Rio Tinto has been accused of not giving its investors the full story about the environmental impact of its global network of mines, including in Australia. A delegation of Pilbara traditional owners confronted company executives at its annual general meeting in Perth, claiming its mines have caused ‘decades of hurt’.
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00:00This group of Robe River Guruma people traveled more than 1,400 kilometers to deliver a simple
00:08message to one of the world's biggest mining companies, Rio Tinto.
00:12Our country is dying.
00:15She claims the mining giant is taking too much water from her homeland in WA's iron ore-rich
00:20Pilbara region.
00:21There's no bird life, there's no animal life anywhere.
00:25Rio is building a desalination plant to reduce its water use.
00:28We have work to do, and we're doing a lot.
00:31And I would say I'm very proud of that we are, as the first ones, the ones who are coming
00:36up with a desalination plant.
00:38But facing the company's top brass, Miss McGowan had more on her mind than just water.
00:43Your largest mine on our country has been operating for 30 years.
00:48You have paid us for three years.
00:52There are a number of areas where we need to work together, and you've outlined some of
00:56those here today.
00:58But traditional owners believe there are deeper transparency issues.
01:01If you read the most recent Rio Tinto annual report, there's essentially silence on what's
01:08happening across the Pilbara with traditional owner groups.
01:11It wasn't just the Pilbara in the spotlight.
01:13The company was also accused of failing to address water contamination in Madagascar and
01:18not cleaning up a former mine in Papua New Guinea.
01:21The claims are part of a global campaign led by advocacy group the London Mining Network,
01:25who say there's a gap between what this company tells its investors and the environmental impact
01:30of its mines on local communities.
01:33Rio has defended the credibility of its public reporting, saying it uses independent experts
01:38at all its operations.