The Tiwi Islands in Australia have been a sanctuary for indigenous peoples as well as possessing diverse marine ecosystems for over 18,000 years. In particular, their coastal areas are an internationally significant nesting site for marine turtles.

In May 2021, however, the islanders were alarmed by news of planned offshore drilling in the nearby Timor Sea, as part of the Barossa gas project.

Owned by Australia's Santos (50 percent), Korea's SK E&S (37.5 percent) and Japan's JERA (12.5 percent), the project aims to transport extracted natural gas via submarine pipelines, which extend 300 kilometers to the Darwin liquefaction plant for the production of LNG.

This announcement galvanized the islanders into becoming activists, driven by fears that the project would devastate their way of life, which is in harmony with Mother Nature.

Even though the project has been discussed for 20 years, the Tiwi islanders say they were left out of the discussions.

Last week, they flew thousands of kilometers to personally speak with the project's investors in Asia. On Tuesday, they hosted a press conference at the National Assembly in Korea with Rep. Jang Hye-young from the minor opposition Justice Party.

"Imagine if the Tiwi people came to Korea and started drilling the sacred spiritual Mount Baekdu for gas and laid a pipeline right through the Gyeongbok Palace. That’s exactly what it feels like for us," Therese Bourke, the leader of the Malawu clan of the Tiwi Islands, said at the Assembly.

She urged Korean public financial institutions to stop financing the project.

Bourke and the islanders sought a meeting with Korean investors on their visit. Despite their efforts, no one agreed to talk to them. They say the refusal was particularly "disheartening," considering their prior meetings with officials from the Japanese Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Finance, Japan Bank for International Cooperation, and the major banks involved in the project before arriving in Korea.