DON Voelte’s departure from Woodside comes at a time when the business face of Perth is changing rapidly, and quite literally.
DON Voelte’s departure from Woodside comes at a time when the business face of Perth is changing rapidly, and quite literally.
As the established CEO of the major local oil and gas player, Mr Voelte’s domestic influence was inversely proportional to the multi-national rivals who had hitherto treated Western Australia as a branch office.
His departure from Woodside (although he remains a director of Seven West Media) leaves a void that is partly filled by his home-grown chairman Michael Chaney, who is also chair of National Australia Bank and vice-chancellor of the University of WA.
It would seem natural for the Australian head of Chevron, Roy Krzywosinski, to fill Mr Voelte’s spot. After all, Mr Krzywosinski is responsible for the massive Gorgon project.
But despite its significant employment base in WA, Chevron is still seen as a transplant that hasn’t quite connected with the tissue of the state – even if its head can call up the state’s leadership anytime he wants to.
And the oil and gas space has become a lot more crowded. Shell Australia chair Ann Pickard has deliberately taken a high local profile since her recent arrival and, last week, stood with Mr Barnett and Resources Minister Martin Ferguson as Shell announced final investment decision on its $11 billion Prelude project.
Add-in firms such as Conoco Phillips, Apache and Santos, which have all upped their local presence, and it is harder to see who will really fill Mr Voelte’s influential shoes – until his replacement, Peter Coleman, has a chance to get his feet well and truly under the CEO’s desk at Woodside tower.
But Perth’s faces aren’t all human.
The giant City Square development will house thousands of BHP Billiton workers, giving the Big Australian a single presence after previously being scattered across the city. This building will dominate the landscape physically more than its most senior WA-based representative Ian Ashby ever has. The shy president of its massive iron ore division is seen as a delegator of responsibility and one who shirks the limelight, leaving him perceived as less individually influential than his cross-town rival Sam Walsh, Rio Tinto’s iron ore chief, who sits on the board of the global mining player.
BHP, of course, is more than just iron ore in WA. It has nickel and petroleum interests, which make it more significant than Mr Ashby’s beat alone. It will be interesting to see if a new building means someone more senior comes to take residence in its lofty executive offices.
Most of those mentioned, it should be noted, have a significant role outside their CEO focus, be it on the boards of arts or sports bodies or through their philanthropic pursuits.
While iron ore miners and their resources cousins dominate the executive list, the directors identified as influential reflect a broader spread of industry participants.
Directors, of course, play a different role in linking the upper atmosphere of the state’s business, political and cultural circles. In many cases it is because of their past work as much as their current roles, which have earned them respect and developed long-lasting connections.
Some have direct roles on the boards of government-linked bodies while others have an understanding of WA’s consumers in critical industries such as retail.
Not much has changed in this area in terms of names, though individuals like Mark Barnaba continue to scale the ladder of influence. One newcomer is Steve Harris, who sits among the directors as chairman of the Fremantle Dockers but really showed his influence last year as an adviser to those advertising against the mining tax.
In private business, too, little has altered from last year.
Housing construction remains an important part of the economy despite its current challenges.