Rio Tinto chiefs lose millions in bonuses over destruction of Juukan Gorge
Source: The Guardian
Rio Tinto chiefs lose millions in bonuses over destruction of Juukan Gorge
Internal review finds mining giant failed to meet Indigenous cultural heritage standards but critics say penalties are ‘pocket change’
Calla Wahlquist
@callapilla
Mon 24 Aug 2020 05.48 BST
Rio Tinto chief executive Jean-Sébastien Jacques has lost almost $5m in bonuses and the head of Rio Tinto’s Australian iron ore group will lose more than $1m over the destruction of a 46,000-year-old Aboriginal heritage site at Juukan Gorge, after an internal review found “systemic failures in the cultural heritage management system”.
The mining company destroyed two rock shelters in Juukan Gorge in the Pilbara region of Western Australia on 24 May, despite having received five separate reports on the significance of the sites, both archeologically and to the local Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura (PKKP) people, since 2013.
An internal report, released on Monday, found that Rio Tinto “failed to meet some of its own internal standards and procedures in relation to the responsible management and protection of cultural heritage”, and also failed its own aspirations in working with Indigenous groups.
It said that as a result of the report’s findings, the board had voted to support a decision to withhold the bonuses of three senior executives, and that other managers, not at executive level, might also lose their bonuses. The board’s non-executive directors also agreed to donate 10% of their 2020 director fees to the Clontarf Foundation, a non-Aboriginal organisation that supports Aboriginal education and employment.
Penalties labelled ‘pocket change’ for executives
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/aug/24/rio-tinto-chiefs-lose-millions-in-bonuses-over-destruction-of-juukan-gorge