When Rio Tinto blasted a sacred rock shelter to pieces in the Pilbara region of Western Australia in May 2020, it set off multiple protests from Aboriginal groups.

This, as well as anger and grief from across the globe, forced government agencies to pledge that nothing like this would ever happen again.

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Rio Tinto went ahead with its blast despite an archaeological report showing the cave’s significance to First Nations heritage: it contained cultural features dating back 40,000 years.

Despite this, a 2023 report on WA’s environmental approvals process indicates that Aboriginal sites could still be under threat from the corporate sector.

The Streamline WA: Independent Review of WA Environmental Approvals Processes and Procedure indicates that the WA government intends to pass the buck to the federal government on assessing greenhouse gas emissions for major projects.

The........

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