Australia needs to cut permitting times or risk being left behind in the transition boom, BHP says
Australia’s natural advantages in coal and iron ore don’t apply to the minerals needed for the energy transition, so we need to slash red tape and spur innovation, BHP’s Australian head says.
Australia is not keeping pace as an attractive place to invest and risks falling behind global peers in areas such as major project permitting, BHP president Australia Geraldine Slattery has warned.
Speaking at the Melbourne Mining Club on Thursday, Ms Slattery said the competitive advantage Australia has enjoyed for decades, provided by our vast reserves of iron ore and coal, did not apply to the minerals needed for the energy transition.
She said Australia needed to lift its game in areas such as project permitting and tax and industrial relations settings, skills development and innovation.
“Australia must avoid the trap of taking our history for granted,’’ she said.
“Let me offer a blunt assessment. Our access to skills and talent is under threat.
“Our investments in technology and innovation trail some of our biggest global competitors. “And we are not keeping pace as an attractive place to invest.”
Ms Slattery said a major roadblock for the industry was the extended timeframes for the permitting of major projects, with the Samuel review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act handed down in 2020 finding that, on average, complex resource sector projects took more than 1000 days to assess and approve.
“Of course, inefficient regulation leads to project delays,’’ Ms Slattery said.
“Governments are figuring this out.
“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.” Ms Slattery said Australia should introduce a risk-based permitting system “that ensures processing timelines are certain and outcomes are reliable”.
The Samuel review of the EPBC Act found that it was “not trusted by industry” which found it cumbersome, and legal challenges were “being used as a tool to delay projects and drive up costs for business (often called ‘lawfare’)’’.
The review also found that community respondents to its submissions process distrusted the Act, finding “many in the community do not trust the EPBC Act to deliver for the environment’’.
The review recommended greater consistency and harmonisation of environmental laws across all levels of government.
Ms Slattery said tax settings and labour laws were important to maintaining Australia’s competitiveness, with BHP a staunch opponent of the Albanese government’s Same Job, Same Pay laws, which came into effect in December 2023.
“It remains our view that the industrial relations changes of the past two years will raise costs, reduce productivity and take us backwards in our ability to compete globally,” she said.
On the innovation front, Ms Slattery said she looked forward to the findings from the federal government’s research and development review, announced this week and led by Tesla chair Robyn Denholm.
Ms Slattery said R&D investment as a share of the economy was growing rapidly in other first world nations but was slowing in Australia.
“Today we find ourselves in the energy transition – one of the great industrial shifts in history,” she said.
“All of us here know that shift will not occur without the minerals Australia provides.
“Amid this global economic realignment, Australia must avoid the trap of taking our history for granted. We must recognise that the playing field has shifted.
“We cannot change the rocks we have, but we can change the enablers and settings in their discovery, extraction and development.
“If the sector, government and investors work together, the opportunity is immense, and we can truly compete and succeed.”
More Coverage
