Traditional owners from the Northern Territory’s Tiwi Islands have launched a legal challenge to the $4.7bn Barossa offshore gas project, saying they were not consulted about plans to drill the gas field.
The project is a joint venture between Santos and SK E&S and will involve drilling for gas in the Timor Sea and transporting it via a 260km pipeline to the existing Darwin LNG facility.
The National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (Nopsema) gave Santos approval in March to drill up to eight wells off the northern beaches of the Tiwi Islands.
Munupi senior lawman Dennis Tipakalippa is challenging that decision in the federal court saying he and his community were never consulted about the drilling.
“Santos say they did consultation for this drilling project, but no one spoke to me as a traditional owner and senior lawman for the Munupi clan,” he said.
“My clan, the Munupi, own these northern beaches. It’s our land that’s closest to the drilling site. We are the ones who are going to be affected.”
In its environmental plan for the gas field, Santos said it had contacted Tiwi land council by email about the project and no responses raising issues or concerns had been received to date. In its environmental plan for the pipeline, the company said there had been ongoing contact with the Tiwi land council, including during the formal consultation period in 2019.
The federal court action is the second legal challenge to the project.
An earlier challenge launched by Tiwi Islander and Larrakia traditional owners which sought to prevent South Korea’s export credit agencies from financing the development failed last month.
Tipakalippa said the drilling would threaten Tiwi Islanders’ food sources, culture and way of life.
He said they were particularly concerned about damage to sea country if a spill occurred.
“We spend a lot of time out in the water – hunting, fishing. We only ever take what we can eat in a day, no more,” he said.
“We respect our homelands, our sea country and it looks after us. Santos should have respected us and consulted in the proper way.”
The Environmental Defenders’ Office, which is representing Tipakalippa, said Santos had a legal obligation to consult with people who might be affected by the drilling.
“Our client is arguing that consultation did not occur, and so the approval is invalid,” special counsel Alina Leikin said.
She said the outcomes of the case could be significant because it was the first legal action brought by a First Nations person challenging an offshore project approval because of alleged lack of consultation.
“This case could establish what constitutes adequate consultation with First Nations people in relation to offshore gas developments,” she said.
“It could have significant implications for how mining companies view their consultation obligations with First Nations people.”
A Santos spokesperson said the company did not comment on matters before the court.
A spokesperson for Nopsema said the authority had published a detailed statement of reasons for its decision to approve the project.
It said the authority was aware of the legal action and could not comment on matters that were the subject of court proceedings.
“Nopsema is aware of a number of media articles regarding allegations that Santos failed to consult in connection with the Barossa Project development drilling and completions environment plan,” the spokesperson said.
