Juukan Gorge blast in Pilbara claims Rio Tinto CEO Jean-Sebastien Jacques and iron ore chief Chris Salisbury
Danielle Le MessurierThe West Australian
Fri, 11 September 2020 7:52AM
Jean-Sebastien Jacques will remain in the chief executive role until March 31 or until the appointment of a successor. Credit: News Corp Australia
Rio Tinto chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques, Perth-based iron ore chief Chris Salisbury and corporate relations boss Simone Niven are set to depart the company over the destruction of ancient Indigenous rock shelters at Juukan Gorge in the Pilbara.
The decision was made “by mutual agreement” following a string of crisis meetings after shareholders ramped up their calls for the company to escalate its response to the blasting of the 46,000-year-old shelters at Rio’s Brockman 4 mine in May, as reported by the West Australian on Thursday.
Mr Jacques, Mr Salisbury and Ms Niven were last month stripped of a total $7 million in bonuses after a board-led review found they must bear partial responsibility for the failings. The West Australian’s front page on Thursday.
But the decision left major shareholders unsatisfied and demanding harsher punishment.
In a statement to the ASX this morning, Rio said there was support for the changes outlined in the board review but noted “significant stakeholders have expressed concerns about executive accountability for the failings identified”.
Rio chairman Simon Thompson said what happened at Juukan was “wrong”, adding: “We are determined to ensure that the destruction of a heritage site of such exceptional archaeological and cultural significance never occurs again at a Rio Tinto operation.”
He said the company was also determined to regain the trust of the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people, which labelled the destruction of the rock shelters “soul-destroying”, and other traditional owners.
“We have listened to our stakeholders’ concerns that a lack of individual accountability undermines the group’s ability to rebuild that trust and to move forward to implement the changes identified in the board review,” he said.
Rio said Mr Jacques would remain in the chief executive role until March 31 or until the appointment of a successor.
Chris Salisbury. Credit: IAIN GILLESPIE/The West Australian Simone Niven. Credit: Julian Haber/Rio Tinto
Mr Salisbury will step down immediately but will be paid through to the end of December. He will be temporarily replaced by Ivan Vella, currently managing director for rail, port and core services.
Ms Niven will also immediately step down from her role as group executive, corporate relations but will also be paid until December 31.
We are determined to ensure that the destruction of a heritage site of such exceptional archaeological and cultural significance never occurs again at a Rio Tinto operation.
-Rio chairman Simon Thompson
In order to enhance board engagement, Rio said Simon McKeon, non-executive director, will immediately be appointed senior independent director.
“This newly created board role will complement the existing senior independent director role, which will continue to be performed by Sam Laidlaw for Rio Tinto,” the company said.
Superannuation giant HESTA yesterday demanded an independent review of Rio’s agreements with traditional owners, saying a “larger, systemic issue” of how it brokers deals with them needed to be urgently addressed.
The $52 billion super fund said it expected “a change in the ranks of Rio’s senior leadership won’t mitigate this risk for investors” and that accountability for the destruction at Juukan Gorge “should rest at the highest levels of Rio”.
AustralianSuper last month met with Rio to seek tougher punishment over the blasts, saying the financial penalties it imposed on the executives fell “significantly short of appropriate accountability”.
Juukan Gorge before the site was blasted by Rio. Credit: Puutu Kunti Kurrama And Pinikura Aboriginal Corporation
Two of Rio’s British directors, former Centrica boss Sam Laidlaw and ex-Royal Dutch Shell finance head Simon Henry, were also reported to have urged Mr Thompson to take a hard line on the incident.
Rio’s board-led review of the Juukan disaster admitted failures of its internal processes and practices that needed to be strengthened but rejected calls for executives to be sacked.
But the face-to-face came too late to save Mr Jacques, who has been accused of dismantling the system that would have prevented the destruction of the rock shelters after he became chief executive in 2016.
A former senior adviser to Rio last month told a Federal parliamentary inquiry into the blasting that community relations specialists had been replaced with marketing and media experts as part of a restructure led by Mr Jacques.
Professor Glynn Cochrane also claimed Mr Jacques had removed the community relations system that had existed within the company since 1995, whereby the head of iron ore was advised directly on cultural heritage by a well-qualified archaeologist.
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