Rio Tinto has been named the first Aboriginal director after the explosion of sacred caves
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Rio Tinto has named a native Australian for the first time on its committee, while the mining team is facing the devastation of a 46,000-year-old sacred aboriginal site last year.
The Anglo-Australian company said on Friday that Ben Wyatt, a former treasurer of the Western Australian state government and cousin of the country’s Indigenous Affairs Minister, would bring public policy, regulation and trade experience when he took office on September 1st. But his appointment has raised concerns about possible conflicts of interest.
Rio is struggling to regain international fame after exploding rock shelters in the Juukan Gorge region of Western Australia’s Pilbara region last year, provoking an investor reaction and management and management outings.
Simon Thompson, president of Rio Tinto, said Wyatt’s connection to Pilbar would significantly add to the committee’s depth of knowledge as the company seeks to strengthen its relationship with indigenous peoples.
Australia generates almost 90% of Rio’s profits, mainly due to the large iron ore business in Pilbaran.
Wyatt accused Rio of losing contact with Indigenous communities when he was state treasurer and released a bill to modernize the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act designed to protect sites with Indigenous heritage in Western Australia.
“Meanwhile [Rio] you might think they are a company from all over the world, it’s a Pilbara company with foreign interests, ”he said at the time. “One of the biggest risks to their operation seems to be that they don’t have significant [Pilbara] presence as a company. I don’t mean the executives here and the local team, but as a table. “
Wyatt said Friday that he was very sad and disappointed with Rio destruction of sites but he was confident of the group’s commitment to change its focus on cultural heritage issues and restore its popularity.
“I have a great deal of respect for the Australian resource sector and have long been impressed with the professionalism and commitment shown by Rio Tinto,” he said.
Wyatt’s appointment is a milestone for Indigenous Australians, as they are under-represented on public business committees. But there has been concern among some shareholder advocacy groups about potential conflicts of interest. Wyatt resigned as state treasurer in March and joined Woodside Petroleum’s gas producer committee earlier this week.
“Mr Wyatt’s expertise and experience make him a very attractive candidate for both directorates,” said Brynn O’Brien, executive director of the Australian Center for Corporate Responsibility.
“However, as Woodside and Rio Tinto face major challenges in bringing Western Australian operations into line with community expectations and ESG regulations, it is fair to be concerned about their political impact.”
“From that perspective, the appointment of a recently retired Western Australian government minister was the responsibility of key portfolios, which should create eyebrows about the revolving door between government and industry,” O’Brien added.
The appointment is made as a lobby by indigenous groups to strengthen Wyatt’s proposal to amend the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act.
Aboriginal representative Kimberley Land Council said last week that the bill had “serious flaws” and warned the state government not to bow to the interests of mining groups.
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