BHP shareholders pull motion on heritage sites after deal with landowners

A shareholder motion calling for mining giant BHP to stop activity that could desecrate or destroy Aboriginal cultural heritage sites has been withdrawn, the company said on Tuesday.

The activist Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility, which proposed the resolution, said it agreed to withdraw at the request of a group of traditional landowners which had struck a deal with BHP.

BHP’s deal is with the First Nations Heritage Protection Alliance, which was set up in June after Rio Tinto blew up 46,000-year-old rock shelters in West Australia’s Pilbara region.

“BHP and the First Nations Heritage Protection Alliance have jointly agreed a path forward to enhance the influence and voice of traditional owners in relation to heritage protection,” BHP said in a statement.

“From this work we have determined a set of shared Principles around Aboriginal Heritage in Australia which reaffirm BHP’s commitment to Free, Prior and Informed Consent in agreement making. Together we agree regulatory regimes should respect and reflect these rights.”