Rio Tinto : Melbourne Mining Club Script

Melbourne Mining Club

Kellie Parker, Rio Tinto Chief Executive Australia

Friday 5 August 2022

** Check against delivery **

I would like to start by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the lands on which we meet today, the Bunurong Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples of the Eastern Kulin Nation.

I extend that respect to all Traditional Owners on whose land on which we live, work and operate. I also pay my respects to their Elders, past and present, and to other Indigenous Australians who are joining us today. I also acknowledge the rich and enduring cultural heritage of Aboriginal people who have traditional ownership and custodial responsibilities; I acknowledge their continuing deep connection to the land and waters.

Since commencing in my role as Chief Executive Australia in March last year, I have had the privilege to meet with many Indigenous leaders and communities across Australia. With each interaction, I continue to learn, grow and understand, and I remain humbled by their generosity of spirit and willingness to share with us.

Gavan has already called out some of the VIPS in attendance today, including Chairman Richard Morrow and Patrons Hugh Morgan and Leigh Clifford.

I too would also like to recognise the contribution to the success of Australia's resources sector that all of these leaders have made.

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Everyone in this room would be quick to acknowledge that the strength, scale and success of the mining sector in Australia today reflects the foresight and courage shown by generations past.

In my two decades with Rio Tinto, I have long understood that our industry stands on the shoulders of giants.

At Rio Tinto, no figure looms larger than former CEO Leigh Clifford.

When it comes to Australia's business community, or across Rio, if you mention the name 'Leigh' everyone knows who you are talking about.

These days it is Leigh Clifford AC, after his elevation to the Companion of the Order of Australia in the recent Queen's Birthday Honours List. It's appropriate that we acknowledge that honour today amongst friends. Congratulations Leigh.

Leigh started his 37 years at Rio working as an assistant surveyor and went on to become the CEO from 2000 to 2007.

Leigh was running Rio Tinto when I joined the company in 2001 so for me, he is deeply linked to my company's contemporary history.

He played an integral role in accelerating China's role as a customer of Australian commodities and, just as importantly, left his mark through his leadership trademarks of innovation and reform - whether it be workplace practices, technology or the Australian economy.

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I know I'm entering dangerous territory singling out one of Melbourne's favourite adopted sons (particularly with his home ground advantage in this room) but when I heard Leigh was attending today, I thought I'd take a sneak peek at one of his old Melbourne Mining Club speeches.

Whether it was for inspiration - or just plain old curiosity - I'm not sure, it was probably a mix of both.

And there he was - 20 years ago this month at the Melbourne Town Hall - talking up some themes familiar to everyone in the room.

The paramount importance of safety; the need for the sector to continually improve productivity; and, before the boom, expounding on the potential for the sector of growing the market to China.

All topics that I'm sure he would go on to revisit in other forums countless times during his tenure as CEO.

Leigh even went on to reference the advantages of renewable power and touched on the challenges mining companies face in engaging with local communities.

Now we all know mining is a long-term industry. But two decades later, these issues are still being discussed at the Rio Tinto board table, arguably with more significance than ever.

So, 20 years on, in my address today I'd like to share my thoughts on how Rio Tinto views community engagement amid a company-wide cultural reset and the role of renewables in the energy transition.

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Firstly, community engagement.

Leigh made the point that "communities have a voice, and they want to be heard".

For companies across Australia, effective community engagement is more relevant today than ever before.

Societal expectations - for corporations, governments and community organisations are higher than ever - and there are increasingly accessible avenues to ensure these views are clearly articulated and shared widely.

For the mining sector in 2022, we are juggling the fallout from the challenges of global geopolitical uncertainty and rapidly changing societal expectations.

And I can almost hear Leigh muttering across the table: "so what's new? I was talking about this 20 years ago!"

There's an argument, however, that the pace of change is now faster than ever.

Rio Tinto understands this dynamic acutely.

Since my appointment as Chief Executive, Australia, 18 months ago, I have spent a lot of time engaging with our stakeholders right across Australia as part of a reset of the business under our CEO, Jakob Stausholm.

This has involved a lot of listening.

I needed to hear first-hand what our stakeholders were thinking.

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Traditional Owners, employees, Rio Tinto alumni, governments, investors, partners, suppliers, civil society and many others. Not just our supporters, but some of our most vocal critics.

While many of my conversations have been confronting, they have been invaluable in replotting our engagement in Australia.

Encouragingly, my takeaway was that, overwhelmingly, the common thread across my stakeholder conversations was a desire for Rio Tinto to thrive and to succeed in repositioning the business for sustainable success.

Everyone understands why a strong and sustainable resources sector is good for Australia. Everyone also understands why it's important for Rio Tinto to get the reset right.

While Rio Tinto has made some significant progress, I am the first to acknowledge we have a long way to go.

We recognise there were some serious underlying issues well before the terrible events at Juukan Gorge in 2020.

Much of this related to culture. It is widely acknowledged that culture is the foundation for performance and crucial to effectively executing strategy.

We now recognise we had placed too much emphasis on business performance.

We had focused too much on our short-term needs and transactional dealings, and neglected the connections and rapports that we spent so long building over the previous generation.

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