Marian Wilkinson, Environment Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald reports:
A CAMPAIGN to win World Heritage listing for the Aboriginal rock carvings on the Burrup Peninsula in Western Australia threatens to push the Rudd Government into a confrontation with the energy giant Woodside Petroleum.
The Environment Minister, Peter Garrett, is coming under pressure from archaeologists, led by the head of the International Federation of Rock Art Organisations, Robert Bednarik, to nominate the site. It is believed to hold the largest concentration of rock art in the world and is possibly the first site of human habitation in Australia.
“UNESCO are waiting for Australia to submit it to the World Heritage List,” Mr Bednarik said yesterday, “but it’s a hot potato for the Rudd Government.”
