By Tess Ingram
The traditional owners of Juukan Gorge have marked the one-year anniversary of the destruction of their sacred site by declaring they are not going to let a similar event happen on their country ever again.
Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura (PKKP) director Burchell Hayes said the traditional owners were not opposed to mining but they wanted a more meaningful seat at the table with the companies that operated on their country.
PKKP director Burchell Hayes on country. May 2021.
This includes Rio Tinto, which blasted Juukan Gorge on 24 May 2020 as part of an expansion of its Brockman 4 iron ore mine. The blast was legally sanctioned but went against the wishes of the PKKP people and was widely condemned by investors and other international stakeholders.
Ahead of the one year anniversary of the event, Mr Burchell provided comments in a video interview recorded a short distance from the blast site.
Mr Burchell says he was travelling from Port Hedland to Karratha with his four grandsons when he was told blasting had occurred at the gorge, which contained 46,000 year old heritage and had been dubbed in a 2014 survey as “one of the most archeologically significant sites in Australia”.
“You felt the emptiness that something was taken away from you,” he said in the video.
Juukan Gorge, pictured before its destruction by Rio Tinto.Credit:
Mr Hayes said he believed the destruction could have been prevented with better communication, referring to early mine planning options considered by Rio Tinto which would have had less impact on the Juukan rockshelters.
“I don’t believe any of those options were shared with the PKKP otherwise if it was then we wouldn’t be having a conversation around this site,” he said.
Mr Burchell said he believed the relationship previously had not been “exercised to its full right” under the group’s agreements with Rio Tinto and said there could have been more engagement and communication between the parties.
“The relationship with Rio, from my experience it has been either non-existent or there was a lack of leadership in terms of being able to share and ensure that … the traditional owners have got prior informed consent to make decisions around activities on our country,” he said.
Mr Burchell said Juukan’s traditional owners were committed to rebuilding their relationship with Rio Tinto but said there was “still a lot of work to be done”.
“We have had to reset the relationship,” he said.
The Juukan Gorge site after it was cleared in 2020.Credit: PKKP Aboriginal Corporation
“I have always said that we are committed to building that relationship, we are not opposed to mining however we want to ensure we are around the table when it comes to making decisions about impact on our country. We are not going to let this happen again.
“That seat at the table for us ensures that we have a voice and we are heard.”
Mr Hayes said PKKP wanted to ensure “voices that are normally silent” are heard in discussions about how mines are conceived, built and run, to ensure development can advance but cultural sites are preserved.
“We want to do business with the mining proponent but we want to do it on our terms,” he said.
Rio’s actions at Juukan Gorge triggered a federal parliamentary inquiry, drew widespread investor and community outrage and led to the resignations of former chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques and two of his deputies last year. Rio chairman Simon Thompson will step down in coming months.
Rio Tinto CEO Jakob Stausholm (left) and Chairman Simon Thompson at their May 2021 AGM in Perth.Credit: The Australian Financial Review
In a statement issued in response to the video, Rio Tinto’s new chief executive Jakob Stausholm said the company was deeply sorry for its actions and the destruction of the Juukan Gorge rockshelters should never have occurred.
“We know what was lost is irreplaceable and recognise that we have caused immense grief to the PKKP, traditional owners and Indigenous communities in Australia and around the world, our employees and the wider community,” Mr Stausholm said.
“We will work in partnership with traditional owners and Indigenous communities wherever we operate to secure a shared future.
“We must focus on genuine engagement with communities, understanding their perspective and never forgetting that in so many places, we are guests on their land. We must respect our hosts and our partners, and work with them to understand their priorities and concerns and minimise our impacts.”
Rio Tinto chief executive of Australia Kellie Parker said the company was addressing feedback from traditional owners and other Indigenous leaders and was acting on recommendations from a federal inquiry into the event, as well as its own internal review.
Ms Parker said, as a priority, the company had increased engagement with traditional owner groups around its plans for mining.
“Partnering and developing genuine relationships will guide how we do business in the future, supported by stronger governance to ensure we never repeat what happened at Juukan Gorge,” Ms Parker said.
“We are working with traditional owners to better manage and protect cultural heritage. This includes gaining a better understanding of the intangible cultural and spiritual connection to the land where we operate by adopting a ‘living heritage’ approach to cultural heritage management.
“We are discussing agreements with traditional owners in the Pilbara and elsewhere to make them more transparent, easier to understand and, importantly, to remove outdated and unreasonable clauses.”
Ms Parker outlined a number of other steps the company is taking, or plans to, and said Rio Tinto accepts “these measures should have already been in place and understand the community’s anger that we failed in this regard.”