Works on a massive gas pipeline in the Northern Territory will go ahead, after a challenge by Tiwi Traditional Owners was rejected by the Federal Court on Monday.
The Barossa Gas Project will ferry gas extracted from five deep-sea wells in the Bonaparte Basin, 300 kilometres north of Darwin.
The pipeline will pass within mere kilometres of the Tiwi Islands, which locals fear will disrupt the Songline of the Crocodile Man.
Applicant Simon Munkara claimed the pipeline posed a risk of environmental and cultural damage.
The Jikilaruwu man also argued that the area through which construction will pass could be home to objects of archaeological significance, but Justice Natalie Charlesworth dismissed those claims.
It brings to a close a David and Goliath battle which pitted Traditional Owners against fossil fuel giant Santos, which is constructing the pipeline.
The almost $6 billion dollar project is now free to proceed.
