Foreword to ‘Scramble for Resources’ | Jubilee Australia Research Centre
Like most Australians, I was infuriated by revelations in 2020 that a blasting crew from one of the world’s biggest mining companies, Rio Tinto, had destroyed a priceless piece of Australia’s cultural inheritance.
At 46,000 years old, the Juukan Gorge rock shelters in Western Australia were nine-times older than Stonehenge, 18-times older than the Athenian Parthenon and 75-times older than Machu Picchu. They were not only just sacred to the local Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura peoples, but formed part of our shared heritage as human beings. Rio Tinto made a public display of wringing its hands, despite evidence it knew about the caves’ archaeological significance. The company’s long-serving CEO walked away with a golden parachute valued around $20 million.
Sadly, Rio Tinto’s indifference to ordinary Australians was not an isolated incident. As prime minister in 2010, my government proposed an additional tax on the $90 billion in super-profits that Australia’s three biggest mining companies had extracted from the mining boom while returning less than 10 per cent to the Australian people. The industry poured tens of millions into a six-week advertising blitz and tipped another $1.9 million into Liberal and National party coffers – all to avoid giving Australians a fair slice of the minerals they owned.
Australians know these stories because they unfolded here in Australia where the spotlight of public scrutiny can be intense. But this isn’t always the case. For example, many Australians are unaware of the story of Panguna – the mine that, for almost two decades, Rio Tinto operated on the remote Papua New Guinean island of Bougainville, 2000km north of Queensland.
One of the world’s largest operating gold mines, Panguna sparked a ten-year war that killed thousands. Panguna was also the source of enormous wealth for Conzinc Riotinto of Australia which, over almost two decades, dumped an estimated billion tonnes of mining waste containing heavy metals into local rivers. After twenty years of peace, and with Port Moresby now contemplating Bougainville’s request for independence, Rio Tinto may only now be beginning to take responsibility for cleaning up its mess.
Scramble for Resources: The International Race for Bougainville’s Mineral Wealth shines much-needed light on the practices of the new waves of mining and exploration companies in Bougainville. Given the sheer number of Australian companies involved in this stampede for Bougainville’s resources, and the consequences for people living on the island, its findings should cause Australians to sit up and take notice. The report details allegations of exploration company executives preparing presentations advising Bougainville’s nascent autonomous government to make offshore financial arrangements that minimise transparency. It also warns that competition between landowners is being amplified by payments to local intermediaries, further exacerbating tensions in a region that has fought so hard to build and maintain peace.
When Australian companies operate overseas, they represent our nation on the world stage. Most of the companies referenced in this report maintain headquarters in Australia; they are managed by Australian executives, are owned by Australian shareholders and some benefit from investment through Australia’s world-leading system of compulsory superannuation. Whether we like it or not, Australian businesspeople are unofficial ambassadors for our nation. The commonwealth government therefore has clear interests at stake when Australian companies’ practices are out of step with Australian voters’ expectations.