The following articles were published in "The Guardian", newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, May 2nd, 2001. Contact address: 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. Sydney. 2010 Australia. Phone: (612) 9212 6855 Fax: (612) 9281 5795. CPA Central Committee: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> "The Guardian": <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Webpage: http://www.cpa.org.au> Subscription rates on request. ****************************** Rio Tinto: the awful truth Shareholders attending mining giant Rio Tinto's AGM in Sydney last Friday were confronted by representatives of the victims of Rio Tinto's operations. They heard first hand of the suffering, exploitation and environmental degradation caused by Rio Tinto that underpinned what its chairman Sir Robert Wilson described as a "generally good year". by Anna Pha In fact Rio Tinto had a great year, with profits rising by 18 percent to US$1,507 million -- more than A$3 billion. Its return on assets was a whopping 21 percent. With friendly banks at the ready, Rio Tinto went on a big borrowing and spending spree: "We seized investment opportunities during the year worth an aggregate US$4 billion", boasted Sir Robert in a letter to shareholders. Rio Tinto bought up major operations in aluminium, iron ore, diamonds and coal, increasing its domination of the mining industry. But for some it was not a great year, and certainly not one of big spending sprees. Garry and Jacqui Barnes from Blair Athol in central Queensland could hardly describe their year as good. Garry is one of 16 mineworkers sacked by Rio Tinto in July 1998. Jacquie and Garry have suffered considerable stress, unemployment and harassment; even their children have been persecuted and victimised. Garry is one of 16 mineworkers at Rio Tinto's Blair Athol coal mine who had been placed on a black list by Rio Tinto, victimised and unfairly dismissed see below for details). The Industrial Relations Commission recently ordered the reinstatement of all 16 of the coal mineworkers along with full back pay to July 1998. Garry addressed the 100 or so protestors outside the AGM and later, inside the AGM, he was able to ask the Board about the blacklisting of workers and the failure of the company to put himself and the other 15 workers back to work, while 100 contractors are doing carrying out the very tasks they normally do. Outside the AGM they received support and encouragement but inside the AGM Jacqui and Garry got no joy from the chairman who patronisingly told Garry, "You present your case very clearly". Sir Robert refused to discuss the situation at the mine, but did admit that the methods used by the company were "obviously defective and capable of improvement"! Rick Fowler, of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union asked about the company's operations in Brazil -- the shooting of workers by company security guards, causing the death of one worker, and the use of company spies and victimisation of the workforce. Can shareholders be assured that such methods will not be use again, he asked? No assurances were given, but the company, shareholders were told, has adopted new procedures for the handling of guns -- "We're doing our best", said Sir Robert. Questions were also raised about the hundreds of past and present Rio Tinto employees in Namibia who are sick and dying; again no satisfaction from the chair. Moses Havini, from Bougainville, asked whether Rio Tinto would clean up the waterways and toxic materials that spread from the Port of Loloho to Panguna. Between 12,000 and 15,000 Bougainvilleans died during a 10-year war waged by Papua New Guinea in its attempt to re-open Rio Tinto's Panguna copper mine after the indigenous people of Bougainville had closed it down. This time the chair used a class action being taken by some Bougainvilleans in the USA as an excuse to make no comment. There were representatives of the Wilderness Society, the Australian Conservation Foundation, and other environmental organisations, with proxy votes, asking questions about Rio Tinto's atrocious environmental record. They also raised questions about the future of ERA's Jabiluka uranium mine, which Rio Tinto took over through its purchase of North Pty Ltd last year. Jabiluka Dave Sweeney from the Australian Conservation Foundation sought a commitment from Rio Tinto to return Jabiluka to the Kakadu National Park under the direction of traditional owners. The Chair said he would not make a commitment to dispose of the mine. He said that there was "no near term prospect of Jabiluka being developed". Sir Robert also said he did not believe that it could be developed without the consent of the Northern Land Council. His suggestion that Ranger may be mined for another eight to ten years came as a shock to the Mirrar people, the traditional owners of the land who are in the midst of negotiations with the company. There was no such agreement. They were promised that it would be ended by now. Spokesperson Jacquie Katona, accompanied by two elders of the Mirrar people, was visibly shocked and angered by the chair's remarks. She got no satisfaction from the answers to her questions. Sir Robert's replies to questions were contradictory, one minute indicating control over the Ranger mine, another minute suggesting Rio Tinto with its majority share holding had no control. For a few hours Rio Tinto's board and shareholders were confronted with some of the awful truths of the company's anti-labour, anti-people and anti-environmental profit-extracting practices. *********************************************************** -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
