Western Australia’s environment minister has questioned the “cultural authority” of Mardathoonera woman and North West Shelf opponent Raelene Cooper to speak on behalf of traditional owners about industrial impacts on rock art along the Pilbara coast.

Cooper, who is a former chair and current member of the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation, has been one of the most vocal opponents of Woodside’s now-approved plan to extend the life of the Karratha Gas Plant and its associated infrastructure on the Burrup Peninsula to the 2070s.

In his statements of reasons for approving the project, Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt questioned the WA government’s conclusion from a landmark report that most damage to the rock art was linked to emissions from the now-shut Dampier Power Plant.

While

See Full Page