FMG, Rio Tinto Indigenous leaders calls for embracive culture to help nation’s reconciliation journey

Indigenous mining advisors and managers want Australians to participate in the reconciliation journey by embracing Indigenous culture and history. Fortescue Metals Group Aboriginal business development manager Yuluwirri McGrady and Rio Tinto Indigenous affairs chief advisor Adam Lees praised this year’s National Reconciliation Week theme of Be Brave. Make Change. Both men have described it as a strong call to action. Mr McGrady — a proud Goomilaroi man from northern NSW — pointed to the landmark 1946 Pilbara strike, which saw Indigenous pastoralists demand better wages and conditions, as an embodiment of this year’s theme. Mr McGrady was recently appointed to the WA Mining Club committee for 2022 after becoming the first Indigenous person to hold a position on any of the Club’s Young Professionals committee in 2020. “My opportunity to be brave and make change in this industry is, I really want to leave a legacy where the mining industry collaborates with Aboriginal people,” Mr McGrady said. “I don’t want to be a bystander for that. I want to be at the forefront of making that change.” Mr McGrady said the easiest call to action for non-Indigenous Australians was to create a culture that embraces Aboriginal people. “If they do encounter a culture or an environment where it’s not safe for Aboriginal people, I think be brave, speak up and say this isn’t right,” he said. For Mr Lees — a Meriam-Yadhaigana man — taking time to learn, connect and share Indigenous history was an impactful change Australians can make to help with the reconciliation journey. “I no longer accept the excuse that ‘we didn’t learn about Indigenous history at school’,” he said. “There are so many resources available to us now more than ever. It just requires our time and a willingness to engage and learn. “As a storyteller, I absolutely believe in the power of having good, honest yarns, showing vulnerability and having a frank and genuine conversation.” Mr Lees said that in a reconciled Australia, there would be no need for Closing the Gap targets. “We would have found a way to work together to improve Indigenous outcomes on every level,” he said. “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples would be genuinely included and self-determined, our cultures would be celebrated as part of our complete national identity and not something that is only partly understood.” Both miners have substantially stepped up their efforts to increase both Indigenous procurement and employment over the past few years. Since it was launched in 2011, FMG’s Billion Opportunities program has awarded contracts and subcontracts worth more than $3 billion to more than 132 Aboriginal businesses. The Andrew Forrest-led company currently employs over 1000 Aboriginal people, which make up 10 per cent of its total Australian workforce. “I think the next big opportunity for Fortescue is to work closer with our native title partners,” Mr McGrady said. In April, Rio Tinto revealed it had spent $400m with 119 Indigenous-owned businesses across Australia last year, including $300m with 64 Aboriginal businesses in WA. “There’s more work to be done, of course, but that amount is huge,” Mr Lees said. “There are so many businesses, big and small, that are thriving. When they do, they set a higher bar for others to follow.”