WHILE the state government fights to retain its influence over offshore oil and gas development, the WA Chamber of Minerals and Energy has effectively fended off an attempted Canberra takeover.
In April, a majority of the nation’s biggest miners endorsed a proposal by the Minerals Council of Australia to merge all state-based chambers to create a more focused and cost effective minerals lobby.
However, the plan was opposed by local miners who were fearful their views would be drowned out by more powerful interests from Canberra.
The WA chamber subsequently forged a compromise deal under which the various state chambers will work more closely with the MCA on high-level issues but retain their independence over matters more specific to their home states.
The proposal has won preliminary backing by all relevant organisations, which will formally vote on the proposal by the end of the year.
WA chamber chief executive Reg Howard-Smith said members recognised the need for a strong state organisation, and that its role could not simply be filled by a federal body.
“Over 90 per cent of our work is within state jurisdiction, so you really need a close relationship with key stakeholders, not the least being the state government,” he said.
“And to have those close relationships, you have to be based here.”
The local gold industry is understood to have been particularly opposed to the MCA plan, given the MCA’s disastrous takeover of the Australian Gold Council in 2006.
One senior WA gold representative said the sector had become almost invisible in Canberra since the demise of the council.
“Basically, the MCA is about iron ore and coal, and everyone else just has to get into line,” the representative told WA Business News.
