The enormous cave system that lies beneath the Nullarbor Plain | 7.30

most people just see the flat surface of the nullabor and drive east to west or west to east for two days on a road and there's not much else to see but underneath it's riddled with holes it feels like you're crossing time and entering. something very special is the largest AR limestone in the world, 200,000 square kilometers, which is completely honeycombed and some of them are completely filled with water and the only way to explore them is with diving equipment. The nullor

cave

s were formed over millions of years by seeping rainwater. the poorer limestone of the plane and then moving towards the big Australian bite, there are no rivers or lakes on the surface, but they are all underground.

Now, when you go into these

cave

s and see the lakes or dive in them, you can't. I feel a current it's moving very slowly but it's still moving it's just magnificent it's like flying through space Stefan Eard has been visiting the Nulabor Caves since the 1980s 3 to 5 million years ago the climate on the plane of Nulabor was much wetter and there was a lot of the caves were probably developed aesthetically at that time, they are simply beautiful to look at, stunning and there is a remarkable diversity of cave-dwelling invertebrates in Nulabor, which are not found anywhere else in Nulabor.

Australia or anywhere else in the world. There is a giant blind cockroach. cave spider I love bringing that world closer to people who don't want to be cold, wet and scared. Around 10,000 caves and features have been identified in the region so far and experts say that's just the beginning, this country has been inspiring and sustaining humans. Long before the Eads began exploring it our connection to the country is who we are, we are returning from displacement, each family is connecting to each cave as well as the holes in The Rock that provide a water

system

to the caves.

I remember the first time we went out. There you could see the coast. I feel that cold and fresh breeze, it gave us a feeling of home. Shiloh Peele is the chair of the Ming Aboriginal Traditional Lands Corporation In 2017, the Mning people were granted native title over 33,000 square kilometers of land in the south-eastern corner of Western Australia. In 2019, that determination went into effect 18 years after they first filed their claim. It is a surprising recognition for our mafia. My parents were applicants on the original claim. They did a lot of hard work and groundwork to get us recognized in the federal courts.

It is one of The native title of Moments of Pride for us gives the people mning exclusive possession and control over a large section of nullor and the caves below and they have the decision to make the decision to take the group. They have been approached by developers who wanted to use this land to house one of the world's largest renewable energy projects, the Western Green Energy Hub (25 million solar panels and 3,000 wind turbines). The project will generate around 50 gaw of renewable energy that will be used to create 3.5 million tonnes of green hydrogen each year. The Western Green Energy Hub is not expected.

To make a financial decision on whether to move forward with the plan until 2029, they first need to negotiate an indigenous land use agreement with the mning. There is a long process. Community consultations. We would have to make sure that all our cultural sites. Heritage sites are protected. Under the green energy mining proposal, the Ming Traditional Land Corporation's Comm trading arm would become a 10% shareholder in the project. The Mings would have a permanent seat on the board of directors and the opportunity to become a majority shareholder in 50 years. It can create jobs. so that our people have that feeling that people return to the country working for the country and being in the country, you know, we want our people to be one and to be able to return to the country and connect all together while it is what is above the plan that is attractive to developers cavers say it would be a disaster for what is underneath if that development goes ahead it will be the death of these cave

system

s these caves are very fragile very sensitive they contain very fragile sediments bone formations parking stalls Corner effectively like trying to put bricks in a Pavlova Western Green Energy Hub says it is operating on the principle of avoiding impact and is mapping the area to create nogo project areas to avoid visual impact.

It says that each turbine will be separated by at least 2 1/2 km and 15 km from the escarpment, with our teams we want to make sure that they are doing everything possible to protect it, the entire effective footprint is 100% visibly 100%, it will not be It is not possible to stop anywhere on that footprint or within 50 km outside of it. footprint and see no wind turbines this is the only site the developers are considering for the eaha it makes no sense for this area to be open to development when the south australia side is a national park the development can be moved elsewhere the nbor no can move anywhere Ultimately, the decision is the Ming's to form our mining community.

We are vast and broad, but they will come together and have come together so that you know how to work through these processes so that they have the final decision.