A parliamentary committee examining Rio Tinto's destruction of the ancient Juukan Gorge rock shelters will visit the sacred West Australian sites next week.
Northern Australia Committee chair Warren Entsch says MPs are eager to finally meet the sites' traditional owners, the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura (PKKP) people.
"This will be the defining moment of this inquiry," Mr Entsch said in a statement on Thursday.
"We need to see the scale of the devastation and feel the loss of the people to fully understand the significance of what has happened.
"The committee will have a long yarn session with the PKKP in Karratha on Monday morning before flying to Juukan Gorge on Tuesday to see the sites for ourselves."
PKKP representatives gave emotional evidence to the inquiry earlier this month.
Traditional owners spoke of their devastation at losing the 46,000-year-old sites, which Rio blew up in May to extract $188 million worth of high-grade iron ore.
The company had approval under WA's outdated Aboriginal Heritage Act but failed to act on expert reports noting their outstanding archaeological significance.
PKKP only learned the rock shelters would be destroyed nine days before the blast, and Rio continued to load explosives into blast holes after promising to delay the destruction.
WA's COVID-19 travel restrictions forced the committee to hear evidence from the PKKP remotely, despite traditional owners having wanted to meet on country.
Mr Entsch had flagged MPs were looking into chartering a government aircraft and pledged not to finalise the report until they met with PKKP representatives.
The committee will also hold a public hearing on Monday with the Murujuga and Robe River Kuruma Aboriginal corporations, as well as the owner of Cheela Plains Station who held the pastoral lease upon which Juukan Gorge was previously located.
Rio's outgoing chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques and corporate relations chief Simone Niven gave further evidence to the inquiry earlier this month, along with former iron ore boss Chris Salisbury.
All three resigned from their roles last month.
Ms Niven, Rio's executive responsible for Indigenous affairs, revealed she had had no personal contact with the PKKP until they filed their submission to the inquiry last month.
Australian Associated Press
