Deal to give miners united voice

MINERS will have a united national voice on key issues for the first time following a landmark alliance between the states’ mining chambers and the industry’s peak lobby group, the Canberra-based Minerals Council of Australia.

The alliance was sealed last week when the various state and federal bodies enacted a revamped proposal, which had been drafted by the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia.

The WA-drafted revamp enshrines the independence of the state chambers and ensures the MCA does not have a controlling influence.

When the MCA first flagged an amalgamation of state bodies in April last year, it was backed by some of the nation’s largest miners but was viewed by some state bodies as an attempted federal takeover of their responsibilities.

In particular, it was feared the voices of smaller miners would be drowned out by more powerful interests in Canberra with more sway over the MCA.

Under the terms of the alliance now in effect, a two-tiered structure has been created to give the industry a united voice on key national issues, such as uranium mining, national health and safety regulations, and climate change.

However, the state chambers will remain independent and will continue to represent their members over state-based issues and on national issues, where the interests of members may differ along state lines.

Under the new structure, a committee comprising the presidents of the various state chambers and MCA will meet quarterly to determine which issues should be subject to a national unified position, and what that position should be.

The ‘presidents group’ will base its decisions on recommendations from an underlying ‘chief executives group’ made up of chief executives from each of the state and federal bodies.

The MCA will not chair either group, and the chairman of each committee must come from a different state. Both positions will be rotated annually.

Xstrata Coal executive Mick Buffier, who heads the New South Wales Minerals Council, has been selected to chair the presidents group. A decision on who will chair the chief executives group will be made shortly, possibly as soon as the end of the month.

Kim Horne, president of the WA chamber, said the alliance should deliver significant benefits for industry.

“This will improve alignment and efficiency,” Mr Horne told WA Business News.

“The presidents will determine the five or six key items that make sense for us to be aligned on. We will then determine who does the policy work ... and once we all agree on a policy, everyone will use the same position, and nobody else has had to do the work on that issue.”

Mr Horne said a key feature of the revised alliance was that the body would only adopt a national position on matters where all state bodies agreed, and that they could continue to adopt their own stance on matters where their members’ interests were not aligned.

“What we didn’t like about the initial proposal was it looked like the MCA would decide all things for everyone and we would all just tag along,” he said. “We’re not about that and nor are the other states. What we are now is a group of equals.”

It was also important to remember that more than 80 per cent of the WA chamber’s work involved dealing with the state government on issues specific to the local industry, and that would not change.

The alliance comes amid a weakening of another federal mining-based lobby group, the Australian Mines and Metals Association, which has lost mining giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto as members.

Their withdrawal followed AMMA’s outspoken criticism of the Rudd government’s industrial relations regime. While the companies have said they prefer direct advocacy, it is believed they had become uncomfortable with AMMA’s strident public attacks on the government.

Mr Horne noted that the WA chamber currently enjoyed record membership, reflecting its responsiveness to the interests of its members. BHP and Rio are both members.