Ethinvest clients visit Tiwi Islanders fighting to stop Santos' Timor Sea gas expansion

A few of Ethinvest’s clients recently travelled to the remote Tiwi Islands at the invitation of traditional elders in June to learn about their effort to stop gas company Santos from expanding offshore gas projects off their coast. Campaigner Antonia Burke, working with Tiwi elders, Jubilee Australia, Market Forces, and their community, organised and hosted an incredible three days on the island, including a welcome smoking ceremony, mangrove foraging, boat trips along the coast at risk and a visit to the community's art studio.

Burke is working to stop as many as five new gas exploration projects off the community’s coast and with other coastal countries to raise awareness about the size and threat of additional gas projects, including a proposed large-scale Middle Arm gas terminal near the port of Darwin.

Santos’ Barossa gas project in the Timor Sea, near the Tiwi Islands is expected to be one of the dirtiest gas developments in the world and, if it goes ahead, will pump millions of tons of carbon dioxide into our atmosphere each year and contribute to catastrophic climate change.

Traditional owners, led by Dennis Tipakalippa (member of the Munupi clan) and Simon Munkara (member of the Jikilaruwu clan), challenged the federal regulator and Santos about not being consulted, and then the construction of an export pipeline from the Barossa field off the Northern Territory to the existing Bayu-Undan pipeline, which connects to Darwin in a legal battle with the support of the Environmental Defenders Office that they sadly lost but the community is fighting on.

Tiwi Islanders, particularly those from the Pirlangimpi community, have raised serious concerns about the project's impact on their cultural heritage, including sacred sites and songlines, and their connection to the sea.

The Tiwi people believe the pipeline will disturb underwater cultural heritage sites, including areas associated with Ampiji (rainbow serpent), the protector of the sea.

Despite legal setbacks, the Tiwi Islanders continue to fight for their rights and seek to protect their home, their food security and their cultural heritage. Ethinvest was pleased to support the effort to bring the CEOs of Australia’s biggest banks to the island to see the environmental beauty of the location and the threat Santos’ gas expansion poses to the islander’s way of life.

Burke, Jubilee Australia and partners Solutions for Our Climate (South Korea) and the Japan Centre for a Sustainable Environment and Society, have organised Tiwi elders to travel to Asia and meet with potential funders to ask them not to support Santos’ gas expansion.

You can find out more and support the Tiwi Islander’s campaign via Jubilee Australia.