Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said Australia will set up a national legal framework to strengthen protection for Aboriginal cultural heritage

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek @tanya_plibersek said on Thursday that Australia will set up a national legal framework to strengthen the protection of Aboriginal cultural heritage.

This comes after a review of mining standards following Rio Tinto’s destruction of sacred rock shelters for an iron ore mine. Rio avoided broad government sanctions in its response to a 16-month parliamentary investigation into how it destroyed the Juukan Gorge rock shelters in mid-2020, which was published on Thursday. Both Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek and Prime Minster Anthony Albanese noted the global miner had not broken any laws and instead blamed an unfit system of protection.

Traditional owners expressed anger on Thursday that they had not been consulted by the new government on its response. Speaking in parliament, Plibersek said, “This was not an isolated mistake or an example of one company going rogue.” She said, “What’s clear from this report is that our system is not working.”