The forum, chaired by special envoy Peter Beattie, held its first meeting in Perth on November 25.
It is expected to produce a document on innovation.
There also will be two working parties – one looking at how suppliers can finance their growth and the other to look at how they can win work.
Beattie said the first forum meeting had drawn some frank discussion but had been held in a positive spirit that boded well for future meetings.
Innovation Minister Kim Carr said the forum’s first meeting identified questions around bidding processes for contract work, questions of capitalisation, questions of capacity and questions of skills shortages.
Interestingly, it seems, none of them raised questions about the impact the Minerals Resource Rent Tax might have on the sector.
Perhaps it is just as well given the response from Resources Minister Martin Ferguson.
“There was broad support for the government’s [MRRT] initiative that passed on Wednesday,” he said.
Clearly Ferguson had not been speaking widely to the smaller mining sector, which panned the mining tax arrangements.
That aside, the government was able to attract a high-calibre forum, drawing a who’s who of the resources sector.
From the resource companies are Chevron Australia greater Gorgon area general manager Colin Beckett, Newcrest Mining corporate affairs executive general manager Stephen Creese, Woodside Energy Australia business executive vice president Lucio Della Martina, Xstrata Coal chief executive Peter Freyberg and Rio Tinto Australia managing director David Peever.
Representing engineering, procurement and construction management concerns are Bechtel Asia Pacific mining and metals general manager James Connor and Kvaerner vice president and chief of staff of energy development and services Jeanette Roberts.
On the engineering, manufacturing, mining technology and services side are Yerrin Connection director Christine Charles, Bluescope director Noel Cornish, GASCO managing director Nick Grzegorczyn, Hofmann Engineering managing director Erich Hofmann, Gekko Systems managing director Elizabeth Lewis-Gray, MSP Engineering managing director Peter McSweeney, Russell Mineral Equipment managing director Dr John Russell, Hills Holdings group managing director Graham Twartz and former Newcrest chief executive officer and soon-to-be Orica managing director and CEO (starting in February) Ian Smith.
Austmine chairman Alan Broome, Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association chief executive David Byers, Minerals Council of Australia CEO Mitch Hooke, Australian Steel Institute chief executive Don McDonald and QMI Solutions CEO Jim Walker represent industry associations.
Academia is represented by CSIRO group executive manufacturing, materials and minerals Dr Calum Drummond and University of Queensland Sustainable Minerals Institute director Professor Chris Moran.
Besides the industry representation are three union representatives – Australian Workers’ Union national secretary Paul Howes, Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union national secretary Michael O’Connor and Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union national secretary Dave Oliver.
This story first appeared in ILN's sister publication Miningnews.net.
