However,Sam Laidlaw,the chair of Rio’s remuneration committee,on Thursday defended the executives’ payouts,saying the board had not been in a position to legally terminate the three former executives and their outstanding remuneration.
“The penalties applied to the responsible executives were,in the best view of the board,the most that could durably be applied and legally defended in light of the extent of the executives’ ultimately accountability for Juukan Gorge,” Mr Laidlaw said.
Although Rio’s Juukan Gorge blast was legally sanctioned,it went against the wishes of the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people,who said they were not made aware of Rio’s plan to proceed with the destruction until it was too late to call it off. The disaster has prompted Rio’s board and senior management to pursue sweeping improvements to the company’s approach to cultural heritage and rebuild meaningful relationships with Australian community stakeholders including First Nations peoples.
Rio Tinto’s senior Australian director,Simon McKeon,acknowledged the company “did not have the right relationship with Australia 12 months ago”,despite the country accounting for the vast majority of Rio’s earnings. He said it had been a year of “enormous learning” for Rio and implored Australian shareholders to judge the company in another year’s time.
Ancient artifacts unearthed at Juukan Gorge – including grinding and pounding stones,a 28,000-year-old marsupial bone sharpened into a tool and a 4000-year-old belt made of plaited human hair with DNA linking directly to today’s PKKP people – had placed the caves among the most significant archaeological research sites in Australia.
Rio chairman Simon Thompson,who will step down from the company within 12 months,has vowed to use his remaining time at the miner overseeing the rollout of critical reforms to ensure a disaster like the destruction of the Juukan Gorge rock shelters never happens again.
“I feel confident that we have the right people in the right jobs to deliver our strategy and to implement all the necessary changes in our risk management,governance,work culture and relationships,following the tragedy at Juukan Gorge,” Mr Thompson said.
Rio Tinto is in talks with the PKKP about the appropriate remedy for the site’s loss,but Mr Thompson said the traditional owners had asked that those discussions remain confidential.
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