The Australian Federal Court dismissed a legal challenge to the construction of a gas export pipeline along the submerged cultural heritage of the Tiwi Nation on Monday.

During the hearing, the court dismissed the application and discharged a temporary injunction that had halted gas giant Santos from commencing work in November last year on their A$5.7 billion project. The applicants have now been ordered to pay Santo’s costs.

The traditional owners are increasingly concerned with the impact that the project will have on the cultural sites, which include burial sites. It is a part of the traditional customs of the Tiwi Islands people to bury their dead under carved and painted poles called Pukumani. The sites are also connected to spiritual beings called Ampiji and the Crocodile Man. Tiwi elder, Marie Francis Tipiloura, expressed to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, “it is not good what is happening … it hurts us and our beliefs.”

Before the court on Monday, the applicants failed to satisfy the requirements for a new environmental plan to be ordered. Justice Natalie Charlesworth stated, “what must be established on the balance of probabilities is a new and significant risk of environmental impact.” Charlesworth was not convinced by the traditional owners’ accounts of the Ampliji and the Crocodile Man songlines and found no significant risk to tangible culture along the pipeline’s route.

The legal challenge began in October 2023, when the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) on behalf of Jikilaruwu man Simon Munkar initiated civil proceedings against Santos concerning the proposed Barossa Gas Export pipeline. Simon, along with two other Tiwi Traditional Owners, argued that the proposed work posed a significant risk to Tiwi’s underwater cultural heritage, demanding a thorough reassessment of Santo’s Environment Plan.

In November 2023, an injunction was secured to restrain the work. EDO Special Counsel, Alina Leikin at the time applauded the court’s decision and emphasised the importance of proper consultation with Traditional Owners:

The Federal Court has already established that Santos needs to do proper consultation with Traditional Owners before a valid approval for work can be issued … This case is about ensuring that companies properly assess evidence of new impacts and risks caused by their projects when it comes to light in accordance with the law.