MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Australia ought to set out a brand new nationwide authorized framework to guard Aboriginal heritage, an inquiry into the destruction of historical rock shelters for an iron ore mine present in a report issued on Monday.
The parliamentary panel issued its findings after a 16-month inquiry into how Rio Tinto Ltd final yr legally destroyed the websites at Juukan Gorge, Western Australia, that confirmed proof of human habitation over 46,000 years, from the final Ice Age.
Widespread anger on the destruction of the caves value the roles of its chief govt Jean-Sébastien Jacques and two different senior leaders and led Chairman Simon Thompson to flag he would step down in 2022.
In its interim report in December, the inquiry mentioned that Rio ought to pay restitution to the standard house owners of the realm and laid out broader business steering that included reviewing consent practices.
The inquiry has held 23 hearings and obtained near 200 submissions because it started in June 2020.
(Reporting by Melanie Burton; Enhancing by Kim Coghill)
