7th Oct 2020, 5:25 PM – Senate Motions - Mining - Rio Tinto

The majority voted against a motion introduced by SA Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, which means it failed.

Motion text

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) mining giant Rio Tinto has been lobbying the Morrison Government to transfer environmental approval powers to the Western Australian Government since at least August 2019, freedom of information documents reveal,

(ii) Rio Tinto is responsible for the devastating destruction of 46,000-year-old sacred site Juukan Gorge.

(iii) the Government has proposed amendments to Australia's environment laws before the completion of a 10-year review into the Environment Protection and Biodiversity (EPBC) Act, that will devolve environmental approval powers to the states as Rio Tinto has urged, and

(iv) the Government's EPBC amendment bill will make it easier for Rio Tinto to blow up cultural heritage sites and for mining companies to get approval for projects that damage the environment under weaker state laws; and

(b) calls on the Government to:

(i) stop doing the bidding of fossil fuel companies like Rio Tinto; and

(ii) put environmental and cultural heritage protection ahead of corporate profits of mining companies.