Peter Lindsay (Herbert, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This might initially feel as if it is not a constituency statement, but in fact it is. I want to report to the parliament about a visit I made to BHP’s Ravensthorpe operation in Western Australia—about as far as you can get from Townsville. What BHP is doing in Ravensthorpe is so important to my city. Ravensthorpe is a nickel mine and it produces a nickel oxide product which is then put in containers and shipped to Townsville to be processed into nickel metal and cobalt by the Yabulu nickel refinery in my city. Yabulu is a major employer in Townsville, and a quality employer, as BHP is around the country. It is very important to my city; it is part of the lifeblood of the mining industry, along with careers in Sun Metals and Xstrata’s copper refinery in the city. Being able to take this product from Ravensthorpe extends the life of Yabulu. It has also resulted in a very significant upgrade to the city, with almost $1 billion being pumped into it. The Ravensthorpe nickel operation comprises an open-cut mine and a hydrometallurgical process plant. It will have the capacity to produce up to 50,000 tonnes of contained nickel and 1,400 tonnes of cobalt in a mixed hydroxide product. That is then shipped from the deepwater port of Esperance to our Yabulu refinery in Townsville.

I want to pay tribute to BHP Billiton in relation to their zero harm policy, which covers all of their sites in Australia and the world. They truly put into practice their belief that health, safety, environment and community excellence are intrinsically linked to the successful business outcomes that they have. For example, I was at Olympic Dam recently, and their zero harm policy ensures that the workers in that uranium mine receive less radiation than pilots do who are flying aeroplanes around the world. That policy applies wherever you go on BHP sites. It is a truly magnificent aspiration that BHP have.

The construction of this whole project began in 2004. It is now finished; it is now operating. Yabulu is steaming ahead, as is Ravensthorpe. I congratulate BHP on their foresight and investment in our country to value-add before the product is exported overseas.