Australia announced on Tuesday that it was evaluating an emergency appeal submitted by an indigenous group that aims to halt the pipeline building as part of Santos Ltd.’s (STO.AX) $3.6 billion Barossa gas project located off the coast of northern Australia.
They pleaded with Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek to issue a declaration to protect their legacy from the building, arguing that it was in grave danger of doing so. The Tiwi Islands are home to six indigenous elders who have made this request.
In an email, a spokesman for the agency stated that “the department is considering the short-term emergency application.” The spokesperson said that such requests were evaluated based on various factors and were prioritized according to their level of urgency.
Santos, which anticipates beginning gas production from Barossa in the first half of 2025, referred to the conclusions of an independent expert who determined that there were no particular underwater cultural heritage sites along the proposed pipeline’s pathos’s goal to begin producing gas from Barossa in the first half of 2025.
“There is no risk of desecration of any underwater cultural heritage from the construction of the Barossa pipeline,” a spokesman said in a statement, adding that the six elders did not speak for all 2,700 inhabitants of the Tiwi Islands. “There is no risk of desecration of any underwater cultural heritage from the construction of the Barossa pipeline,” the spokesperson added.
However, the Tiwi elders responsible for applying stated that the pipeline would cause substantial harm to historic burial places, indigenous art, and other precious ancestral sites.
One of them, Molly Munkara, issued a statement in which she warned that this would affect their spirituality and harm their health, house, and life.
According to the organization, Santos was aware of the risks but still intended to start pipeline construction shortly. Santos may be required to abandon its plans if the government provides the region with emergency protection.
In January, the offshore regulator told Santos to look into the environmental risks to underwater indigenous cultural treasures before starting work on the pipeline. The elders’ decision to ask the government to get involved could add another problem to the project.
The ruling did not prevent the beginning of work. Still, the regulator had indicated that it believed Santos would not begin any activity whose outcome had not been “adequately identified, evaluated, and managed.” Although the decision did not restrict the beginning of work, it did say that the regulator expected Santos would not begin any work.
