this significance should be recognised as an important type of national monument. In fact, for our future generations and preservation of cultural heritage, we need to protect all of our important national monuments from corrosive emissions and destruction for the benefit of resource projects.

Rock art is irreplaceable and priceless. It is the oldest surviving human art form. Across Australia rock art is an integral part of First Nations life and customs, dating back to the earliest times of human settlement on the continent. Researchers estimate that there are more than 100,000 significant rock art sites around Australia. More than 5,000 are located in the Northern Territory's Kakadu National Park alone.

The first humans arrived in Australia between 65,000 and 80,000 years ago. Australian rock art has been dated to around 45,000 years ago, although there are possibly much older sites on the continent.

All cultures use imagery to tell stories, so it is likely that, from the time of their first arrival in Australia, First Nations peoples were using artworks in sacred and public sites to give form to their narratives. For First Nations peoples in Australia, rock art sites are records of their ongoing history since time immemorial.

Rock art consists of paintings, drawings, engravings, stencils, bas-relief carvings and figures made of beeswax in rock shelters and caves. It can take two main forms: engravings (petroglyphs) and paintings or drawings (pictographs).

Petroglyphs are created by removing rock through pecking, hammering or abrading in order to leave a negative impression. Pictographs are made by applying pigments to the rock. Drawings use dry colours, such as charcoal, clay, chalk and ochre, which can be anything from pale yellow to dark reddish brown. Paintings use wet pigments made from minerals, which are applied by finger or with brushes made from chewed sticks or hair. Sometimes stencils are created by blowing the colour from someone's mouth over an outline.

Broadly speaking, rock art in Australia employs two main design types. The first uses engraved geometric forms, such as circles, concentric circles, arcs, dots or animal tracks. The second creates figurative forms, such as painted or engraved silhouettes of humans or animals. These figures can be either simple outlines or more complex constructions. The X-ray pigment art of Kakadu, for example, shows the internal organs of humans and animals.

Within these two main designs, however, infinite variations are possible, depending on the preferences of the individual artist or cultural groups.

Petroglyphs are created on almost any stone surface, and examples of engraved art can be found across the continent. But examples of pictographs usually survive only in more sheltered areas, such as overhangs or caves. Owing to their connection to First Nations beliefs, many of these locations are considered sacred sites.

First Nations peoples' knowledge of rock art is still vital and alive in Australia today. Stories about these artworks have been passed down, in some cases through thousands of generations, and in others directly from the artists themselves.

Rock art is an invaluable spiritual, historic and artistic resource, but it raises various issues, primarily concerning how it can best be protected.

In Australia, seven heritage places are on the National Heritage List, in recognition of their outstanding cultural significance to the nation: Dampier Archipelago, Grampians National Park, Kakadu National Park, Koonalda Cave, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, the Tasmanian Wilderness and the West Kimberley. All these sites have been given the highest protection under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. With the proper care and recognition of their cultural value, they will continue to be appreciated by generations of Australians to come, although it has to be pointed out, the EPBC Act doesn't currently prevent any project from being approved if the Minister thinks it can coexist with heritage.

The biggest island in the Dampier Archipelago is Murujuga, which many of you will know as the Burrup Peninsula. In 1963 the island became an artificial peninsula when it was connected to the mainland by a causeway for a road and a railway. Murujuga means 'hip bone sticking out', and if you have a look at the shape of the land there, the name makes a lot of sense.

Murujuga is unique. It contains the Murujuga Cultural Landscape, the world's largest and most important collection of petroglyphs. Some of the Aboriginal rock carvings have been dated to around 45,000 years old, making them some of the oldest known. The collection of standing stones there is the largest in Australia with rock art petroglyphs numbering over one million. Some of them depict the now extinct Tasmanian tiger. The Dampier Rock Art Precinct covers the entire archipelago, while the Murujuga National Park lies within Murujuga.

It is estimated that around 900 sites, or 24 percent of the original rock art on Murujuga, was destroyed to make way for industrial development between 1963 and 2006. The historical, cultural and archaeological significance of the area has led to a campaign for its protection. The preservation of the Murujuga monument has been called for since 1969, and in 2002 the International Federation of Rock Art Organizations commenced a campaign to preserve the remaining monument. Murujuga has been listed in the National Trust of Australia Endangered Places Register and in the 2004, 2006, and 2008 World Monuments Watch by the World Monuments Fund.

In 1996, a land use plan by the Burrup Peninsula Management Advisory Board divided the region into two areas, a Conservation, Heritage and Recreation Area, spanning 5,400 hectares—62% of Murujuga—and an Industrial Area with an emphasis on port sites and strategic industry— 38% of Murujuga. While the plan commented upon "the value of the Northern Burrup for the preservation of its renowned Aboriginal heritage and environmental values", no comment was made on the amount of rock art affected by development and recreational activities.

According to the Philip Adams radio show on Radio National, one worker on an industrial site, an electrician for Woodside, claimed the company had crushed 10,000 petroglyphs for road fill, at a time of international outrage over the Taliban destruction of the Bamiyan buddhas. The oldest representation of a human face was destroyed.

As of 2011, the area remained on the World Monument Fund's list of 100 Most Endangered Places in the World—the only such site in Australia—because of continued mismanagement of the heritage and conservation values of Murujuga.

Murujuga has become the host for one of the gas industry's largest facilities, the Burrup Hub, and there are plans for extensive expansions. We are talking about one of the biggest oil and gas developments ever undertaken in Australia, by Woodside Petroleum and BHP, known as the Scarborough project, Scarborough being the name of the gas field 375 km off the Pilbara coast. The project includes a floating production unit, the drilling of 13 wells, and a 430 km pipeline to transport the gas to the onshore Pluto LNG processing facility near Karratha, which will be expanded. The existing facilities already burn the equivalent of the entire annual emissions of New Zealand, every day.

Much of the rock art now lies inside the Murujuga National Park, and on 7 July 2008, the Australian Government placed 90% of the remaining rock art areas of the Dampier Archipelago on the National Heritage List. Campaigners pushed for the Australian Government to include all of the undisturbed areas of the Dampier Archipelago on the World Heritage List and, in January 2020, the Australian Government finally lodged a submission for the Murujuga cultural landscape to be included as an entry to the World Heritage Tentative List.

But along with mechanical damage to the rock art from industrial land clearance for roads, pipelines, power lines, and other activities, Murujuga rock art has been damaged by industrial emissions. Without even considering the plumes that rise from the fertiliser and gas plants, acidic dust pollution can combine with water to form acids that dissolve manganese and iron compounds, causing the fragmentation of the rock varnish. Researchers have said that reducing the amount of dust stirred up by machinery is essential to protect the rock art for future generations.

Then we have to consider the emissions that arise from fertiliser and LNG production itself. Airborne emissions from industrial activity that can degrade rock art and other monuments include nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, ammonia and particulate matter. The existing facilities at the Burrup Hub produce all four of these pollutants, and the proposed expansions will fill the air above Murujuga with chemicals that react with water and air to produce acids and other corrosive materials.

There are nine matters of national environmental significance under the EPBC Act, including, but not limited to, world heritage properties, national heritage places, Commonwealth marine areas and water resources. There is a policy gap in that emissions which cause damage to the surfaces of national and world heritage monuments are currently not considered a matter of national significance under the EPBC Act. The Bill seeks to address this deficiency.

The Bill will establish a new class of controlled action under the EPBC Act relating to emissions which damage the surfaces of important monuments. When this is shown to be occurring, an entity that continues to pollute despite the damage will receive a civil financial penalty under the EPBC Act. The penalties for non-compliance are in line with the rest of the Act.

The Bill will insert an item into Section 34 of the EPBC Act. That item is "the National Heritage values of a National Heritage place". This establishes National Heritage values as being important to the Act.

A person that is a corporation, the Commonwealth or a Commonwealth entity contravenes the Act if the person or entity takes a damaging industrial action within what's called the 'prohibited area' for a vulnerable monument. Prohibited areas will be defined through scientific investigation.

A person who proposes to take an action that may significantly impact a monument that is part of a National Heritage place must cause a vulnerability investigation to be conducted for the monument. The purpose of the vulnerability investigation is to determine whether damaging industrial action is causing, or is likely to cause, damage to the monument.

If a vulnerability investigation finds that damaging industrial action is causing damage to a monument, the Minister must declare the monument to be a vulnerable monument, and must declare a prohibited area around the monument. The investigation will also determine whether preventing damaging industrial activity in a particular area would prevent or minimise future damage.

The Western Australian Government has tried to deny that airborne emissions cause damaging compounds to form on the surface of rock art. This is not surprising, seeing as the WA Government always seeks to boost the gas industry, regardless of the consequences.

University of Western Australia archaeology expert Benjamin Smith has pointed to the scientific consensus showing that emissions such as nitrogen oxides have an acidic effect that destroys the surface of stone monuments. Professor Smith has also been involved in research involving the first photographic evidence of the art being damaged since industry arrived on the Burrup in the 1960s.

Photos, taken about 50 years apart, clearly show artworks that have faded and had their surfaces peeled away. In all, photographs of 26 pieces of rock art, or petroglyphs, taken prior to or early in the industrialisation process were compared with recent pictures. Professor Smith said 50 per cent of them had changed, and he has stated clearly, "Once those rock surfaces start to degrade, there's nothing one can do. We have to stop the acidity getting on to the rocks."

Of course, this is disputed by the companies that operate on the Burrup. The WA Government launched its own monitoring program in 2019, which was jointly funded by Woodside, the Yara fertiliser company, and iron ore giant Rio Tinto. There was no attempt to put the program at arm's length from parties with a vested interest. Anyone could be forgiven for being sceptical about the objectivity of the study.

Woodside backed the government's monitoring and said previous research did not prove LNG production was damaging the rock art. A Woodside spokesperson said, "The photographic methodology used [by Professor Smith] is not a reliable means of determining such changes". In other words, the evidence from your own eyes, when examining Professor Smith's photos, should be ignored.

This Bill bypasses all of that. It puts the onus on the proponent of a development, or an expansion, to prove scientifically that they are not destroying a monument. Let's make the law match the science, and let's see what the evidence shows.

If we have to talk about money to make people understand the value of our heritage, look at the tourism value of Murujuga. When we tell people that Western Australia is home to some of the world's oldest artworks, tourists come in droves. They want to see. Most of the potential is untapped. A boardwalk has been constructed near some of the most visible pieces, and the numbers are growing.

Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation wants to establish a new benchmark for Indigenous tourism with a Tourism Precinct at Conzinc Bay on the western side of the peninsula. The precinct will include the Murujuga Living Knowledge Centre, eco-accommodation and day-use facilities at the bay. The business case for the precinct is being drawn up now.

WA Tourism's new approach to its work is all about First Nations heritage. The WA Visitor Economy Strategy 2033or WAVES 2033—that came out last year, talks about a vision for Western Australia "to be recognised as a world-class destination that immerses people in its unique cultures, communities, and environment". Murujuga could not be more relevant to that goal.

Tourism is Australia's third biggest export and we must start valuing the assets that underpin the industry. Tourism brings in an enormous amount of revenue, and that revenue is different to the revenue from other industries, because tourism spreads the benefits around. Most of the beneficiaries are smaller, localised businesses. The money doesn't disappear overseas or line the pockets of the already-rich. Tourism benefits all Australians.

We as Australians all have a critical role to play and we have seen extensive campaigns, including the open letter from 95 top Australian and international artists who united to stop the destruction of one of the world's greatest artwork. People are fascinated to see and visit a place and to have an experience like no other, which brings to our shores visitors from all over the world. And it's not just the rock art—the country and wildlife that inspired the art are grounded in story, time and place. If we protect these precious and sacred places like Murujuga, we can continue to showcase them to the world.

This Bill inserts a new value into the considerations of the EPBC Act—the value of some of our most important national heritage. More than that, this is our heritage as human beings. We are talking about 45,000 years of human history. Murujuga has been put forward as a World Heritage site for a reason. Not for the first time, I ask the Parliament to put heritage in all its forms, but in particular First Nations cultural heritage, above a quick buck for a few corporations.

I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.