Traditional owners in the Northern Territory have launched an international legal bid to block the $4.7bn Barossa offshore gas project in the Timor Sea, saying the development will threaten marine life.
Tiwi Islander and Larrakia traditional owners are seeking to prevent South Korea’s export credit agencies from financing the development, which would provide a new source of gas to the existing Darwin LNG facility.
The project is a joint venture between Santos and SK E&S and will involve construction of a 300km pipeline to connect the gas field in the Timor Sea to the LNG facility.
Traditional owners say they have not given their free, prior and informed consent for the pipeline, which would be laid through Tiwi sea country and into Darwin, Larrakia country.
Tiwi Islanders say the project will damage their sea country and threaten marine life, particularly turtles, which play a central role in Tiwi culture.
The legal action is seeking an order that would prevent the South Korean government from lending about AU$964m to the development via its export credit agencies, the Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM) and the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation (K-SURE).
Papers were filed in the Seoul central district court this week.
In a statement released by the Stop Barossa Gas campaign, Francisco Babui, a senior Tiwi traditional owner, said the pipeline was too close to Cape Fourcroy, where there was a reef that provided habitat for turtles and dugongs.
“The turtles lay their eggs on that beach and we go hunting in that area,” he said.
“We use that coastline for camping and fishing.
“In the dry season we take our children there every week. We teach them about our culture and dreaming stories.”
Kevin Lance Quall, a senior Larrakia traditional owner, said the project “is devastating for us and our future”.
“It will have a big impact, especially for Aboriginal people,” he said.
“This kind of thing has been happening to Dangalaba and Larrakia people for over 40 years.”
The Stop Barossa Gas campaign is a coalition of four organisations: the Environment Centre NT, Jubilee Australia Research Centre, the South Korean-based Solutions for Our Climate and the Japan Centre for a Sustainable Environment and Society.
The campaign has targeted the development for the millions of tonnes of annual carbon emissions it would produce.
Last year, the iron ore magnate Andrew Forrest said the proposal was “atrocious” and “one of the most polluting projects in the world”.
Climate groups have labelled the project a “carbon bomb”, with a report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) finding the gas field had more carbon dioxide than any gas currently made into LNG.
“At a time when the International Energy Agency has said that no new gas projects can go online if we are to avoid catastrophic climate change, for public financial institutions to be funding this dirty fossil fuel project is reckless and irresponsible,” said Jason Fowler, the Environment Centre NT’s energy campaigner.
Dina Rui, campaigns director at Jubilee Australia, said public financing of fossil fuels “props up risky projects that otherwise might not go ahead”.
A spokesperson for Santos said “as is the case for all of our projects, we undertake consultation with all key stakeholders where they receive detailed information about the project”.
