Rio Tinto’s annual report published last week has revealed the mining giant’s corporate culture is rotting from the top down. The report revealed the three disgraced executives who presided over what Senator Pat Dodson labelled the worst avoidable cultural heritage disaster “that has ever happened in our country” left with millions of dollars in termination benefits.

That a site of such immense cultural, spiritual and archaeological significance was decimated through a series of calculated decisions, despite multiple opportunities to save it, is one matter. The Rio Tinto leadership’s complete inertia in the weeks and months following, despite multiple opportunities to rebuild its trust with traditional owners and restore its shattered reputation, is another.