Ms Davies questions the Premier on the failure to secure unpaid royalties from BHP and whether approvals were threatened. The Premier states they are working towards a resolution, highlighting BHP's significant employment contribution and denying any threats to approvals.

AnsweredQoN 313Legislative Assembly
Asked
7 May 2019
Portfolio
Premier

QuestionView source ↗

BHP — UNPAID
ROYALTIES
313. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Premier:
I refer to the dispute over unpaid
royalties owed to the people of Western Australia between the state government
and BHP.
(1) Why has the
Premier failed to secure this $300-plus million, despite telling ABC radio on
12 February that he is ''Pretty hard about the fact that they owe us
some money.''
(2) Has the
Premier or other ministers in his government threatened to withhold any
approvals related to BHP until the money owed is recovered?

AnswerView source ↗

(1)–(2) We will continue to work towards a resolution on
that matter. The State Solicitor, I and other people in my office are engaged
in that conversation with BHP. I look forward to an amicable resolution to that
issue, hopefully, in the coming weeks or months. Obviously, BHP employs
directly around 13 000 Western Australians, another 12 000 or 13 000
contractors and a range of people indirectly, so we want to continue to have a good
relationship with BHP. To the best of my knowledge, no-one has threatened any
approvals.

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