Australia approves rocket launch pad on home of near-extinct bird: 'Bonkers'

The rocket launch facility is one step closer to being a reality, delighting the project's architects. But conservationists fear it will harm rare birds.

Background: A concept drawing of a launch pad at the proposed site. Inset: A Eyre Peninsula Southern Emu-wren.
A concept drawing of a launch pad at the proposed site where Southern Launch has applied to clear 24 hectares of habitat used by the Eyre Peninsula Southern Emu-wren. Source: Ashwin Rudder/Southern Launch

A massive new rocket launch facility is one step closer to being built on the homeland of one of Australia’s smallest and rarest birds.

The company behind the project Southern Launch claims its impact on the endangered Eyre Peninsula Southern Emu-wren will be “minimal”, but conservationists argue “bulldozing of habitat, shock waves, noise pollution and potential rocket fuel fires” could all impact the species.

This week Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek gave federal approval for the project on South Australia’s Whaler’s Way to proceed, with her office telling Yahoo News the decision was made “in accordance with the facts and the national environment law”.

“That’s what happens on every project, and that’s what’s happened here. The government will continue to consider each project on a case-by-case basis, under the law,” it said.

Yahoo News understands the amount of habitat clearance, offsets, limiting the number of launches and the company’s fire-fighting capability were all taken into account. But conservationists argue the decision to approve the project on a site where a bird on the verge of extinction lives highlights that Australia’s national environment law is “broken”. The Greens have called the decision "bonkers".

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A female Eyre Peninsula Southern Emu-wren in South Australia.
A female Eyre Peninsula Southern Emu-wren at a separate site. Source: Ashwin Rudder

Following the minister's decision about Whalers Way, Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young focused her attention on the minister's ability to approve or deny controversial projects.

“The idea that the minister's hands are tied or that the minister just follows the rules is wrong. It is the minister's job to protect the environment,” she told Yahoo News.

Earlier she argued the facility should simply have been built elsewhere, “You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to appreciate that rocket testing at Whalers Way is bonkers. There are no conditions that could make this project acceptable, the minister should have rejected it,” she said.

An independent review found Australia’s environment laws are not fit for purpose. And when the Albanese government was elected in 2022, Plibersek declared the Commonwealth’s “current approach” to combatting the crisis “has not been working” and she promised reform. But changes to regulations have been slow, and the government has ruled out working with the crossbench to pass much-needed legislation.

The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) has been a staunch critic of the Southern Launch project, citing concerns about multiple bird species, along with marine life venturing past the coastal site.

It said federal nature protection laws should have delivered a “resounding no” to the application. Only 750 Eyre Peninsula Southern Emu-wrens are thought to remain in the world, and one leading bird expert with specific knowledge of the species had warned against the project's approval.

“Australia needs the Albanese government to deliver its promised reforms to our nature laws in full and work with others in parliament to create an independent, well-funded environment protection agency to enforce it so projects like this get a straight ‘no’ right from the start, and places like Whalers Way are respected, not wrecked,” ACF's nature campaigner Darcie Carruthers said.

A still from a Southern Launch video, showing a map of the Whalers Way site.
The project will be built on private land, which the rocket company has vowed to regenerate. Source: Southern Launch

Southern Launch’s CEO said the company had invested “significant amounts of time and money to understand the natural environment” the company will be operating in, and planned improvements to the site will actually be positive for the environment.

“We are looking forward to working closely with environmental experts to implement the first management plan for this private property and delivering a net environmental benefit for native fauna and flora found in the area,” he said.

With the global space industry set to be worth, $1.8 trillion by 2035, the company says the decision will make South Australia a "key player". It plans to build two launch pads at the Whalers Way site so satellites can be launched into the polar and sun-synchronous orbits.

They could be used for surveillance along with weather and climate change monitoring. For the project to go ahead it still needs approval from the state government.

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