Mining and Indigenous heritage protection can happily “co-exist” despite Rio Tinto’s Juukan Gorge scandal highlighting problems, so long as companies lift their game and governments enforce new laws, according to the chief executive of the National Native Title Council.

At a National Aboriginal Press Club event in Perth, National Native Title Council (NNTC) chief executive Jamie Lowe said it remained to be seen how the West Australian government’s new Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Bill 2021 – which removes the controversial Section 18 approvals process – was implemented and protected Aboriginal rights.