- Mining giant Rio Tinto could potentially pay up to $250 million in compensation for destroying the Juukan Gorge cave
- The ancient rock shelters were a sacred site to the traditional Aboriginal landowners, as well as an archaeologically significant location
- Rio Tinto blasted the site on May 23, 2020, causing widespread public outrage in Australia and around the world
- Australia’s National Native Title Council suggested a $250 million compensation payout, in light of the economic, cultural, and spiritual loss
- In an interim report released yesterday, the parliamentary committee also recommended compensation for the destruction
Mining giant Rio Tinto could potentially pay up to $250 million in compensation for destroying the Juukan Gorge cave.
The Juukan Gorge is located in the Hamersley Range, within Western Australia’s Pilbara region.
The gorge contained ancient rock shelters which were a sacred site to the traditional Aboriginal landowners, the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura peoples. In addition, a cave within the gorge was of great archaeological significance.
The cave contained extremely old cultural artefacts, which provided evidence of continuous human occupation for over 46,000 years.
Rio Tinto blasted the site on May 23, 2020, in order to further expand the company’s Brockman 4 iron ore mine. While the destruction was technically legal, it was done in direct violation of the traditional landowners’ wishes.
The destruction of the site caused widespread public outrage in Australia and around the world, and resulted in the resignation of some company executives. It also triggered a parliamentary inquiry into the issue.
Yesterday, the parliamentary committee released an interim report on the destruction of the site. In the report, the committee made several recommendations, including a suggestion for compensation.
The Chief Executive of Australia’s National Native Title Council (NNTC), Jamie Lowie, suggested $250 million in compensation. The proposed amount reportedly took into account the economic value of the sites, as well as the unquantifiable cultural loss.
“If the economic loss is $135 million, then you could double that to $250 million already,” he said.
This suggestion by the NNTC is not without its precedents to support it. Just last year, the High Court awarded compensation to native title holders for the loss of their spiritual connection to their land.
In addition to compensation, the parliamentary committee’s report also recommended a temporary moratorium on official approvals to destroy cultural heritage sites.
Western Australia’s mining companies and government have responded negatively to this suggestion, in fear of the economic impact that such a suspension could have on the mining industry.