BHP joins Rio Tinto in donating to Yes campaign for the Voice

Mining giant BHP has donated $2m to the campaign to back the campaign for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.

BHP president Australia Geraldine Slattery in the Melbourne Collins St office. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Ian Currie

Mining giant BHP has donated $2m to the campaign to back the campaign for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, matching the donation of Rio Tinto.

BHP confirmed the donation on Friday, as the company released the latest update to its reconciliation action plan, which reiterates BHP’s ongoing support for a yes vote at the referendum and promises to “connect our workforce to information about a Voice and the matters it is seeking to address”.

BHP backed the movement to recognise an Indigenous voice in 2019, in its statement of support for the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and has maintained support ever since.

BHP President Minerals Australia Geraldine Slattery said on Friday the decision to back the Yes campaign with cash was “aligned with our support for broader efforts towards reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians”.

“BHP’s relationships with Indigenous Australians are fundamentally important to our company. We operate on traditional lands and we engage and partner widely with Indigenous communities and Traditional Owners. We are the largest resources sector employer of Indigenous Australians and we are a rapidly growing partner to Indigenous-owned businesses,” she said.

But, while BHP has publicly backed the campaign in favour of the Voice, Ms Slattery said the company respected that some of its staff held a different view.

“The outcome of the referendum will be determined by the Australian people. We recognise that there is a diversity of views, as may be expected for such a meaningful and important initiative,” she said.

“We will support informed, respectful discussion within our company and more broadly about the Voice, why it has been proposed and what it is seeking to address. We will provide opportunities for employees to get the information they need and feel safe to discuss different views with their colleagues and communities, so they can make their own informed decision.”

BHP joins Rio Tinto in donated towards the Yes campaign, and adds to the $17m in donations announced in April by a group of Australia’s richest philanthropists and family foundations – including $5m from the Paul Ramsay Foundation, first announced in February, and commitments from the Hansen Little Foundation, Geoff Ainsworth’s Oranges and Sardines, and The Myer Foundation.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Friday he was committed to holding a referendum on the Voice in the last quarter of 2023, despite polling that suggests support for the idea is wavering.

Mr Albanese is expected to announce a date for the referendum at the Garma Festival in Arnhem Land in early August.

Originally published as BHP joins Rio Tinto in donating to Yes campaign for the Voice