Arabic version: المالكون التقليديون يعارضون توسعة وودسايد في حوض براوز
According to ABC News, senior current and former members of Ngarluma-Yindjibarndi Foundation Limited have publicly opposed Woodside’s proposed Browse Basin expansion while negotiations over a confidential 1998 land access agreement remain stalled. Traditional owners say the agreement covering the Karratha Gas Plant is “unfit for purpose” and must be modernised before Browse can proceed.
The 1998 agreement related to the North West Shelf joint venture and included a $500,000 lump sum for deprivation of land or waters, funds used to establish NYFL. It also released gas joint venturers from liability for damage to Aboriginal rock art in the area. NYFL estimates 1,700 engravings were moved and thousands more destroyed during construction of the onshore processing facilities.
NYFL director Ricky Smith said country should not be destroyed, touched or damaged, while former NYFL chairperson Clinton Walker said confidentiality and no-challenge provisions stopped people from speaking up. Mr Walker also alleged some elders who signed the deal did not understand it because they had limited English and could not read. Woodside rejected claims that elders were pressured, saying the agreement was understood under future act requirements and that signatories received independent professional advice.
NYFL tabled a proposed agreement last November seeking $30 million annually on the assumption approved gas fields would be depleted within 10 years. Woodside responded in May with an offer of $20 million cash for the same period, in addition to the 1998 terms, plus 20 homes over 10 years and $400,000 a year to manage them. Woodside said expectations and standards for agreements with Aboriginal communities had changed significantly since 1998 and it was working with NYFL to modernise arrangements.
NYFL chief executive Sean Paul Stephens said the organisation had formally asked government not to approve Browse while talks remained unresolved. Woodside is seeking approval to develop the Browse Basin and transport gas through a 900-kilometre pipeline to Karratha. The development is expected to cost more than $50 billion, while Deloitte modelling cited by ABC News projected more than $141 billion in gross domestic product over 31 years.
