AustralianSuper takes aim at Rio Tinto over Juukan
Australia’s biggest super fund has told Rio Tinto its penalties for the Juukan Gorge blast “fall significantly short” of appropriate and need a rethink.
The board of Rio Tinto and senior executives including chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques have been targeted by powerful institutional investors seeking greater accountability for the Juukan Gorge debacle.
Ian Silk, chief executive of the nation’s biggest superannuation fund AustralianSuper, took the message to Rio chairman Simon Thompson on Tuesday that the financial penalties announced after a board review of the incident were well short of what was appropriate.
“The report highlights profound, systemic, operational and governance failings,” the $180bn fund said in a statement on Wednesday.
“AustralianSuper has met with the chair of Rio Tinto and expressed our view that the proposed penalties fall significantly short of appropriate accountability for those responsible.
“We have asked the board to reconsider its response, and are continuing to engage with the company on the matter.”
Rio announced on Monday that its decision to blow up the sensitive archaeological site to access iron ore worth more than $US1bn ($1.4bn) would cost Mr Jacques about $5m in lost bonuses.
However, the company said there would be no further action against its CEO, after its review found “no single individual or error” was responsible for the destruction of the 46,000 year-old heritage site.
Other super funds are understood to be close to announcing measures after their own reviews.
