[Xmca-l] Re: Rio Tinto Zinc

[Andy Blunden]

Firstly, an apology. I replied on the list before noticing 
that John had already responded, and John is much better 
informed than me about these matters, and yet I spoke as if 
he didn't exist. My apologies.

These caves are nothing for tourism. They are too remote and 
there are others more accessible. I believe the caves have 
been under Native Title as a result of a bitter struggle to 
protect them by the local people in the 1990s. This means 
that RTZ had to get permission from the PKK people. The 
lawyers swindled them.

In my view, all these sites which are not only part of 
Aboriginal heritage (there are places which have physical 
markers of their status but are sacred to the local people) 
but self-evidently of *world* heritage. But I don't think 
these caves were registered as World Heritage. I have not 
heard the discussion about this (John?). No-one wants to say 
this, I think, because it implies that Indigenous values are 
somehow less important than human values. For example, under 
the law as it stands the PKK Land Council would have a right 
to let RTZ destroy the caves and maybe a million dollars or 
two in the bank or a new school, would be enough. This is 
not a hypothetical. One of the reasons that the Indigenous 
people remain impoverished even where they have Native Title 
over large areas of land, is that they live, after all, in a 
capitalist country and Native title cannot be sold. It is 
not a commodity. Therefore it is not a form of wealth. You 
can't get a mortgage to build a house on land you own by 
Native title.  You can't sell a block to a farmer so you can 
buy agricultural equipment to farm another block. In short, 
by blocking the Indigenous people from monetising their land 
rights we trap them in poverty. In general, the indigenous 
people are happy to forgo tourist income to protect their 
sacred sites (e.g. Uluru) and I don't doubt for an instant, 
that if they'd been properly consulted they never would have 
agreed to the destruction of the caves. Obviously. But they 
do have to have rights to trade with their land. But also 
the world needs to keep absolutely unique archaeological 
sites pristine and the local people should be supported by 
governments to do the work of protecting them on *our* 
behalf. Recognising the great cost entailed.

Andy

------------------------------------------------------------
*Andy Blunden*
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On 14/09/2020 4:53 am, Martin Packer wrote:
> Thanks, John and Andy,
>
> I suppose that I am naive, for this event astonishes me in 
> so many different ways. I would have assumed that the land 
> title or native title granted to indigenous peoples over 
> some territory in Australia would have included the Juuken 
> Gorge caves. I would have assumed that these caves were a 
> national cultural heritage site, or even a world cultural 
> heritage site. I would have assumed that indigenous rights 
> would have more importance to the Australian government, 
> and indeed to the Australian people. I would have assumed 
> that, while mining is apparently of great economic 
> importance to the country, the government would have 
> considered the economic value of this site for tourism, or 
> simply the impact that destroying the caves would have on 
> Australia’s reputation. And while I suppose that unbridled 
> rapaciousness on the part of an international mining 
> company is hardly a surprise, I would have thought that 
> Rio Tinto would also have considered the negative 
> publicity that their actions would create.
>
> How can we express our displeasure to the various parties 
> involved? Are there petitions that one can sign? Or 
> Twitter accounts to which one can tweet?
>
> I wonder how much the salary is of (ex) CEO Jean-Sebastien 
> Jacques, if his bonus this year would have been A$4.9 
> million. Perhaps he could donate a few years of his salary 
> to establish a foundation that could work for indigenous 
> peoples’ rights.
>
> sadly
>
> Martin
>
>
>
>
>> On Sep 12, 2020, at 8:59 PM, John Cripps Clark 
>> <john.crippsclark@deakin.edu.au 
>> <mailto:john.crippsclark@deakin.edu.au>> wrote:
>>
>> The destruction of the Juunken Gorge caves (which I 
>> assume you are referring to) is a much more villainous 
>> act than was originally portrayed and reflects the venal 
>> racism not only of the company but also of the State 
>> Government. For those not familiar with this shocking 
>> crime, the $80b Anglo Australian mining company which on 
>> Sunday 24th of May blew up a site sacred to the Puutu 
>> Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura (PKKP) traditional owners and 
>> occupied for 46,000 years at least, to extend iron ore 
>> mining. "“It’s one of the most sacred sites in the 
>> Pilbara region … we wanted to have that area protected,” 
>> PKKP director Burchell Hayes. The traditional owners 
>> tried desperately to stop the blast once they became 
>> aware it was impending.
>>
>> At the time Rio Tinto claimed "Clearly there was a 
>> misunderstanding" but and, after much outrage, the three 
>> members of the executive had their multi million dollar 
>> bonuses reduced. It has subsequently emerged that Rio 
>> Tinto had contracted lawyers to oppose any injunctions 
>> before the crime was committed. The chief executive and 
>> two of his underlings have resigned.
>>
>> The crime was legal and was made possible by State 
>> Government laws which are stacked in favour of miners. 
>> Assessments of the cultural and environmental 
>> significance are made with little investigation and 
>> remain in place for decades and have rarely been 
>> successfully be challenged. No permission to destroy 
>> heritage sites in WA has been refused (and there have 
>> been 463 applications). 
>> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-31/wa-heritage-destroyed-by-rio-tinto-example-of-national-trend/12305298__;!!Mih3wA!Q80d_k7DkHBzzs0yi4W5IfiSTlRupZ8XOxiOsNcARSHE8ZZrLW7G-oWoAnKstsuUT5a7UQ$ 
>>
>>
>> It is not as if we didn’t know that this would happen. 
>> Norway's pension fund divested their holdings in Rio 
>> Tinto in 2008: "Exclusion of a company from the Fund 
>> reflects our unwillingness to run an unacceptable risk of 
>> contributing to grossly unethical conduct. The Council on 
>> Ethics has concluded that Rio Tinto is directly involved, 
>> through its participation in the Grasberg mine in 
>> Indonesia, in the severe environmental damage caused by 
>> that mining operation."
>>    — Kristin Halvorsen, Norwegian Minister of Finance
>>
>> A useful background briefing of indigenous rights in 
>> Australia: 
>> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/rearvision/features/in-the-shadow-of-terra-nullius/__;!!Mih3wA!Q80d_k7DkHBzzs0yi4W5IfiSTlRupZ8XOxiOsNcARSHE8ZZrLW7G-oWoAnKstssDCtcsSw$ 
>>
>>
>> On 13/9/20, 12:26 am, "xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu 
>> <mailto:xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu> on behalf of 
>> Martin Packer" <xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu 
>> <mailto:xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu> on behalf of 
>> mpacker@cantab.net <mailto:mpacker@cantab.net>> wrote:
>>
>>    Andy, what on earth has Rio Tinto Zinc been up to??
>>
>>    Martin
>>
>>
>>
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