Right choices needed to stay in competition – BHP boss

Competitiveness should be the secret sauce Australia strives to serve up to make the most of the massive transformations underway in the global economy, according to BHP’s Australian president Geraldine Slattery. Speaking to an American Chamber of Commerce function, Ms Slattery posed the question of what it would take for Australia to become a critical minerals superpower. The demands of the energy transition should bode well for Australia, with current major export commodities set to continue to be in demand for decades while the growing demand for copper, nickel and other critical minerals provided the basis for continued economic strength, she said. "But the future won’t be gifted to Australia. It can only be achieved with deliberate effort, and the right choices," she said. "To maintain Australia’s economic resilience, we will need to step up again and outcompete other nations. "And to achieve that, we will need the same three factors that got us to this point to take us forward, that is: the rocks, the skills, and stability for investment." BHP president Australia Geraldine Slattery. In the foothills of a critical minerals boom, Australia had high-quality but immaturely developed resources, with a dwindling talent pool, and a less certain investment environment, she said. Where know-how had once been one of Australia’s biggest advantages, Ms Slattery said the talent pipeline was drying up. The number of mining engineering graduates in Australia dropped by 74 per cent between 2015 and 2022, for example. Coupled with a shrinking talent pool, Ms Slattery said the cost of labour continued to rise in Australia. "Australia has one of the highest labour costs in the world – around 12 per cent higher than in the US," she said. "We are proud to be a high-paying industry, especially when you consider that many of the employment and business opportunities our sector generates are in regional areas. However, we need to match that position with sector-leading productivity. "That’s not happening today, in fact labour productivity has declined by 8 per cent while labour costs have doubled. Clearly, this is not sustainable." Ms Slattery said also that the third critical dimension of competitiveness - stability for investment - had taken a hit in Australia lately. Industry and government had a shared responsibility to work together to create the conditions needed to bring more capital into Australia to fund the nascent critical minerals sector, she said. Ms Slattery acknowledged the energy, urgency and good will in the conversation around how Australia could capitalise on the massive transformations underway in the global economy. "What hasn’t yet been crystalised is a shared vision on where our country can go... a goal to which we can all strive: a national secret sauce that will set Australia apart, and set Australia up for success. "I believe the secret sauce should be competitiveness. Recapturing Australia’s competitiveness is a national ambition where we all benefit."

Right choices needed to stay in competition – BHP boss

Industry Queensland

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