Thank you for the introduction and the opportunity to be here today.

I would like to start by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the land on which we meet today. Here in Brisbane or Meanjin I am on the custodial lands of the Turrbal and Yuggera people and I’d like to pay my respects to their Elders past, present and to emerging leaders.

And a big thank you to everyone in the room for supporting the Queensland Resources Media Club.

As the Asset President of the BHP Mitsubishi Alliance, or BMA, and President of the Queensland Resources Council it is a pleasure to speak with you today.

No surprises here – as a 23-year industry veteran – I am deeply passionate about mining and the role of the Queensland resources sector.

I take huge pride in being part of an industry that contributes so much to Queensland and to Queenslanders.

Whether its enabling access to lifesaving care-flight services in the Bowen Basin or exporting the raw materials that is helping enable the energy transition globally.

For BMA, and more broadly BHP, we see this as our purpose in action, to bring people and resources together to build a better world.


In this context I would like to spend some time sharing my perspectives on:

What the mining sector means for Queenslanders, our impact and contribution, in tangible terms.
I will touch on some of the challenges we are facing as an industry, which are actually headwinds for our state. Because as we know, when mining does well so too does Queensland.
After that I will talk to the enormous opportunity that is within Queensland’s grasp if we can get the right policy settings in place and keep pace with the rest of the world.
Our contribution

Across the mining industry we are facing challenges; inflation pressures; disruption to supply chains; labour constraints and, of course, policy settings that are diminishing Queensland’s capacity to remain competitive alongside other mining regions in Australia and around the world.

But, as an industry, we have shown resilience in facing these challenges.

Despite operating in an environment that is rapidly changing, we continue to play a key part in meeting the global demand for essential steelmaking minerals.

And in our case at BMA that’s higher quality steelmaking coal, also known as metallurgical or coking coal.

Steelmaking coal is a primary ingredient in the conventional blast furnace steelmaking process. To put this in context it takes around 750 kilograms of coal to make one tonne of steel. The very steel that is used in the construction of cities, transport like cars, trains, and planes and, of course, the infrastructure related to the energy transition.

Queensland is known for its higher quality coal assets, having attracted decades of investment, and becoming sought after for its premium products. And this investment has translated into enormous benefits for Queenslanders.

In fact, the mining sector is the largest contributor to Queensland’s economy, the largest regional employer, and the largest export industry in the state.
As a Queensland industry if we look at a single year in FY23:

The Queensland mining industry contributed more than $116 billion dollars to the Queensland economy;
Supported more than half a million Queensland jobs – that’s 1 in 6 people.
And more than $18 billion in payments to the State Government, including in royalties.
And it’s not just about the royalties we pay, it’s about the contribution we make directly to our host communities and the areas that need it most.
If I reflect at our own contributions at BMA, our voluntary social investment has meant support for grassroots initiatives like:
Upgrading the facilities for the local bowls and football clubs; renovations for the primary schools and kindergartens and helping to keep the community connected with repairs to the local radio station, all delivered through our community grants program.
It has also meant big investments in skills and training, with almost 400 students local to the Bowen Basin having now completed a co-designed and BMA-funded Future of Work Advanced Apprenticeship program, which aims to prepare regional Australians and businesses for the future and to address skills shortages.
It has also seen innovative and collaborative partnerships delivered with Traditional Owners and First Nations communities such as the Queensland Indigenous Land Conservation Project; supporting employment opportunities; building capability and improving water quality for the Great Barrier Reef.
On the procurement front – in the last year alone – mining and energy companies spent more than $30 billion buying goods and services from nearly 16,000 Queensland businesses and supported more than 1,400 local charities and sporting clubs.
These are the contributions that make me proud.

As an industry we are amongst the largest regional employers in Queensland and our own team members make up a large portion of our local communities.
These are the areas where we have a proven track record of adding value in regional Queensland, but they’re also the areas that most concern me when we turn our minds to headwinds facing our industry.

Of course, there will always be factors outside of our control: coal prices, weather, changes in policy but by leaning on what we do best as a business, and controlling what we can, we will continue to thrive.

Our challenge
As I said before, the outlook for Queensland’s world leading higher quality steelmaking coal is robust. We have the fundamentals to deliver long-term economic opportunity for Queensland.

However, the past formula of just having good fortune, good resources and stability is changing. Drivers of the global economy are mega trends such as population growth, urbanisation and, of course, decarbonisation.

Now more than ever we need a competitive resources sector if we are to provide future generations of Queenslanders with the same opportunities we enjoy today.

The challenge for us as a business – and the industry more broadly – is the attractiveness for capital and investment in Queensland relative to opportunities in other parts of the world.

Despite the future opportunities, it is difficult to attract that investment in Queensland. The risks of sudden policy and fiscal changes being made without meaningful consultation with the industry and without consideration of their impact on the business environment have made it harder for Queensland to be competitive for this investment.

Take Nippon Steel for example, a major steelmaker and customer of Queensland’s coal mines. They have publicly stated they are concerned that capital investment in coal assets will shrink due to the implementation of policies to raise coal royalty rates in Australian states, like here in Queensland.

So much so they felt it necessary to invest in the Blackwater coal mine to secure the supply of steelmaking coal required for their own coke production. It’s not just mining companies like Nippon Steel speaking up, customers and investors alike are increasingly sharing their concerns about the long-term future of our industry in Queensland.

What the sector needs are policy and fiscal settings that give Queensland a competitive edge. Faster permitting. And an industrial relations system that delivers productivity, flexibility and competitiveness to drive job creation and wage growth.

Predictability and reduced business risk. Under those conditions, that capital will flow.

Capital is global. It will flow to where the risk-returns ratio is most attractive.

Where governments act unpredictably and unreasonably, they increase risk for investment.

We’ve seen examples of this happening here in Queensland which have generated significant concerns from the industry, particularly on how little engagement there was on such important decisions. It also reinforced to us the need to have a constructive dialogue with Government.

Constructive dialogue allows us to explore the potential negative impacts of short-sighted policy decisions that might deliver an immediate sugar-hit – to the detriment of investment and to the detriment of future generations of Queenslanders.

And that’s exactly what we’re asking for from the Government of the day. We’re asking to come back to the table and create a shared vision on how Queensland can capitalise on the great assets, people and future of the resources sector.

And I can say this because I’ve seen firsthand where it can and has worked.

When the New South Wales Government proposed their own changes to coal royalty rates, they took the time to engage with industry and sought to understand the impact these changes would have.

Being on the ground with the NSW team I was part of these discussions where the engagement was respectful; with a focus on understanding; collaboration and delivering a mutually beneficial outcome. Working together, we struck a balance between public needs and what was required to keep industry and New South Wales competitive.

Over the last two years more than $25 billion was paid in coal royalties in Queensland. After the changes the Government introduced – without discussion or consultation – an additional $9.4 billion dollars has been collected from the coal industry.

For BMA, combined with income taxes, we’re left with an adjusted effective tax rate of 58.3 per cent in Queensland. That’s a big number.

The result of this lack of engagement with industry in Queensland is that BHP now has opportunities to invest for better returns and lower risk elsewhere around the world, as well as in other Australian states like Western Australia and South Australia.

We are also seeing obstacles within the approvals space in the mining industry.

In 2016 the process to secure a mining extension under an existing Environmental Authority was roughly 18 months. Now we’re seeing this same process take more than two and half years. The Environmental Impact Statement process can now take five or more years to complete, where it was on average three up until a few years ago.

We need to strike the right balance of having robust review mechanisms, while also ensuring we have appropriate and effective policies, regulations and procedures that facilitate our sector’s contribution to sustainable development.

We’ve already seen other jurisdictions, such as in Canada, where they are streamlining and harmonising their approvals processes. Australia and Queensland should follow suit.

Streamlining approvals and permitting – without reducing standards – for new or existing projects will create jobs and opportunities including for small, local and Indigenous businesses.

I think it’s fair to say that one thing that both the Queensland Treasurer and myself, as a representative of the broader resource sector, agree on is how important the resource sector is to the Queensland economy and its people.

But when it comes to making investment decisions the resource sector thinks in the long term. What does a decision today mean for the Company over the next 20 plus years?

Every decision that impacts our communities - whether it’s access to health services, education for children or the skills required by our workforce - requires long term thinking.

Real change and sustainable long-term growth require the consideration of more than just what we need now to fix tomorrow’s problem.

The industry numbers reported today are the result of investment decisions made under very different circumstances in Queensland. How long Queensland will enjoy the legacy of decisions made when fiscal settings were different remains to be seen, but responsible planning means making decisions today that will benefit for the future.

Our opportunity

Demand for steel will continue to be strong and the world’s best quality steelmaking coal – right here in Queensland - will be in high demand decades into the future.

Roughly 40 per cent of global steelmaking coal export comes from Queensland, essential to meet the growing demand driven by markets like India and South-East Asia.

While China alone has recorded a fifth consecutive year of crude steel production of above 1 billion tonnes, we know we’re entering an era of adjustment with China’s steel production plateauing.

Crude steel production in India however has increased by over 40 per cent since the beginning of the decade, now touted as the fastest growing major economy and looking to likely make up for a proportion of China’s post-plateau era.

We’ve got nations that are rapidly building and need steel to keep up with urbanisation, population growth, the infrastructure of decarbonisation and the rise of living standards.

There is a window now for a collaborative and co-dependent effort.

Our industry is positioned to continue to perform for the benefit of all Queenslanders and the Australian economy, but we must have a government that can deliver stable policies and fiscal settings, practical approval frameworks and trading arrangements to attract the investment needed to produce the resources which underpin the global energy transition.

The world is on a path to a low emissions future. We will have substantially more people on this planet seeking higher standards of living that need to be supplied and powered by resources extracted, refined and used more sustainably. And we can contribute to that goal right here from Queensland.

So, to conclude.

We know that the outlook for Queensland’s world leading steelmaking coal is robust, with long-term demand from global steelmakers to continue several decades into the future.

BMA and the Queensland coal sector more broadly is in a strong position to support the global demand for steel and its use in the renewable energy infrastructure needed for decarbonisation – and continue investment in local jobs and in the regions where we operate.

And the opportunity is large to deliver on this for economies, societies and communities.

Change is coming fast and we all – governments, investors and the entire industry up and down the value chain – must do things better and make it easier for each other.

So, let’s get the policy settings right for investment through industry and government collaboration, let’s see our fair share of royalties back to the regions where it’s come from. But we need to make sure the fiscal circumstances are right and that we’re thinking about the long term rather than the right now.

We want to continue our contribution to Queensland and the best way of doing this is to make sure it’s a great place to invest and do business.

Thank you.