Rio Tinto destroyed the Juukan Gorge rock shelters under a WA ministerial consent; a parliamentary inquiry called the approval process 'seriously flawed'

On May 24, 2020, Rio Tinto destroyed the Juukan Gorge rock shelters, sacred to the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura (PKKP) peoples and among the oldest known sites of continuous human habitation in Australia, to expand an iron ore mine. It was legally permitted to do so by a 2013 Section 18 consent granted by the Western Australian Minister under the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972.