The Burrup Peninsula petroglyphs are the sort of things tourists the world over spend thousands of dollars to visit, but a City of Karratha spokesperson said staff were pretty happy to let it sit unutilised because, well, it sounds like a lot of work – and they don’t want to upset the local industry big wigs.
“What do you want? Amenities? Something to attract tourists? A fucking sealed road? We’ve already desecrated the Jump Up.” the spokesperson said.
“Hmm, Seems like a lot of work, aye – and honestly, there’s certain business interests in the area that are a whole lot happier if the area maintains a low profile, if you catch my drift, wink-wink.”
Deep Gorge is home to more than a million Indigenous rock engravings, some of them estimated to be several times older than the pyramids in Giza or the oldest known artworks in Europe.
In short, it’s really fucking old and a national treasure.
At more than 40,000 years old, in fact, they are more than twice as ancient as the renowned Lascaux cave paintings in France – which draws hundreds of thousands of visitors a year, many of them cashed up adults willing to pay $63 a head.
Last decade, the equivalent of about a hundred million Aussie dollarydoos were sunk into Lascaux to ensure its standing as a place of pilgrimage of unquestioned world renown.
Deep Gorge outside Karratha, meanwhile, is reached via an unmarked road leading to a dirt carpark. The most tourist activity you’re likely to come across is a bemused Chinese family asking where the information desk is, or the brochures, or the points of interest, wifi, augmented reality, exhibitions – you know, any of the stuff you might expect at one of the most remarkable anthropological sites in the world.
In 2021 the brains trust did have the presence of mind to throw a couple stairs and decking around a small section, with industry reluctantly putting a few shekels behind the project. As opposed to a rarely used theatre in town which industry jumped at the opportunity to spend $56 million on.
At the City of Karratha, where flushing a turd is a two-person job, staff were said to be happy to leave things how they’ve always been – and keeping nearby refinery operators on side.
That last point is emphasised by the City raising no challenge to last year’s removal of several rock art panels in the area to make room for a new $6.4 billion fertiliser plant – a move UWA said violated “globally accepted” conservation principles.
Meanwhile, chemicals emitted from nearby industry continue to coat the precious and fragile heritage site with a thin layer of acidic pollution.
The administrative team are also likely too busy organising lavish trips for councillors to the Vines in Perth than to shift their focus to some rocks.
“Have scientists said this sort of activity is likely to cause irreversible damage to these priceless artefacts? Yes,” the spokesperson continued.
“But this is resources territory champ, and nothing is going to get between these companies and their profits. Not you, not me, and certainly not a million years of history.”