BHP Billiton S Africa : Andrew Mackenzie Meets with Pilbara Indigenous Community

CEO, Andrew Mackenzie, took the opportunity to meet with representatives from the Pilbara Indigenous community during his visit to Port Hedland this week.

He met with the Traditional Owners of the Port Hedland region, the Kariyarra people, and representatives from Pilbara Aboriginal Voice, (PAV).

The group spoke about some of the key issues facing their community in the Pilbara, about the importance of building a strong relationship between BHP and Indigenous stakeholders and about a joint desire to work more closely together to design programs, targets and strategies that will see real outcomes for the Indigenous community in the Pilbara.

Andrew congratulated the Kariyarra people on their recent native title determination and heard directly from Pilbara Indigenous people on the issues that matter most to their communities.

'We have a significant footprint in the Pilbara and are committed to our important and enduring connection to the local Indigenous community, and we recognise we must do more to ensure that Traditional Owners in particular are sharing in the successes that we have experienced as a mining company operating in this area,' said Andrew.

'Through open and direct conversations such as the ones we have had yesterday, BHP can better appreciate the issues important to the Indigenous communities in which we operate and the advancement of Indigenous circumstance more broadly.'