The Pilliga — an ancient woodland stretching across north-west New South Wales — has become the focal point of a protracted legal and cultural clash over gas extraction. In 2020, the NSW Independent Planning Commission (IPC) granted conditional approval to Santos’s A$3.6 billion Narrabri Gas Project, which envisages up to 850 coal seam gas wells and associated infrastructure. Traditional landowners of the Gomeroi nation filed native title claims, arguing the project would irreparably damage sites of immense cultural significance and threaten the Great Artesian Basin, the continent’s largest underground water reserve.
This week’s decision by the National Native Title Tribunal represents the latest chapter in a saga that has spanned more than a decade of community protests, court battles and scientific studies. Despite successive legal challenges—most notably a March 2024 Federal Court ruling that rebuked the tribunal for failing to properly weigh environmental concerns—the tribunal has ruled that the leases may proceed, citing a “net public benefit.” The decision has left Gomeroi elder Polly Cutmore “devastated,” but resolute in her determination to continue fighting for her people and country.
The Tribunal’s Ruling: Weighing Public Benefit Against Cultural Heritage
Overturning Previous Reservations
On Monday, the National Native Title Tribunal delivered its much-anticipated judgment on whether the NSW government may grant Santos the necessary land leases. The tribunal acknowledged the deep cultural significance of the Pilliga to the Gomeroi people and heard extensive evidence on potential impacts to sacred sites, water resources and local ecology. Yet, after evaluating submissions from Santos, state agencies and the Gomeroi native title holders, the tribunal concluded that the “public interest”—including projected economic gains, regional employment and energy security—outweighed the potential cultural and environmental harms.
Key Findings of the Tribunal
Extent of Overlap with Cultural Sites: The tribunal recognized that up to 60 percent of the proposed lease areas encroach upon areas identified by Gomeroi custodians as containing scar trees, ceremonial grounds and burial sites.
Environmental Risks: Acknowledging the risks to the Great Artesian Basin and regional groundwater, the tribunal nonetheless accepted Santos’s mitigation proposals, including advanced dewatering protocols, integrity testing of well casings and continuous environmental monitoring.
Economic and Energy Benefits: The ruling underscored the project’s anticipated contribution of 80 petajoules per year to the domestic gas market, the creation of 1,500 construction jobs and potential royalties exceeding A$500 million over 30 years.
Conditions Imposed: To temper adverse impacts, the tribunal imposed additional conditions beyond the IPC’s 2020 approval, including expanded cultural heritage management plans, increased funding for Gomeroi heritage rangers and an independent water-quality oversight panel.
Response from Gomeroi Traditional Owners
“I Am Very Upset, but Not Surprised”
For Gomeroi elder and native title applicant Polly Cutmore, the ruling represents a profound betrayal: “I am very upset, but it doesn’t surprise me. We live in a colonial system, and the judgment was made by people who haven’t taken consideration of us.” Cutmore described decades of engagement at tribunal and courtroom tables, presenting detailed evidence of sacred sites and ecological values, only to see economic arguments prevail once again.
Ancestors’ Legacy and Ongoing Resistance
Cutmore invoked the legacy of her ancestors, who resisted dispossession and fought to preserve their country’s integrity. “We are here because of our ancestors. They fought, and we will continue to fight. We love our country,” she declared. Despite the tribunal’s decision, the Gomeroi community plans to pursue every available legal and political avenue, including potential appeals to the Federal Court and mobilizing public campaigns to pressure both Santos and government agencies.
Legal and Procedural History: From IPC Approval to Federal Court Appeals
2020 — IPC Approval with Conditions
In September 2020, after more than two years of public hearings and expert reports, the NSW Independent Planning Commission granted conditional approval for Santos’s project. The IPC imposed rigorous conditions covering noise limits, groundwater monitoring, biodiversity offsets and Aboriginal cultural heritage protection. Yet the decision was met with nearly 23,000 public objections and a court challenge led by the Mullaley Gas and Pipeline Accord, which was ultimately dismissed.
2022 — Tribunal’s Initial Conditional Green Light
In December 2022, the National Native Title Tribunal ruled that the leases could be granted, subject to enhanced conditions on cultural heritage management. Gomeroi applicants promptly lodged an appeal, arguing that the tribunal failed to properly assess environmental and climate impacts.
March 2024 — Federal Court Intervention
A landmark March 2024 judgment by the Federal Court unanimously rejected five grounds of the Gomeroi appeal related to procedural fairness and good faith but upheld one key argument: that the tribunal had erred by unduly limiting its consideration of environmental concerns. Chief Justice Debra Mortimer wrote that the Gomeroi people “were deprived of the possibility of a successful outcome by reason of the tribunal’s errors.” The court remitted the matter for reconsideration.
May 2025 — Tribunal Reaffirms Net Public Benefit
On reconsideration, the tribunal reaffirmed its earlier view. While acknowledging the Federal Court’s mandate to give greater weight to environmental factors, the tribunal balanced these alongside economic and social considerations and again found a net public benefit in favor of the leases.
Environmental and Cultural Impacts: What’s at Stake?
Threats to the Great Artesian Basin
The Narrabri Gas Project entails dewatering coal seams that lie beneath the Pilliga, requiring up to 25 megaliters of water per day to be pumped to the surface. Scientists warn that even modest drawdowns can disrupt spring flows across western and southern NSW, imperiling biodiversity refuges and agricultural users. The tribunal accepted Santos’s assertion that reinjection of treated water into deeper aquifers and staged drawdown limits would mitigate impacts, yet Gomeroi custodians remain skeptical.
Biodiversity and Forest Integrity
The Pilliga supports rare woodland habitats, home to species such as the Pilliga mouse, the glossy black-cockatoo and sable antelope (the wild dog–like dingo). Clearing for well pads, access roads and pipelines threatens to fragment corridors essential for fauna migration, dispersal and breeding. Although Santos has pledged to rehabilitate disturbed areas and establish offsets in adjacent reserves, environmental groups argue these measures fall short of preserving long-term ecological functionality.
Cultural Heritage Under Threat
For the Gomeroi, the Pilliga is not only a natural landscape but a living cultural environment. Scarred trees record initiation ceremonies; rock art galleries contain ancestral Dreaming narratives; burial grounds connect present-day families to their forebears. “Every time a bulldozer enters country, we risk losing irreplaceable knowledge,” says cultural heritage officer Aunty Lisa Barlow. The tribunal’s imposed cultural management plans require pre-clearance surveys and chance-find protocols, but Gomeroi elders fear that heavy industrial machinery will inevitably obliterate subtle earthworks and story places.
Next Steps: Pipeline Approval and Ongoing Approvals
Narrabri Lateral Pipeline Under Federal Scrutiny
Although the tribunal’s decision clears the path for land leases, Santos still requires federal approval for its 30-kilometre Narrabri Lateral Pipeline, which would link the gas field to the Hunter Gas Pipeline. That proposal is under assessment by the federal Environment Minister and the Development Consent Authority, with final determination expected later this year. Public submissions have again flooded in, and the potential cumulative impacts of gas production and pipeline construction are now central to federal assessment under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
Other Regulatory Hurdles
Beyond pipeline consent, Santos must secure water-management licenses from the NSW Water Regulator, mining titles from the Department of Regional NSW, and environment protection licenses covering noise, dust and waste. Each approval carries its own public consultation and appeal avenues. Community groups and Gomeroi representatives plan to use every regulatory forum to press for stricter safeguards—or, ideally, project termination.
Industry and Government Reactions
Santos Committed to Mediation and Mitigation
In a brief statement, Santos emphasized its commitment to working “collaboratively” with Gomeroi stakeholders through ongoing mediation, acknowledging the tribunal’s conditions and pledging to exceed regulatory requirements. A company spokesperson highlighted investment in A$30 million worth of community and environmental programs in the Pilliga region, including scholarships, heritage-site restoration and biodiversity research grants.
Government Stresses Energy Security
NSW Energy Minister Paul Toole welcomed the tribunal’s decision, reiterating the project’s role in strengthening gas supply reliability—particularly during peak winter demand—and generating regional jobs. “This project is critical to ensuring affordable energy for households and businesses,” he said, promising to monitor compliance with all conditions “vigorously.”
What Remains Unanswered: Climate Implications and Social License
The broader debate over coal seam gas hinges on Australia’s climate commitments. Critics argue that unlocking a new 850 wells—and the associated greenhouse-gas emissions—undermines the state’s legislated net-zero goals. Although Santos intends to implement carbon-management strategies, including flaring reduction and potential carbon capture, uncertainty remains over the project’s full lifecycle emissions.
Social license — the public’s acceptance of resource projects — has grown increasingly fraught. Recent polling in regional NSW shows a slim majority opposing further gas development, particularly where Indigenous heritage and water security are at stake. With federal and state elections looming, the Narrabri saga may become a flashpoint in broader debates over energy policy, rural livelihoods and Indigenous rights.
Continuing the Fight: Gomeroi Resolve and Community Advocacy
Unbowed by Setbacks
Despite courtroom disappointments, the Gomeroi community vows to persist. Elder Polly Cutmore has rallied support from environmental NGOs, legal advocacy groups and sympathetic agricultural stakeholders. Plans include:**
– A new appeal to the Federal Court on procedural grounds related to heritage consultation.
– Legislative lobbying for stronger native title protections that factor in climate and cultural considerations.
– Public awareness campaigns highlighting the Pilliga’s ecological and spiritual value.
A Vision for Country Protection
“We are not anti-development,” Cutmore insists. “Our ancestors taught us to care for country. We ask for genuine partnership—where our cultural values guide decision-making, not get sidelined. Only then can true reconciliation and sustainable development coexist.”
As Santos prepares to mobilize drills and pipelines, and as governments defend the project’s economic logic, the fight over Narrabri underscores a fundamental question: in whose interests—and at what cost—Australia’s natural and cultural landscapes are managed? For the Gomeroi people, the tribunal’s ruling is a blow, but not the final word. Their commitment to country endures, rooted in ancestral promise and the conviction that country — and culture — cannot be leased away without consequence.
