Noone invests in NT now. And RIO will suffer because historically there is a view from Gunner and the ALP that RIO is partly to blame for it.
RIO could be subject to the windfall tax that gets Gunner and the NT out of its insolvency. In time RIO could become like Vale, a mismanaged, as you say, "dud" of a company and its shares currently going at $100 could be a fraction of where they are today.
Although RIO is priced for perfection, presumably it is being prepared for being putrified. I hope its asset value and breakup cost of its assets is high enough for it not to negatively impact on Australia.
If not, Jean-Sebastian Jacques needs to be treated accordingly like they do to global Corporate CEOs in similar situations.
RIO looks like its subsidiary, if ERA is not going to be out of its mire, RIO will go the same way, a dud. See the problems below. RIO will have to solve if ERA is not enabled to do so.
Urgent tasks were not carried out promptly at Uluru-Kata Tjuta national park as well as at Kakadu, the auditors found. Photograph: Hans Peter Huber/4Corners Images
Australia’s six commonwealth national parks – including Kakadu andUluru– are not being effectively managed by the government corporation tasked with preserving them, an audit has found.
Ina report released on Friday, the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) said the director of national parks had failed to meet benchmarks set by auditors to probe the agency’s management of some of the nation’s most precious land.
The audit found the director had no “robust” way of knowing that park management and operational plans were being implemented. The agency’s work within the six parks was also “not effectively measured, monitored and reported on”.
Among the seven recommendations, which were accepted by the agency, the auditors said a review was required to ensure the director of national parks was “meeting the requirements of the EPBC [Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation] Act”.
“The director does not effectively manage risks to the objectives of the parks,” the report said.
Under the EPBC Act, the agency is tasked with conserving and managing biodiversity and cultural heritage of 2.1 million hectares across three mainland and three island national parks (Christmas Island, Norfolk Island and Pulu Keeling). It must establish a 10-year park management plans to protect the sites, benefit traditional owners and enhance their value as tourism destinations.
Three of the mainland parks – Uluru-Kata Tjuta and Kakadu as well as Booderee – are jointly managed by the director of national parks and traditional owners.
But the agency had not established “constructive relationships with traditional owners at the jointly managed national parks”, the report said.
In one case study, eight green parrots died in a translocation project after they transferred from Phillip Island to Norfolk Island.
While the parrots were moved in early April 2017 and had died by the end of June 2017, key bureaucrats were not told of any issues until August. Even then, the project’s status was only changed to “amber” and a report on the deaths was not filed until November.
While the director had established five-year climate change strategies for the six parks, they had expired in 2017. “There has been no specific climate change plan or strategy in place since 2017,” the report said.
The director’s policies suggests “high risk” corrective action tasks should be completed within seven days, yet at Kakudu alone there were 26 outstanding tasks dating back to September or December 2016. There were similar findings at Uluru-Kata Tjuta.
In another case study, the report said Kakudu’s executive board did not receive warnings about “diesel … being released to the environment through a leaking bowser” .
“This is of great concern given the location of these facilities within parks that are world-heritage listed for their environmental values,” an internal report said.
Yet internal documents appeared to claim the issue was resolved before it had actually been dealt with.
Lyndon Schneiders, the national director at the Wilderness Society, said he was “not surprised” the audit office had “found a range of deep and systemic problems”.
But he was reluctant to blame the director of national parks, arguing the federal government had “largely washed its hands of looking after national parks and protected areas”.
“We need a completely new system where the government takes responsibility of our national parks,” he said.
The director of national parks accepted the audit’s seven recommendations, which called for a review of its internal processes.
“The director is committed to continuous improvement in the delivery against legislative and related objectives for commonwealth national park management,” it said. “Working in partnership with traditional owners, improving the governance and performance of the joint boards of management for Kakadu, Booderee and Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa national parks will be a particular and ongoing focus.”
Auditors reviewed internal documents, observed fieldwork and interviewed departmental staff, traditional owners and board members from the jointly managed parks, the report said.
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