Traditional owners in Australia’s Northern Territory are hopeful...

Traditional owners in Australia’s Northern Territory are hopeful that the widespread support for Standing Rock protesters will lead to greater awareness of a proposed Australian gas pipeline that locals claim will also destroy sacred sites and poison the water table.

The project is called the Northern Gas Pipeline, a 622-kilometre pipeline that would run from the Northern Territory town of Tennant Creek to Mt Isa in Queensland, where the gas would then be exported.

“The company is not telling us the proper story about this pipeline,” said Betty Rankine, a Wakaya traditional owner. “We know it will mean fracking for gas to fill it, which will damage our country, and we’re not happy about it.”

Recently, several traditional owners stormed out of a presentation by the Singaporean and Chinese company Jemena, which would manage the project if it goes ahead.

The Wakaya are calling on more Australians to join their protest.

Already, 3,000 submissions in opposition to the pipeline have been sent to the Northern Territory chief minister Michael Gunner.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/allanclark...peline-protest?utm_term=.vvLa7o4OQ#.mrZA4NPxk