An Australian Indigenous group on Thursday stepped up its campaign against industrial development in Western Australia's Burrup Peninsula, a key gas export hub, saying in a protest in Sydney that planned projects would damage ancient rock art.
A government-appointed investigator has been assessing the impact of development in the Burrup Peninsula since last year in response to a request from two indigenous women representing a group called Save our Songlines. The protest in Australia's largest city, about 5,000 km from the peninsula, brought the issue to the doorstep of Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek.
"It is up to us to keep our culture and our history alive," said Indigenous woman Raelene Cooper of Save our Songlines, who applied for the review under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act.
