Article by Editorial, courtesy of The Australian
20.02.2026
There is plenty of food for thought in the fact that BHP, famously known as the Big Australian, now earns more money from copper mines in South America than it does from iron ore mines in Western Australia. It is both a testament to the international vision of BHP management and a warning that Australia cannot take for granted that the rivers of mining revenue that underpin our already strained federal budget will continue to flow indefinitely.
Among the mining mega-trends is that the story of iron ore is being rewritten as China opens a competitive source of product to Australia in Africa. There is also a global shift towards minerals needed to create a less carbon-intensive world. On this score, Australia is well-placed with resources but less equipped to compete with low-cost, lowregulation supplies from elsewhere. The closure of nickel mines in WA because of low-cost alternatives from Indonesia is testament to that.
The sting in the tail for the government in BHP’s latest profit result was the comment by BHP chief executive Mike Henry that Australia was sabotaging its natural advantages with onerous government regulation. Top of the list are changes to industrial relations laws that have seen trade unions push hard to reassert their influence in the Pilbara. Workplace efficiencies were hard won in the Pilbara and have underwritten decades of national prosperity, but they are under threat. Mr Henry’s message is that BHP is a global business. He has fears about what the IR changes mean for Australia’s broader economy and future investment in much-needed projects. BHP is not abandoning iron ore but the rise of copper profits from South America is a signpost of where things are heading.
