Three BHP executives will face the federal inquiry launched in the wake of rival miner Rio Tinto's destruction of two 46,000-year-old Aboriginal rock shelters as calls for greater protection of sacred sites spread across the mining sector | NickToscano1
The BHP officials to face the federal inquiry are head of Indigenous engagement Libby Ferrari, WA heritage manager David Bunting, and Australian mining operations president Edgar Basto.
BHP and the Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest-backed miner Fortescue are facing demands from a coalition of key Indigenous land councils and native-title groups for a moratorium on all activities that threaten to disturb, destroy or desecrate heritage sites until the WA government has completed an ongoing review to strengthen relevant laws.
We recognise that what was lost at Juukan Gorge is not only the loss of a site of deep and unique living cultural heritage, but also a loss of trust [...] with impacts for the entire resource industry.BHP's board is urging investors to vote against the moratorium, saying the resolution, if passed, would have the unintended consequence of forcing a unilateral action on traditional owners by setting aside their existing agreements with BHP without consultation with traditional owners.
The board said BHP agreed that legislative reform was required, but noted that its policies, practices and agreements with Indigenous peoples "well exceed" the legislative framework.After some traditional owners across BHP's operations voiced concerns that they felt clauses in their agreements prevented them from publicly speaking out about matters of heritage on their ancestral lands, BHP on Wednesday said it had assured them they had the right to speak freely on all such matters.
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