BHP to stick with Minerals Council

Peter KerResources reporter

Apr 29, 2020 – 12.01am

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BHP is expected to continue its membership of the NSW Minerals Council, despite previously flagging concerns over its public advocacy on climate and energy policy.

The miner put the NSW Minerals Council on notice in December, naming the lobby group as one of four in the world it was considering quitting.

BHP expects its lobby groups to equally prioritise emissions reduction alongside the affordability and reliability of electricity, and it also wants them to publicly endorse the goals of the 2015 Paris climate agreement.

BHP said in its 2019 review of industry association memberships that it was mostly content with the NSW Minerals Council's official climate and energy policies, but it was more concerned with public commentary made by council representatives.

In a bid to illustrate its concerns, the miner highlighted public attacks on politicians by NSW Minerals Council representatives for being ''obsessed with setting emissions targets over delivering affordability and reliability for families and businesses".

''In recent times, however, the NSWMC has used language and arguments that suggest the association believes emissions reduction should be deprioritised relative to, or is incompatible with, affordability and reliability,'' BHP said in its December report.

BHP is yet to officially clarify whether it will stay or leave the lobby group, but multiple industry sources said they understood BHP was set to remain a member.

Confirmation may come as early as Thursday, when BHP chief executive Mike Henry is due to conduct a shareholder briefing.

BHP's review of its NSW Minerals Council membership comes two years after the miner threatened to quit the national equivalent if the council's public advocacy did not value emissions reduction as highly as the affordability and reliability of electricity.

That process coincided with the departure of Brendan Pearson from the chief executive's post at the MCA. Mr Pearson and BHP were at odds over the Clean Energy Target that former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull had sought to introduce.

Like Mr Turnbull, the Clean Energy Target was ultimately abandoned by the Coalition government.

The Minerals Council has since vowed to take a "technology neutral'' approach to energy policy.

BHP opted to remain a member of the Minerals Council and has since talked up the work the lobby group does in lower-profile areas than climate policy, including around workplace safety and skills.

While they are closely aligned, the NSW Minerals Council is a separate legal entity to the MCA.

The other three lobby groups put on notice by BHP in December were the Mining Association of Canada, the United States Chamber of Commerce, and the American Petroleum Institute.

Even if BHP does stick with the NSW Minerals Council this week, many industry insiders do not expect it to be a long-term fixture at the lobby group, amid expectations that BHP will soon exit its last remaining mine in the state; the Mount Arthur thermal coal mine in the Hunter Valley.

BHP has been studying options to exit the mine, but extremely low prices for the commodity have complicated that process.

Peter Ker covers resource companies for The Australian Financial Review, based in Melbourne. Connect with Peter on Twitter. Email Peter at pker@afr.com