Originally published by Adrian Rauso of The West Australian.
Australia is becoming a “significantly harder” place to do business, BHP WA iron ore boss Tim Day warns, ramping up implicit threats by the Big Australian that more of its investment may shift overseas.
Mr Day on Wednesday is set to address the Hedland Economic Forum, where he will tout a company record $1.1 billion community spend by BHP in WA this year.
BHP is a major part of WA’s resources sector, which contributes $11.7b to the State Government annually — enough to sustain the wages of every public nurse, doctor and police officer in WA — Mr Day will highlight.
But his keynote speech also launches a thinly-veiled swipe at Australia’s policymakers, adding to BHP’s numerous previous warnings the country’s economy has a productivity problem — making it increasingly less attractive for investment.
“We’re competing globally for capital. Australia has enormous advantages, but we can’t assume the next generation of investment will simply come here,” Mr Day will say.
“Business in Australia is getting harder — significantly harder.
“The Pilbara isn’t simply competing with other mining regions in Australia. We’re on a global stage, and attracting investment matters.”
BHP chair Ross McEwan last month said Australia should be more like Canada when it comes to attracting investment.
“It (Canada) has recently announced a Productivity Mega Deduction, which allows businesses to immediately deduct the full cost of eligible capital investments,” Mr McEwan said at the time.
“For mining, Canada also makes mine development costs fully deductible in the year they are incurred. That matters. It lowers the tax burden on new investment. It improves returns.
“And it gives companies greater confidence to commit capital.”
Just a week before Mr McEwan’s comments, The West Australian revealed BHP would sack up to 300 workers from its Pilbara iron ore mines.
“We are making some changes to ensure our WA iron ore business can continue to make a significant contribution to the Pilbara and WA and continue to be a major employer in the State,” a BHP spokesman said of the job cuts.
But Mr Day is expected to end his speech at the Hedland Economic Forum on a positive note.
“We should be ambitious for Hedland, ambitious for the Pilbara and ambitious for Western Australia. We have world-class resources. Extraordinary infrastructure and capability. And above all, people who know what this region is capable of,” he will say.
“We owe it to the giants that came before us to keep driving prosperity for the generations behind us. The future is ours to build. Let’s go after it.”
BHP’s $1.1b WA community spend for 2026 takes its cumulative total since 2014 to $7.7b.
