Corporate Cane Toads exposed by Australia’s most disgusting award Rhys Dolby
The toxic cane toad was artificially introduced into Australia in the 1930s, backed by government and powerful companies. This damaging species was brought in to protect lucrative crops from a beetle and yet it resulted in one of Australia’s worst environmental disasters with cane toads destroying ecosystems and killing countless other species. While the cane toad continues to be a major environmental pest today, we now face a new toxic threat. Many Australian companies are implicated in the destruction of our planet and peoples’ livelihoods, at home and overseas, just like cane toads; human rights violations, rainforest clearing, land grabbing, union-busting, water contamination and the list goes on. Despite numerous reports and lawsuits, these corporations get away with it time and time again. Corporations have too much power and have become an invasive species that must be held accountable. How is it that Rio Tinto won the award for ‘Best Corporate Social Responsibility Report’ in 2019 and then went on to blow up an Indigenous scared site? 1 Or, take ANZ, who were recognised as a leading bank globally by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, yet were Australia’s largest financier to polluting fossil fuels.2 It is time that these Corporate Cane Toads are exposed for their actions. A brand-new award by Friends of the Earth Australia, Jubilee Australia and ActionAid does just this by calling on the public to vote for Australia’s most toxic company. Over 1,000 votes were cast within the last month and the verdict is in. The inaugural Corporate Cane Toad Award has been decided.3 Rio Tinto was voted the most toxic company for its decade long failure to clean up mines in Bougainville and its recent destruction of Indigenous cultural sites in Australia despite their repeated claims that they support all internationally recognised human rights and promise to play a positive part for local communities. In May 2020, a Rio Tinto mining blast destroyed rock shelters at Juukan Gorge - ancient Aboriginal heritage sites that held significance dating back 46,000 years.4 The blast
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Chain Reaction #141
December 2021
was carried out for the expansion of Rio Tinto’s iron ore mine in the western Pilbara region in Western Australia. Rio Tinto’s misconduct is not new. From 1972 to 1989, Rio Tinto operated one of the world’s largest open-cut copper mines on the island of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea via its subsidiary Bougainville Copper Ltd (BCL). Throughout this time, the company discharged millions of tonnes of mine waste directly into the Jaba and Kawerong Rivers, devastating the environment and the life of local communities.5 Mayur Resources received the second most votes from the public for the Cane Toad Award for pushing to open up a new polluting coal mine in the Pacific. This involves plans to construct PNG’s first ever coal-fired power station. It is unclear whether the company has done sufficient outreach to the people living there who could suffer substantial health impacts due to the coal plant. Recent research also suggests that the company has not adequately consulted with impacted communities about the plant that is to be built 500 meters from their village. As Peter Kesu, community leader in Butibam, put it: “The community needs to be involved in all processes of communication, in consultation and with any other activity that’s associated with the company. They don’t have our consent”.6
