Pilbara

Robin Chapple questions validity Rio Tinto’s approval for destruction of Juukan Gorge after new evidence surfaces

WA Greens MLC Robin Chapple questions validity Rio Tinto’s approval for destruction of Juukan Gorge after new evidence surfaces

 

WA Greens Member for the Mining and Pastoral Region Robin Chapple has found stipulations in the Aboriginal Heritage Act (1972) that were not correctly adhered to which may render the decision to approve the destruction of Juukan Gorge void.

 

Speaking generally Mr Chapple has labelled this development as “monumental” in respect to Heritage law in WA and it may affect dozens of other projects across the state.

 

“We have very clear regulations in the Heritage Act that state two members of the ACMC must be ex-officio when limited to a quorum of five - there were three ex-officio for the assessment of Juukan Gorge”

 

“It’s transcribed in the original Committee of the whole discussion from 1972 -- clear as day --secondly there is a requirement that an appointed anthropologist be on the Committee, this appointment had not occurred and therefore one was not present on that day”

 

“Finally, the committee chair declared that ‘he held joint shares in BHP and that family members worked for a subsidiary of Rio Tinto in Africa’ in 2011 and that he ‘maintains a small shareholding in CRA’ in 2013 which should have precluded him from the decision making process”

 

“It’s may invalidate the approval offered by the Minister at the time and countless others which have the potential for huge ramifications throughout WA”

 

Mr Chapple claims this is another example of the systemic issues within the Aboriginal Heritage Act and the ACMC generally.

 

“We have no idea how many of these decisions were potentially invalid due to failures of procedure that are clearly outlined and this is just another reason why the system needs to be replaced and decision making put in the hands of Indigenous stakeholders not government bodies”

Greens MP slams pollution levels, calls for renewable energy

Tuesday, 20th November 2018

Greens MP Robin Chapple has raised concerns that any further industrialisation of the Burrup Peninsula would accelerate pollution levels, potentially making the air quality of the Karratha area one of the worst in Australia.

According to a recent report by the Australian Conservation Foundation, the Karratha based post code area of 6714 currently has 38741283.97 kg of emissions in the air, from 31 polluting facilities.

This places it as the 10th most polluting post code in all of Australia.

Alongside Newman, which ranks 2nd in Australia with 199441803.1 kg of emissions from 15 polluting facilities, the Pilbara area is one of the most heavily emitting regions in the nation.

Mr Chapple said that not only was the Burrup Peninsula under threat, but that WA is disproportionately contributing to climate change.

“The IPCC report recently released says that we have around a decade to act to avoid catastrophic climate change, and meanwhile the McGowan Government is championing further industrialisation in the North West.

“It is environmental vandalism of the highest degree. We are quite literally trashing the climate for future generations.

“Due to fossil fuels, pollution is so bad along the Pilbara coast that weather radars often show rain even on the sunniest of days. This is absolute madness.

“We simply cannot afford to further shirk our responsibilities to combat climate change, and with a truly incompetent federal Government it is even more urgent for the State to up their game. Instead, the McGowan Government are pushing on blindly ahead with climate wrecking projects.

“We need action on climate change and air pollution now. There is simply not enough time, we must rapidly transition to renewable energy or face the consequences of people dealing with not only polluted air but an extremely volatile climate too.”

Media contact: Liam Carter – 0449 151 490

Report: https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/5115779/ACF-Pollution-Report.pdf

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