Federal environment minister Murray Watt has given a green light to continued industrial activity and expansion around the Murujuga Cultural Landscape in WA's Pilbara region, with some new conditions he says will protect the immense cultural values of the site.

On Friday the minister said he has made "a partial declaration to protect a significant Aboriginal heritage site at Murujuga".

The area is home to the world's greatest collection of ancient rock art and was recently included in UNESCO's World Heritage list.

The federal Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act (ATSIHP Act) allows the environment minister to make a declaration protecting a significant Aboriginal heritage area and or objects that are under threat of injury or desecration.

Senator Watt said the protected area in question has been "carefully managed" by the Traditional Owners and Custodians of Murujuga, the Ngarda-Ngarli, for more than 50,000 years.

"The significance of the area, including its World Heritage recognised values and rock art, reflects the interaction between people and place over thousands of generations," he said.

"This decision follows extensive consultation that demonstrated the area is of particular significance to the Ngarda-Ngarli people in accordance with their traditions.

"The declaration will mean additional legal protections placed over part of the area, to ensure Murujuga's ancient rock art is appropriately protected into the future."

The Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation welcomed the declaration which it said "prescribes a range of new measures that will provide even greater protection of cultural heritage that exists in proximity to industry on the Burrup Peninsula in the north west of Western Australia".

"The provisions… give specific, detailed and clear guidance on prohibitions and restrictions to preserve Aboriginal sites, objects and places in declared areas within and adjacent to the World Heritage listed Murujuga Cultural Landscape and to protect heritage from injury or desecration," the MAC said in a statement on Friday.

"Further, the declaration, made under section 10 (1) of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984, recognises the leadership of MAC and its authority to manage the complex heritage and cultural values that extend across the entire Murujuga Cultural Landscape, both in and outside of the recently inscribed World Heritage boundary."

Unreasonable delays

In August, the federal court found the federal government had unreasonably delayed a ministerial decision on a Section 10 application to protect Murujuga, "with no adequate explanation".

The application from Mardathoonera woman Raelene Cooper and Kuruma Mardathoonera woman Josie Alec was lodged on February 9, 2022, asking the federal environment minister for a declaration, in the words of Justice Angus Stewart, on "the protection of Murujuga from injury and desecration, primarily arising from existing and future natural gas extraction by Woodside Energy Group Ltd, a proposed urea plant development by Perdaman Chemicals and Fertilisers Pty Ltd, and existing and future ammonia and hydrogen production by Yara Australia Pty Ltd and related companies".

Justice Stewart noted in August that "more than three and a half years later, the Minister has not yet determined Ms Cooper's s 10 application".

"There is a positive duty under the relevant provision for the Minister to make a decision, and to do so within a reasonable time. The delay in this case is unreasonable in the legal sense, and it has not been adequately explained," he said.

The judge found that given the likelihood the decision was likely to come soon, he saw "little utility in ordering the Minister to make a decision by a particular date", but noted: "I will give Ms Cooper the liberty to apply for further relief if the decision has not been made by 12 September 2025."

In his statement on 12 September, Senator Watt noted that that his decision "does not stop industry from operating at Murujuga".

"It essentially requires by law companies to do what they have said they will do in cultural heritage management plans - talk to Traditional Owners and Custodians and come to an agreement on how to use current and relevant information and practices to protect this World Heritage land," he said.

"The partial declaration and explanatory statement will be available online on the Federal Register of Legislation at www.legislation.gov.au," Senator Watt said.

North West Shelf Project Extension approved

On the same day, Senator Watt gave final approval for the North West Shelf Project Extension, "subject to strict conditions".

"In making this decision, I have imposed 48 strict conditions that will avoid and mitigate significant impacts to the Murujuga rock art," he said.

"The additional conditions I have imposed add to those already set by the Western Australian Government. This will ensure that this project will be operated in a way that does not cause unacceptable impacts to the Murujuga rock art, in compliance with federal environmental law, including restricting air emissions which otherwise could have accelerated damage.

"Specifically, I have imposed conditions that will require a reduction in certain gas emissions below their current levels, in some cases by 60 percent by 2030 with ongoing reductions beyond that."

Under the conditions Senator Watt has proposed, the proponent will be required to:

- Comply with "strict" limits on emissions of concern and in some cases continue reducing those emissions levels over the life of the plant.

- Comply with the conditions of the approval by the WA Government to prepare a new Air Quality Management Plan. This requires the proponent to comply with any new air quality objectives or standards that are derived from the Murujuga Rock Art Monitoring Program (MRAMP), ensuring they adhere to the most current science on the impacts to rock art.

- Put in place a "robust" continuous emissions monitoring system to demonstrate compliance with the strict limits on emissions levels.

- Regularly review and implement industry and Australian best practice emissions reductions technology.

- Manage direct, physical impacts to the rock through the implementation of a Cultural Heritage Management Plan.

- Demonstrate compliance with the conditions requiring emissions monitoring by publishing an annual compliance report including emissions data collected by the monitoring system.

The minister said the project will be required to reduce its emissions every year and reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 under the federal government's "strengthened" Safeguard Mechanism.

However, the minister's Section 10 Declaration also applied a 12 month delay on the application of any protections, despite the federal court finding there had already been "unreasonable delay" by the government.

The decision and conditions have been published in full on the EPBC Act Public Portal.

MAC chairperson Peter Hicks said that as the organisation representing the collective wishes and voices of the Ngarda-Ngarli, who have been the traditional custodians of the Murujuga rock art for thousands of years, "we are pleased to see the Federal Government's commitment to add a further layer of protection to an area of such great significance to our people".

"This extraordinary landscape has been managed and cared for by our ancestors for more than 50,000 years and is a sacred, spiritual and deeply storied place," he said.

"Its importance to the world cannot be understated and this was acknowledged in July when we were able to secure World Heritage status.

"Now, with this declaration, we have an even clearer way forward and we thank the Federal Government for enacting a critical part of Australia's legislative framework to ensure that this sacred place is protected in perpetuity."