GOVERNMENT GASLIGHTING: NGARLUMA LEADERS DEMAND WATT QUIT AS RAELEENE COOPER’S AUTHORITY QUESTIONED
BY ASAD KHAN AND TANGIORA HINAKI
Call for Murray Watt to Stand Down
Ngarluma traditional owners of Murujuga have publicly demanded the resignation of federal Environment Minister Murray Watt. Leaders accuse him of withholding scientific evidence of industrial impacts on Murujuga’s sacred rock art until after he approved Woodside’s North West Shelf extension project to 2070.
Samantha Walker welcomes the arrival of the independent reporter to the region. (ABC: Amelia Searson)
Samantha Walker, Ngurrara-ngarli (Traditional Owner) of Murujuga, said Minister Watt “sat on” evidence of acid gas emissions and their destructive impacts.
“We call for Murray Watt to stand down as Environment Minister. He was aware of all of the reports and all of the evidence of the destruction … and he sat on that knowledge.”
No Confidence in Rock Art Monitoring Program
Both Walker and fellow Ngarluma custodian Patrick Churnside declared they have no confidence in the Murujuga Rock Art Monitoring Program.
Credit: MAC
MsWalker described its findings as “false” and “a whole lot of lies,” while Churnside condemned its links to industry and government influence.
“We all knew that the rock art monitoring report was a whole lot of lies. To me, they are just as corrupt as Minister Watt and the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation board.”
Criticism of Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation Board
The Ngarluma leaders also denounced the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation board, accusing it of breaking cultural protocols under pressure from government and industry.
Mr Churnside said decision-making had departed from long-held traditions.
“It is culturally inappropriate to our protocols to make decisions this way, which we have held for thousands of years. A handful of people in a room do not hold authority for Country, culture and people.” he said
Rock art expert accuses leaders of rewriting reality over Murujuga damage
One of the world’s leading rock art specialists, Professor Benjamin Smith of the University of Western Australia, has accused government leaders of “gaslighting” the public on Murujuga’s condition.
He said the tactic echoed the classic definition of gaslighting, constructing a false reality to undermine people’s understanding of the truth.
“I’ve been arguing for the last 10 years that the industrial emissions of Murujuga are damaging the rock art. But I keep hearing from Roger Cook and Murray Watt and many other politicians that I’m living in a dream world. That is gaslighting.”
Minister casts doubt on Raelene Cooper’s right to speak for Murujuga
Baiyunu Elder with Minister Matthew Swimbourn
Western Australia’s Environment Minister Matthew Swinbourn 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.
“If the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation, representing the Ngarda-Ngarli people, is saying to us that there was something wrong with the processes that they were involved in,"
"Then that would be more concerning to me than to listen to what activists have to say who are ideologically opposed to the North West gas project and are looking for their opportunity to bring that whole thing down,” he said.