The playing field has shifted, says BHP’s Geraldine Slattery

BHP president of Australia Geraldine Slattery has addressed the Melbourne Mining Club for the first time, calling on governments and industry to embrace a more competitive mindset in the face of one of greatest industrial shifts in history – the energy transition.

Offering what she calls “a blunt assessment”, Ms Slattery says the nation’s access to skills and talent is under threat, investments in technology and innovation trail some of biggest global competitors and that Australia is not keeping pace as an attractive place to invest.

“Nearly 50% of the skilled engineering workforce globally will retire in the next decade,” Ms Slattery said.

“And we know that we do not have enough graduates in mining related fields to replace them.

“This is not a question of reward.

“Australian mining not only provides the highest paid jobs of all sectors domestically, but Australian mining jobs are higher paid than in Canada and the US.

“Part of the solution lies in expanding Australia’s workforce participation – and this highlights the fundamental importance of the entire industry’s work to build a more diverse and inclusive workforce.”

BHP has progressed gender diversity, with women now making up over 37% of the global miner’s workforce.

Since launching BHP FutureFit academies in Perth, WA, and Mackay, Queensland, in 2020, more than 1,300 people have participated with guaranteed jobs on completion of training.

“This is Australia’s next wave of mining technicians and tradespeople, and most of them are new to industry, female or Indigenous,” Ms Slattery said.

She also welcomed the Federal Government’s commitment of over half-a-billions dollars through Geoscience Australia to survey the country’s critical minerals resource and calls for the research and development (R&D) process here to be reinvigorated.

“[The] next generation technologies will make our exploration, development and operations safer, more sustainable and more productive,” she said.

“The AI boom is a mining boom too.

“If we need any clearer reminder of the potential of AI, in the last year Microsoft and Nvidia joined Apple in the $3 trillion club, as markets and societies began to grasp the power and potential for artificial intelligence to shape the future.

“Our industry can and should provide the leadership in technology and AI that will improve Australia’s competitiveness.”

Finally, Ms Slattery urges for a more modernised permitting system, tax settings and labour laws within the country, in line with the changing nature of competition.

“It starts with streamlining permitting – making it easier to deliver major projects,” she said.

“We are proud of the high standards the industry upholds in Australia, but we need to be smarter and do this more efficiently.

“Time to market matters.”

Ms Slattery provides examples from the US, Canada and Chile.

“In 2020, the Samuel Review found on average, complex resource-sector projects can take over 1000 days to assess and approve.

“The US introduced an Energy Permitting Reform Act this year, and the incoming Trump administration is continuing the conversation about permitting reform.

“Canada has created a Federal Permitting Coordinator and amended its Impact Assessment Act to accelerate decisions.

“In Chile, the need for a better permitting system is now recognised across the Congress, and the Government has made it a focus of its legislative agenda.

“For Australia the principles should be clear: put in place a risk-based permitting system that ensures processing timelines are certain and outcomes are reliable.”