https://jamesmacpherson.substack.com/p/spirit-whales-hold-up-australias
Work on Australia’s most expensive resources project has been halted because of the danger it poses to Spirit Whales.
Woodside Energy Group has been ordered to halt work on a $16b gas project off the coast of Western Australia that, if completed, will power 8.5 million homes for the next 30 years.
But the Federal Court ordered work to stop after hearing evidence the area was home to mythical whales.
The Spirit Whales, according to Indigenous fables, tell the fish of the sea what to eat, when to mate and where to migrate.
If the gas project was to go ahead, the Spirit Whales would be endangered. And if the Spirit Whales were killed, none of the creatures of the sea would know what do to.
Short of Aqua Man stepping in to save the day, the planet would be sunk.
How did the Federal Court know all of this?
Raelene Cooper!
Ms Cooper, or as her activist friends like to call her, the Custodian of Whale Dreaming, speaks to the Spirit Whales.
And they speak to her.
Seriously.
This was in evidence presented to the Federal Court.
Apparently the Spirit Whales aren’t thrilled about the Woodside Energy Group’s project which, coincidentally, puts the Spirit Whales and environmentalists on exactly the same page.
Whoever would have imagined?
The Environmental Defenders Office, a group that received $8m in public money to help it oppose projects benefiting the public, brought Cooper’s Spirit Whale baloney to the urgent attention of the Federal Court.
Even Nemo knows that the greenies at the EDO don’t buy the Spirit Whale crap. But that doesn’t mean they won’t manipulate Indigenous mythology and those who sprout it to stop major projects.
So the case was put to the court of Australia.
“ … but Your Honour, the Spirit Whales!”
And Judge Craig Colvin, whilst not confirming or denying that Spirit Whales existed, ruled that Woodside had a duty to consider “cultural harm” caused by their project.
Now what I think that means is that whilst absolutely no-one believes that Spirit Whales exist, it would be against the law to upset the wild fantasies of a woman who imagines she talks to whales.
Because the woman is Indigenous.
And evidently Indigenous fantasies must be indulged, as a mark of respect.
Woodside argued that they had invested significant time, energy and money liaising closely with Indigenous groups for more than a decade. And yet this was the first it had heard that Spirit Whales were blowing their lids over the project.
Woodside had done all of the environmental checks and had been given clearance to begin the project.
Not so fast, ruled Judge Colvin.
He ordered Woodside to conduct a more thorough environmental assessment of the project. In other words, work out terms with the Spirit Whales.
Oh, and Woodside were ordered to pay Ms Cooper’s costs.
“If the gas project was to go ahead, the Spirit Whales would be endangered. And if the Spirit Whales were killed, none of the creatures of the sea would know what do to. Short of Aqua Man stepping in to save the day, the planet would be sunk. How did the Federal Court know all of this? Raelene Cooper! Ms Cooper, or as her activist friends like to call her, the Custodian of Whale Dreaming, speaks to the Spirit Whales. And they speak to her. Seriously. This was in evidence presented to the Federal Court.”
I have this image of the future when a pig is elected president of the United States of America and there’s a fat ugly women who interprets what the pig says, and everyone goes along with it. So far that’s not off the mark by much.
So, kinda like Steven Hawking.
Sounds like Dementia Joe except that he’s skinny.
No, no. In both cases, the specific transaction amounts to picking a fortune cookie, but its external function is different.
A cosmologist is more of a “prophet” role (to emit content that is inspiring, but not directly relevant to the real world).
POTUS is a classic oracular role (to pick pseudo-random choices and perform ritual blessing thereof).
The ghost of Napoleon out of Animal Farm?
I really want to see the AGW trollettes defend this complete idiocy !!
Hilarity will reach new levels.
The court decision doesnt mention whales at all.
So the claim is just as absurd as the idea of Spirit whales
All the seismic survey required to do was ‘consult’ this lore woman. Thats all , she doesnt have a veto power
Most of the former British Empire does not have an enforceable Constitution, and definitely not a prohibition against an establishment of religion. Of course, US Judges will accept Native religion as important much more than they would accept objections from Zoroastrians, Baptists, or other “western” religions.
”Sacred sites” amount to an establishment of religion.
In Arizona, we already have a proposed 8500 acre copper mine being held up because is on supposedly sacred former Amerindian burial grounds—newly claimed just after the potential mine was surveyed. Before, was just waste Arizona desert even to the Amerinds who never bury anybody there.
Shades of spirit whales—Spirit Amerinds.
So it was claimed to be a burial site after being surveyed? Who owns the land? If it is part of a tribal reservation, then they’re probably looking for a payoff and concessions.
If its not part of a reservation, tough luck to them.
Section 116 of the Australian Constitution states -no religion shall have privilege. Unfortunately, judges of the Federal Court do not accept this. Sacred sites, dreaming, connections to land are religious concepts. That Cooper woman should not have been given privilege to be heard in a court. A recent referendum on giving aborigines a “voice” was defeated by over 60%. I hope that Woodside take this decision to the High Court and that the judge is disciplined .
Cement,
Not quite what the Australian Constitution says in Chapter V -The States, Section 116:
“The Commonwealth shall not make any law for establishing any religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion, and no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the Commonwealth.”
That, like the whole Constitution, is ample fodder for lawyers to ruminate. Geoff S
“
Actually getting judges to follow the constitution is a consistent problem, as judges in the US have awarded themselves absolute immunity from civil rights law. I presume Australian judges are in a similar status.
Seeing as Australia is an echo of the Good Quaker (But-Totally-Secular) Land #1 and was pushed into increasing compliance for decades… well, are there other possibilities?
The Spirit Whales werent even mentioned the decision or anything about the spiritual beliefs of the local indigenous.
The real decision was just a procedural matter , no where is the local tribe have any veto
I will let you in on a secret: it’s an oxymoron.
Think about it. Sovereign is the level where good old “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes” unequivocally has an empty set as the answer. Strictly speaking, a sovereign answers only to the laws of nature — or The Gods of the Copybook Headings, if you prefer. As Vattel put it in the subtitle of his book: «The law of nations; or principles of the law of nature, applied to the conduct and affairs of nations and sovereigns».
No, sometimes it comes down to party politics. The 14th Amendment was intended, in part, to overrule two Supreme Court decisions, Dred Scott v Sandford and Barron v Baltimore. Actually enforcing the 14th Amendment again came down to party politics, with the Democrats opposing enforcement ever since it was passed, and only grudgingly giving ground. The reaction to Brown v Board of Education has been repeated with NYSERPA v Bruen.
Overruling the Warren and Burger court decisions as far as immunity would be a matter of legislation. But the Republicans have historically been vendidos, and will often back the other side.
Woodside gets in the GhostBusters…
… they search and can find no evidence of ectoplasm or invisible psychotic whales…
Study over. !
Not quite. Then the judge would have to rule on the safety of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
Probably just about as stoooopid.
Where’s Nick?
Woodside just need to say they are putting up off-shore wind turbines…
Problems solved. !
But the real question is what do Ancient Astronaut Hypothesis believe and do they back this flying whale of a story?
I had to censor my comment because I couldn’t think of any appropriate phrase that wasn’t terminally insulting and way outside of the woke pronouns limits, so…never mind.
My response: “Orange water given bucket of plaster”
Mine makes more sense.
My uncle is aboriginal does this make me indigenous? When does this stop?
Since we all came out of Africa, Aborigines aren’t indigenous either.
I’m Bwian, and so is my wife!
I’m cross at the stupidity, and so is my wife!
“Are you the Judean People’s Front?”
“F*** OFF! We’re the People’s Front of Judea!”
Considering the precedents? There was an infamous 1/1024 Cherokee…
Doesn’t matter if you are aboriginal or not.
If thy intent be pure, and as for the good of community, the spirit whales will communicate with and direct you to the path of enlightened reasoning.
My cousin Leroi (Aboriginal) & his partner Kandole, born and raised just outside of Perth, both are in tune with the Spirit Whales.
Although Kandole’s Spirit Animal is the Black Swan, the Spirit Whale adopted him into the community when he was just a young boy by peeing on him in a waking dream.
Both Leroi & Kandole both agree that the Spirit Whale community are in general consenus that Ms Cooper is not simply misunderstanding the Spirits direction, she is outright lying.
At this point in time, only 2 Spirts are giving her the benefit of the doubt & continuing communication with her. The rest have shunned her for her lies, and are in favor of the human animal improving the material habitat that they share with the other animals.
This really pisses me off – who do you think you are, Canada? We patented spirit bears, visible to 2 people, and it ain’t you whitey, and they live in places whitey wants to develop, and would go away if that is allowed to happen. It’s indigenious ways of knowing and is every bit the equal of whitey’s science – every bit equal to it.
Yeah, the Kermode bears in BC have caused a number of eco-protests… an albino bear, like any albino off-spring, the result of a recessive gene in both parents. Sightings go up significantly after trivia night at the local pubs, apparently causing people to swerve into the ditch on their way home….
This is not science, it should not be treated as science. Until someone can produce physical evidence all of this obstruction needs to be put aside. I am a Christian but if I were opposed to a ditch being dug and my only objection was because Jesus was against it I would figure to lose because I can’t speak for Jesus.
Let’s focus on this for a brief (yet terrifying) moment.
How do you think science should be treated? Because most of the circus antics we see quoted on this site are results of particular treatment of science.
Well, it’s up to who can and can’t speak, then.
You cannot.
A Pope can. If he is a socialist enough Pope, he will probably be heard and even heeded.
A random two-bit televangelist also can. Likewise, whether he is heeded depends on whether he is sufficiently compliant with the ruling theological thought. Which of course is entirely secular, because it says so, and it’s always right. :]
Yesterday’s satire is today’s leftists.
Of course, these ‘Spirit Wales’ don’t exist where our pro-unreliables, Labor-Greens government plan to build an offshore wind farm.
https://reneweconomy.com.au/bowen-unveils-new-offshore-wind-zone-with-room-for-up-to-20gw-of-turbines/
Even though it is a major migratory path of ‘real whales.’
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/figure?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0093578.g001
As I said above….
“Woodside just need to say they are putting up off-shore wind turbines…
Problems solved. !”
The Hypocrisy is so intense… it burns !
Now if they would just propose off shore wind turbines rather than natural gas drilling, I think the supposed sacred whales would approve.
Thanks Rud, there is the solution. Ensure a windmill sits atop the gas rig pumping the gas out of the sea bed.
I am sure Ms Cooper would get whale approval immediately.
Incidentally, Shouldn’t Ms. Cooper adopt her imagined ancestral name and disassociate from her white colonial heritage? Shouldn’t she be Ze Uluru or some such, just to give cultural credibility to her position of whale imaginer, and dream time communicator?
This carries the risk that her potential clients will believe this firs, and then they will treat her as a living 8-ball, rather than 8-ball operator.
There is another matter active in Western Australia which has similarities to the Woodside story, although on a much smaller scale. A property owner built a small concrete causeway across a creek. The local aboriginal elders have not objected but not so the State department of Heritage which is prosecuting him with the threat of a fine and nine months jail. The offence? His structure is disrupting the rainbow serpent.
Fortunately Spirit Whales thrive in and around offshore wind farms. I believe a US Government agency determined such for other types of whales.
Just change the project from gas to wind farm. Throw in a few ornamental wind turbines (they all are) to disguise the offshore processing plant. The Spirit Whale botherers could not tell the difference providing there are big blades turning. They can actually use the wind to turn them so they are not turning when there is no wind.
When you have so many scammers making a living out of the Climate Change™ fable/fraud why not just make stuff up as you go. All religions are based on fables. Everlasting life in return for your tithe!
I suggest Twiggy Forrest be hired to assess the impact of wind farms on the Spirit Whales – he appears to be eminently qualified to undertake such important work. It means when they are piping gas onshore from the make-believe wind turbine they could claim that Twiggy’s wind-to-hydrogen actually works. Set up a make-believe carbon capture plant and injection point to complete the story of turning hydrogen to natural gas.
Do the Spirit Whales stay in contact with Raelene Cooper while they are on their annual migration? Do they have stories to tell about where they’ve been and what they’ve been doing? Do they keep a journal of their experiences along the way? Do they post a weekly Spirit Whale podcast on YouTube which keeps the worldwide whale community up to date on their travels? Will COP 29 include Spirit Whale delegates? If so, how and where will they be seated?
They are just taking the piss aren’t they.
Or been on the piss !… a very low-quality whine of some sort. !
A goon bag of woobla?
I think the judge should be locked up in the same asylum as the woman.
Hey, if you can troll with non-existent wind power whale deaths, so can others.
You mean those NOAA, BOEM whale takes are spiritual only?
“Project activities likely to result in incidental take include impact pile driving and site assessment surveys using high-resolution geophysical equipment. ”
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-take-authorizations-other-energy-activities-renewable
“Incidental take” sounds so innocent and painless.
“non-existent wind power”
You just said the quiet part out loud.
It really is putrid and disgusting to deny the real whale deaths that are occurring because of off-shore wind turbines.
How much more anti-environment can you get. !!
How you must hate all sea and other creatures and nature in general.
Sickening !!
Calm down. Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace make less noise about it than a Koch sponsored astroturf group..yeah, I really fear for the
fossil fuel moneywhales.You do know that it was the use of fossil fuels that SAVED the whales from hunting, don’t you.
Don’t let your ignorance swamp every comment you make.
I know. But maybe you should learn that random facts are nice, but not useful if they don’t add anything to the discussion at hand.
Of course you can’t show that the Koch brothers have ever given these groups a single penny, but when have a hatred towards anyone rich who isn’t a socialist, it’s easy to believe any story your cell master tells you to believe.
https://energyandpolicy.org/committee-for-a-constructive-tomorrow/
https://www.desmog.com/committee-constructive-tomorrow/
https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/fighting-climate-chaos/climate-deniers/front-groups/
Oh, I know. Evil anarcho-communist lefty sites that we don’t believe because they hurt our feelings.
Wind Industry Activity Strongly Correlated With Whale Deaths, New Study Finds
What counts as a study nowadays is amazing.
https://www.climatedevlab.brown.edu/post/against-the-wind-a-map-of-the-anti-offshore-wind-network-in-the-eastern-united-states
Today, we released “Against the Wind: A Map of the Anti-Offshore Wind Network in the Eastern United States,” which provides an unparalleled window into how fossil fuel interests are working with climate denial think tanks and community groups to obstruct offshore wind projects.
Hmmm, who do I believe?
On the one hand we have “The Climate and Development Lab” a student-faculty think tank informing a more just, equitable and effective climate change policy.
On the other hand we have “Save the Whales” an alliance of grassroots environmental and community organizations, scientists, and conservationists working to protect the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale and other marine life from the industrialization of our ocean habitat through large-scale offshore wind energy development.
Both are activist organisations.
One who are more interested in pushing an agenda using “climate justice” and don’t give a damn about the whales and the other trying to protect the whales.
I love whales, sea mammals, fish and other inhabitants of the worlds oceans. I’ll side with Save the Whales not a bunch of self-appointed extreme lefties trying to push their agenda on the rest of us.
Why do you hate whales?
Well he obviously hates people the way he’s always wittering on about unreliables so why shouldn’t he hate whales as well?
The hatred of society and all living things runs deep in “the luser”.
The “agenda/climate-scam” comes before all. !
“climate denial think tanks”
As soon as you see that, you know it is pure adulterate climate activism, devoid of any rational thought.. ie just like you.
They are totally devoid of any scientific or logical integrity and can be ignored as being totally deluded crackpots,. !
As you say.. “what counts as a study nowadays is amazing.”
Then you proceed to give a very good example of a junk study..
Tell us what is “denied” that you can provide solid scientific evidence for. (means you have to provide the evidence.)
Anything that doesn’t support what your cell master tells you to believe is just a lie. At least that’s what your cell master tells you to believe.
BTW, I love how even reality is forced to give way to your fantasies.
There’s a difference between potential deaths of existing whales, and whales that don’t exist.
Funny things, these dead whales actually exist.
Just remember insanity knows no limit.
Burning women because the group think mob decided, women using witchcraft to influence weather and harvests was once a thing? If imaginary creatures of the deep can have legal status, it wont be long before the ‘belief’ we must throw virgins down volcanoes and burn imagined witches to safeguard the harvest becomes acceptable to the mob….again.
Before you know it the most essential life providing gas on Earth i.e. CO2 will be declared a pollutant by the EPA. A body of ‘experts’ established in the richest most technically developed nation on Earth will decide humanity must do all it can to destroy itself…apparently.
That is how crazy it can get.
Unfortunately, groups like the WEF want to throw most of us down a volcano or starve us to death. Our very existence is an anathema to them.
Sounds more like spirit bottles were opened
They tend to prefer metho, not spirits. !!
but sticking a windfarm off WA coast where REAL whales swim is ok? WTF is wrong with these people?
All very strange. Disappointing too – I’ve always seen the Aussies as pragmatic ‘get things done’ guys.
James,
Many of our Aussies who have passed 70 years of age are rather different folk to (say) people yet to reach 30. Apart from differences in experience, it is possible that there are differences in education that create tensions about what is normal and expected in Life.
….
The style of the older folk is more “How can I contribute my skills to try for a better world for my offspring and their friends?” The younger folk are more likely to reflect that “I do not want to start anything progressive because I do not think the government would permit it.”
Sadly, the latter reluctance to use personal initiative includes the decision to have children in a normal marriage of man and woman.
Future history will indicate which style was the best.
Geoff S
Interesting post at WUWT, given that it’s regularly given a soapbox here to a radical “save the whales” advocate who advocates stopping offshore wind projects here in the US because he claims it kills whales, when there is zero, I repeat ZERO evidence not only of offshore wind killing any whales but ZERO evidence that such development, or any other undersea development, harms whales to the slightest degree. No evidence whatsoever.
I have stated and restated that rebuttal numerous times here at WUWT, and I always added that the same complaint can be and likely will be lodged against any offshore development of any kind, including offshore gas and oil development, undersea data cable installation, any kind of undersea development whatsoever. So the “save the whales” claims, no matter how unhinged from reality, are a two edged sword that can harm the pro fossil fuel guys as much as it can harm the pro wind guys.
Whales are endangered solely because they were hunted commercially nearly to extinction in the 19th and 20th centuries. Not due to offshore physical development of any kind.
“Spirit Whales would be endangered.”
Don’t worry, we have plenty of Spirit in Wales
https://www.spiritofwales.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_whisky
Drink enough of it & you will tell the fish of the sea what to eat, when to mate and where to migrate;
you may even attempt to mate with a fish, thinking it was a Mermaid !!
Speaking about spirit whales, they must have invaded the Gulf in such numbers to warm it. Evaporation is now boiling so maybe they want to lessen the coastal population “explosion”. “CSU is predicting 23 named storms, 11 hurricanes, and five major hurricanes.” That’s nearly twice last year and way above the average. The Karankawas in Texas are gone, maybe DNA around. Houmas in Louisiana are still here, might check. Then again predictors probably need ship time making real measurements.
https://kpel965.com/boiling-sea-hurricane-season-2024-louisiana-texas/
After America, Australia has been taken over by lawyers. Who is in charge of schools of law?
What do they call 10,000 dead lawyers?
A good start.
Ms. Cooper should take a long swim off the Australian coast to commune with her beloved “spirit whales”. Perhaps they’ll instruct the great whites not to consume her?
Well, we may speculate. I speculate that if the ‘Spirit Whales’ do exist, they are trying to find how to spell “#NotYourShield” right now. Considering all previous incidents of this sort.
Who did not remember Missus «1/1024» at this point?
Sounds Indigenous.
Her picture shows she does have a reasonably strong aboriginal descent.
Do the spirit whales also tell Realene Cooper when to mate? I think we are entitled to know.
Just when you think it can’t get any more insane…
We’ve all heard of “The Boy Who Cried, “Wolf!”.
Now we have “The Nut Who Cried, “Spirit Whale!”.
The problem is, a judge listened to her.
Way back in the old days, considering the role of “Spirit Whales” in a legal case by a judge, would have been immediately grounds for an investigation into the judge’s sanity, but not now.
I read the court decision . The headline is wrong , the judge doesn’t mention whales at all, spirit or otherwise
The headline is just clickbait from some Australian website
We have been told that the “White Supremist” approach to science must be discarded and replaced with indigenous science.
Personally, I find both fascinating and think both should be included. Eliminating scientific method is obviously an error, but there may be hidden gems in the indigenous science. After all willow bark has natural aspirin. The folk remedy of having a pregnant woman bite on a willow twig during birthing was verified as effective some years ago.
Hmmm … If a spirit whale hits a windmill, happens?