Rio Tinto dumped from key reconciliation group over ‘devastating’ heritage blast

Reconciliation Australia has kicked out miner Rio Tinto in a humiliating public rebuke over the destruction of the Pilbara’s ­ancient Juukan Gorge.

Protesters outside the Rio Tinto office in Perth on Tuesday. Picture: AAP

Reconciliation Australia has kicked out miner Rio Tinto from its most coveted corporate circle in a humiliating public rebuke over the destruction of the Pilbara’s ­ancient Juukan Gorge.

Rio Tinto — annual sponsor of Dreamtime at the G, the flagship match of the AFL’s indigenous round — is no longer part of Reconciliation Australia’s most advanced program, called Elevate.

Membership is for companies that have demonstrated a strong record of respectful relationships with indigenous people, have implemented Reconciliation Action Plans for their workforces over several years and are ready to take on a leadership role to advance national reconciliation.

Rio Tinto joined Elevate in 2017 but is now suspended from the entire Reconciliation Action Plan program at any level. Rio’s commercial rival, BHP, remains a member of Elevate. The two miners were the first big corporations to back the Uluru Statement from the Heart at a joint announcement in Perth in January last year.

Rio’s relationship with the Puutu Kunti Kurama and Pinikura Peoples was damaged in May when the company blasted the ­Juukan Gorge, a 46,000-year-old Aboriginal heritage site where some 7000 artefacts, including bone tools, had been identified.

The blasting was legal under Western Australia’s 48-year-old Aboriginal Heritage Act, which is soon to be replaced. The company has apologised and says it wants to try to rebuild its relationship with the gorge’s traditional owners.

“The blasting activity in Juukan Gorge by Rio Tinto exposes a broken relationship with the Puutu Kunti Kurama and Pinikura (PKKP) Peoples and is a breathtaking breach of a respectful relationship,” Reconciliation Australia said.

“It was devastating for the traditional owners and robbed the world of a uniquely valuable cultural heritage site.

“The pain caused by this action extends to First Peoples and their allies across Australia and around the world.”

Reconciliation Australia is a not-for-profit organisation with a vision for a just nation. It is co-chaired by Noongar businessman Glenn Kelly and Melinda Cilento, the chief executive of the Committee for the Economic Development of Australia.

The organisation said Rio Tinto’s actions failed to meet its own aspirations to advance reconciliation “and do not meet the standards Reconciliation Australia expects of our Reconciliation Action Plan partners”.

“We have met with Rio Tinto to convey our extreme concern over recent events, while not discounting their many positive outcomes and important work to advance reconciliation,” the organisation said.

A spokesman for Rio Tinto said it valued its relationship with Reconciliation Australia and was sorry for the distress caused.

“We are very committed to our longstanding relationship with the PKKP, and our immediate ­priority is to rebuild trust. Our heritage processes will be comprehensively reviewed … to help identify, understand and recommend ways to improve,” the spokesman said.