MELBOURNE: Mining giant Rio Tinto Ltd should pay restitution to Indigenous Australians affected by its destruction of two ancient rock shelters to expand an iron ore mine, an inquiry panel said on Wednesday.

The panel released an interim report in which it also recommended Rio Tinto should fully reconstruct the rock shelters in Western Australia’s Pilbara region at its own expense, and laid out broader industry guidance that included reviewing consent practices and a moratorium on mining in the affected places.

The inquiry did not spell out what, if any, financial compensation Rio Tinto should pay to the traditional owners as part of a negotiated restitution package. But it said the agreement should include keeping places where artefacts and other material could be stored and displayed for their benefit.

The parliamentary inq­uiry into the legal destruction of the 46,000-year-old Juukan Gorge rock shelter in May held 13 public hearings, and received more than 140 submissions from miners, heritage specialists and Aborigi­nal and civil society groups.

The committee now aims to finish its report in the second half of 2021, once it has heard testimony from other states after Covid-19-related disruptions.

The Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura (PKKP) people whose lands were impacted said in statement they hoped the inquiry’s findings prompted a “fundamental reset” of the sector, particularly in the relationships between traditional owners and miners.

While it had started the long road to healing and repairing its relationship with Rio, “there is still a long way to go”, it added. “Rio Tinto now needs to turn its words into actions.”

The inquiry has sparked some industry change, with miners reviewing processes and their relationships with traditional owners of the land on which they operate.

But there is room for more, the inquiry found.

While castigating Rio for its failures, the inquiry said the company could yet “re-establish itself as a leader” if it followed best practices, particularly around consent.

In a statement, Rio Tinto reiterated its apology, set out reforms it has made to its practices, and said that it was pushing hard to remedy the destruction that caused significant pain to the PKKP. Rio is expected to announce its new chief executive any day, after Jean-Sebastian Jacques and two other senior leaders agreed to step down in August due to the procedural failings it found led to the disaster and the way it was initially managed.

Published in Dawn, December 10th, 2020