Australia’s biggest gas project greenlit to 2070 with ‘partial’ protection for Indigenous rock art

Woodside’s North West Shelf gas project extension has been described by climate campaigners as a ‘carbon bomb’. Photograph: Krystle Wright/The Guardian

The Albanese government has approved an extension to 2070 of one of the world’s biggest gas export projects, saying it has agreed on conditions to protect more than 1 million pieces of ancient world heritage-listed Indigenous rock art that sit nearby.

Climate campaigners have described Woodside’s North West Shelf extension as a “carbon bomb” incompatible with global climate goals. The approval was met with fury from conservation groups and the Greens on Friday, who said it was a “betrayal” of Australians who wanted climate action.