Australia called for submissions on Thursday to an inquiry into how mining giant Rio Tinto legally blew up two sacred Aboriginal caves that showed human history stretching back at least 46,000 years.
Rio in late May destroyed the sacred caves in the Juukan Gorge in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, having been granted state government approval in 2013.
The inquiry will examine how the destruction of the caves came about, the processes that failed to protect the site, the impacts on traditional owners, and the legislative changes required to prevent such incidents from recurring, according to a statement from the committee overseeing the inquiry.