Most of the power and influence in WA is concentrated in the political and resources sectors.
Most of the power and influence in WA is concentrated in the political and resources sectors.
KING Col, Col Pot; such nicknames might seem unfair but have stuck firmly to Premier Colin Barnett, who has been seen to run Western Australia almost single-handedly for the past four years.
Such names might allude to power in the form of dictatorship, benign or otherwise, but they also reflect a growing dissatisfaction with a government concentrated on one man.
Still in only his first term as leader, Mr Barnett rules the economic powerhouse of the federation; but the political environment has become tougher.
The government goes in to the election next March with a slim majority, earned by a deal with Brendon Grylls’ Nationals WA party; it seems unlikely this equation will change.
On the home front he has a number of political battlefields – from pet projects to power cost rises, and a resurgent Labor Party led by Mark McGowan, who is scoring points from a premier who looked unassailable only a few months ago.
Beneath him, in the state’s top 10 most influential, the mix is also changing with the times – both at state and federal levels.
Former treasurer Troy Buswell has returned from the sin bin to take up the important transport portfolio.
Not only is he in charge of billions of dollars of critical infrastructure around the capital, he is also making big decisions on who will develop several major ports vital to many resources hopefuls.
Mr Buswell is also back in the leadership mix, due to his connections with power brokers in the state party.
After delivering a strong recent budget, a well-crafted pre-election effort, Treasurer Christian Porter has added to his future leadership credentials.
Mr Porter was the clear number two in state politics last year, but the return of Mr Buswell and the frayed-around-the-edges look of the government makes it less clear as to how a transition from Mr Barnett would take place.
Oddly, the fortunes of all these political players may rest with Mr Grylls, who may have less room to manoeuvre than in 2008 when he surprised everyone by becoming kingmaker. This time he is taking a big risk by changing electorates to contest the seat of Pilbara. His fortunes, too, are more tied to the Liberals after sharing four years of government with them.
Mathias Cormann is another political player in the top 10; it is his first time on our list (see Federal Labor falls from already low base, while state party rediscovers its mojo).
Senator Cormann is the federal opposition’s assistant Treasury spokesman and spokesman for financial services and superannuation. These are hefty portfolios and Senator Cormann has been landing blows. He is seen as a serious up-and-comer in the federal Liberal party, which is viewed as certain to come to power with a massive majority at the next election.
In WA he is both a thought leader within the local party and well connected into an important power base.
In some ways the inclusion of Senator Cormann among our ‘Most Influential’ top 10 is at the cost of at least one of the key global iron ore giant’s representatives – either Rio Tinto’s Sam Walsh or BHP Billiton’s Jimmy Wilson.
Mr Walsh is the established veteran of the local scene and Mr Wilson a known commodity taking on a much bigger job, replacing Ian Ashby, who has always been a low-key player in the corporate world outside BHP.
Both of the majors’ local iron ore chiefs are key players heading organisations that are shovelling billions of dollars into expanding the state’s export muscle.
But their decisions are increasingly beholden to world events and Canberra’s machinations. It is no longer just about their ability to win capital from cashed-up executive committees. BHP, for instance, has signalled it may not commit to several mega projects.
Furthermore, the mining tax that they reluctantly signed up to looks very likely to be rescinded by Senator Cormann’s party.
At the corporate end of town, money still counts.
After a year or so at the helm of local oil and gas player Woodside. Peter Coleman joins the list.
Mr Coleman is reshaping Woodside, looking overseas for investment opportunities and running the ruler over major pet projects of his predecessor Don Voelte.
While there is much conjecture over the future of projects such as James Price Point near Broome, Woodside continues to develop the site while selling down its interests in the adjacent Browse Basin gas fields to give its partners a greater share of the action.
That Mr Coleman, guided by his chairman Michael Chaney, could shift emphasis away from WA into other regions makes him a significant player in his own right.
Chevron Australia chief Roy Krzyswosninski is included because his company guiding two of the state’s major resources developments – the Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG projects.
Gorgon, on Barrow Island, has been under way for couple of years and is still officially on track to cost $43 billion, although many observers expect the ultimate cost to be more like $50 billion.
Wheatstone has only just started and is expected to cost around $29 billion. To put that in context, Chevron’s projects under way are worth as much as BHP’s three global mega-projects – Port Hedland’s outer harbour, Olympic Dam, and Canadian potash – on which it is yet to make final investment decisions.
But LNG has its challenges, too. The arrival of shale oil in the US has driven gas prices in North America down to rock bottom, fuelling that nation’s economic revival and attracting the attention of Australia’s gas customers. If the US decides to allow exports it could dramatically change the market and limit future development in our high-cost sector.
Nevertheless, those storm clouds are less threatening than the wider view that the resources boom is slowing. The major miners themselves have issued warnings over this development and most observers see this affecting mining more than gas extraction, which has typically been linked to long-term contracts.
And while both mining and gas are important drivers of the local economy at both construction and operational phases, there is an influential twist on the energy side, with the LNG players and the state government having come to an uneasy arrangement over the supply of gas to the domestic economy.
Furthermore, as BHP moves into its new Brookfield-built tower dominating the Perth skyline, Chevron is considering building its own headquarters on the CBD, adding yet more to its investment and employment impact on the state.
Iron ore still has its WA representatives on the top 10 in Gina Rinehart and Andrew Forrest. In some ways their influence is shifting from project development investment to pure wealth, with all that includes.
Mr Forrest remains a player on the national scene, especially in the important area of indigenous development where he continues to push his Aboriginal employment project.
Mrs Rinehart, who is estimated by BRW to be worth as much as $29 billion, is progressing her own development at Roy Hill, but it is really in areas such as her acquisition of media holdings such as Ten Network and Fairfax where her influence is extending by virtue of more share purchases. Rebutted by the Fairfax board after requesting a seat, Mrs Rinehart is campaigning for board representation at a media enterprise she views as leaning too far to the left.
Local media cannot be ignored either. Kerry Stokes has an unlikely mixture of mining and media assets.
While his direct investments in mining are relatively small, his Caterpillar franchises – huge cash-producing enterprises – have been lucrative. Locally, on top of his national control of Channel Seven, he has reshaped The West Australian newspaper and integrated it more closely with his television assets.