Industry needs respect

FORMER Australian Prime Minister John Howard says Australia is indebted to the mining industry, one of the nation’s greatest economic success stories.

Presenting the keynote address at the Diggers and Dealers Mining Forum in Kalgoorlie in August, Mr Howard said he could not understand why the coal, iron ore and oil and gas sectors continued to be denigrated.

He said the industry shouldn’t have to apologise for its existence, nor allow it to be “demonised”.

“I talk of course about the constant attacks in the name of climate change zealous on sections of your industry, particularly but not least the coal mining industry,” Mr Howard said.

“There seems to be a collective determination in some sections of the Australian community to vilify what we do best.

“I don’t need to remind an audience like this of how much we are in debt to the mining industry for the salvation of the economy of this country after the global financial crisis.”

When asked about his opinion on climate change, Mr Howard said he was “agnostic”.

He said climate change had become a “substitute religion” and the Australian Government had erred in its policy in providing “too many incentives for renewable energy”.

Mr Howard also issued a word of warning about the tense relationship between Australia’s key Asian partner, China, and the United States of America.

While it was important for Australia to maintain ties with both countries, he said their respective values and cultures needed to be taken into consideration.

“Australia will always be closer to the United States than it will be with China. That is because we share common values with the United States,” Mr Howard said.

He warned that the Chinese regime led by President Xi Jin Ping was more authoritarian than a decade ago, making it more difficult for Australia to liaise between Beijing and Washington.

“The middle class will resent being told what to do. What we are seeing in Hong Kong represents something of a glimpse of the future for the Chinese authorities,” he said.

A plethora of Peters and a lack of ladies at the forum concerned Fortescue Metals Group CEO Elizabeth Gaines, who highlighted a lack of gender diversity in the industry, in which women make up just 16pc of the workforce. Ms Gaines said there were more speakers named Peter than there were females. She was proud of the diversified FMG personnel, with almost 20pc made up of females and more than 12pc of direct employees Aboriginal, making the miner one of the largest employees of Aboriginal people in Australia. She said there was a need to build the skills base and diversity, and focus on operational excellence and sustainable investment to deliver substantial economic benefits.

Lynas Corporation, the major producer of light rare earths outside of China, will settle on either its Mt Weld rare earths mine near Laverton or an industrial site near Kalgoorlie for its proposed $500m upstream processing plant in WA. Lynas CEO Amanda Lacaze said the company aimed to get the local plant running by the end of 2022 or early 2023, with production transitioning from Malaysia in line with commissioning and ramp-up. Its existing plant in Malaysia has become the subject of environmental concern over low-level radioactive waste from the production process, with some parties calling for its closure. But Ms Lacaze said the material had the same low radioactivity levels as a processing residue as it did in its natural state in the ground.

Former Prime Minister John Howard addresses the forum.