The Chamber of Minerals and
Energy of Western Australia
The Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western
Australia (CME) exists to champion the Western
Australian resources sector and assist it in achieving its
vision to lead the world in sustainable practice through
innovation and to underpin Australia’s position in the
global economy.
CME is a persuasive industry voice, adding value to
our member companies in a dynamic and increasingly
complex operating environment.
In order to achieve this, CME strives to:
•
lead policy development on issues impacting
on the resources sector
•
promote the value of the sector to the community
•
represent the views and advocate the needs of
our members
•
provide an avenue by which the membership and
stakeholders are able to collaborate
CME represents companies directly involved in
the resource sector (including mining, oil and gas)
or those providing services to it.
For more information please visit
www.cmewa.com
or contact Graeme Healey on (08) 9325 2955
Rio Tinto’s partnership
with the Royal Flying
Doctor Service enables
patients from as far
away as the Kimberley
and the Pilbara to
be airlifted by the
Rio
Tinto Life Flight
jet
to emergency care
legitimate interest in working with Rio Tinto.
This past decade has seen unprecedented growth in Western
Australia and, whatever the ups and downs of commodity
cycles and economic tides, that growth will continue.
Such times are exciting. However, with this momentum
comes responsibility to our employees, shareholders and other
stakeholders to make sure that as we grow, we are consultative
about our plans and activities, we address sustainability
matters and we add value. In short, we are determined that our
growth will have a positive impact on host communities and
will contribute to
their
growth.
We now have more than 11,000 people permanently
employed in our Western Australian iron ore business alone.
That figure will surely rise over the next five to 10 years as we
expand our business and build on our success. Overall growth
will require, for example, access to educated local workforces,
skilled and professional contracting services, engaged public
and civil sectors, and a workable regulatory framework.
Our business engagement model requires us to address all
stakeholders. An integral part is to invest resources to make
‘
better’ communities, both those in the Pilbara in which our
employees will live and work, as well as those from which our
employees may fly to the Pilbara on a regular basis.
Rio Tinto has been in Western Australia for nearly 50 years,
and will be here for a long time to come. We recognise that we
take a lot out of WA – literally – and we want to ‘put back’ in a
meaningful manner. It is the right thing to do.
We also know that we cannot do all this by ourselves,
which is why we partner with others who share our values
and goals, particularly in statewide significant projects that
inspire long-term solutions in education, health, environment
and culture. In Western Australia, we address these via
the Rio Tinto Community Investment Fund, which is our
principal community investment vehicle for programmes of
state significance.
One of the great challenges of community investment is that
there is no rule book. There are no ‘rights’ and ‘wrongs’ about
how much, where or how often to invest. This is salient learning
from more than 350 community health, education, cultural and
environmental programmes which we invested in last year.
But one thing has become clear to us – support partnerships
or sponsorships not only have a clear community benefit, they
also have alignment with core business.
We would recommend that businesses look at developing
partnerships, rather than just giving donations. This means
investing the time and effort in building shared objectives and
outcomes, and ensuring there are suitable resources from each
partner to service the project and the relationship.