Inquiry calls on Rio Tinto to salvage Juukan site

MINING
Hamish Hastie

Northern Australia committee chair Warren Entsch has called on Rio Tinto to salvage what it can of the Juukan Gorge rock shelters that were blasted by the company in May, as part of the expansion of its Brockman 4 mine.

Earlier this week, Mr Entsch and three other committee members met with the traditional owners of the area, the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura (PKKP) people, to discuss the destruction and visited the site for the first time since a parliamentary inquiry began in June.

Mr Entsch said he was ‘‘devastated’’ to witness firsthand the destruction of the shelters – which contained evidence of 46,000 years of human habitation – and hear from the PKKP people about the hurt the blast had caused them.

He said the Juukan 2 shelter had been completely destroyed, but the roof structure of Juukan 1 was still intact and there was a chance of some rehabilitation.

‘‘They’re never going to recreate it, never recreate what it was, but there is certainly an opportunity to rectify.