[Xmca-l] Re: Rio Tinto Zinc

Sun Sep 13 19:09:51 PDT 2020

Er. " *NO *physical markers"

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*Andy Blunden*
Hegel for Social Movements <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://brill.com/view/title/54574__;!!Mih3wA!S5K6-3pAdjVKLQOipHOtp4mkhFhXR1sxkXKZDQnO0A7C1xQKXN0SUjkqI9KbXmCMTCf0iQ$ >
Home Page <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.ethicalpolitics.org/ablunden/index.htm__;!!Mih3wA!S5K6-3pAdjVKLQOipHOtp4mkhFhXR1sxkXKZDQnO0A7C1xQKXN0SUjkqI9KbXmDbUUpHdA$ >
On 14/09/2020 11:43 am, Andy Blunden wrote:
>
> 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 *NO 
> *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*
> Hegel for Social Movements 
> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://brill.com/view/title/54574__;!!Mih3wA!XARa5o_f0_F8FwoOvEi2G83w7OupjEw0Qs4sAopd9iMJNxF19MT9A4BOkNVcEAAZnw4ahQ$>
> Home Page 
> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.ethicalpolitics.org/ablunden/index.htm__;!!Mih3wA!XARa5o_f0_F8FwoOvEi2G83w7OupjEw0Qs4sAopd9iMJNxF19MT9A4BOkNVcEABlTgxfKw$> 
>
> 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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>>
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