Aboriginal group hopes for national standards in Juukan inquiry

FILE PHOTO: Aboriginal groups' members carrying a banner march to protest against what they say is a lack of detail and consultation on new heritage protection laws, after the Rio Tinto mining group destroyed ancient rock shelters for an iron ore mine last year, in Perth, Australia August 19, 2021. Courtesy Gabrielle Timmins/Kimberley Land Council/Handout via REUTERS

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - An inquiry into the destruction of ancient rock shelters for an iron ore mine should recommend in its report that Australia adopt national heritage protection standards, the head of an Aboriginal heritage management group said on Friday.

The parliamentary panel is set to issue findings and recommendations next week after a 16-month inquiry into how Rio Tinto Ltd last year legally destroyed the sites at Juukan Gorge, Western Australia, that showed evidence of human habitation over 46,000 years, from the last Ice Age.