Former WA treasurer Ben Wyatt will become Rio Tinto’s first Aboriginal director.

The Indigenous leader and ex-treasurer will join the board of Rio Tinto after quitting politics in March.

He says he was deeply saddened by Rio Tinto’s destruction of Indigenous cultural artifacts at Juukan Gorge, but is now convinced that the company wants to change.

Mr Wyatt said Rio should increase its WA leadership after it blew up 46,000-year-old rock shelters in the state’s iron ore-rich Pilbara.

He effectively replaces former director Michael L’Estrange, who stepped amid intense criticism over his leadership of a board inquiry into Juukan Gorge.

Mr Wyatt’s appointment to Rio’s board comes just days after it was announced he had joined the board of WA-based LNG producer Woodside Petroleum.

He was also behind the drafting of new Aboriginal heritage laws to replace 50-year-old legislation in WA. However, these laws have been strongly criticised for not including a power of veto over development.

Rio is also looking to fill vacancies left when David Constable quit at the end of 2020, and the gap left after Jakob Stausholm was promoted to chief executive following the exit of Jean-Sebastien Jacques over Juukan Gorge.