with more than 50 Aboriginal businesses. Of those businesses,
80%
were majority Aboriginal owned.
I have been building relationships with Aboriginal people
for most of my life and have seen firsthand that passive
income only ever delivers a passive response, so Fortescue
is immensely proud that we challenged the prevailing wisdom on
the relationship between mining and Aboriginal communities.
We want our Aboriginal communities to be active partners
in prosperity, not passively dependent on mining handouts.
Because an Aboriginal business employs on average eight
to 10 times more Aboriginal people than a non-Aboriginal
business, by making a commitment to build Aboriginal business
capability, we are also helping to create long-term jobs and
generate economic returns.
The contracts we award are not charity. They are not
handouts. These contracts are awarded based on commercial
criteria and the ability to deliver. Fortescue helps these
companies stand on their own feet, but they have to walk
by themselves.
We consider it a badge of honour that the Aboriginal
scholar Marcia Langton AM has called on Fortescue’s
Billion
Opportunities
model to be rolled out across Australia. Professor
Langton says, “I think FMG’s come up with a great model.
It is not just about employing people – although that is a very
worthwhile goal – it’s also about making sure that Aboriginal
businesses are treated on merit but also at the same time,
making sure they’re not marginalised by the necessarily
onerous processes that are involved in tendering”.
Another way Fortescue has sought to deliver more than
passive income is through our Vocational Training and
Education Centres (VTEC). The VTEC model has proven more
successful than we could have imagined.
It is a simple but compelling idea. At the end of training
with Fortescue, you are guaranteed a job. This has led to record
interest in enrolments and VTEC graduates make up a large
proportion of Fortescue’s 461 Aboriginal employees – about
12%
of our workforce – and the 504 Aboriginal employees with
our contracting partners.
The VTEC model shares the same DNA as
Billion
Opportunities
.
The philosophy behind the program is that we
will do as much as we can to help others overcome entrenched
disadvantage, but there is always an expectation they will also
help themselves.
Our team at VTEC addresses the barriers that prevent
Aboriginal people from getting a job. They work with each
person to overcome their individual obstacles. The VTEC
model provided the inspiration for the
Generation One
program
which will form the cornerstone of the Abbott government’s
Aboriginal employment initiatives.
For many of us at Fortescue, however, the greatest honour
is to watch the people we help succeed, like Sue Bung and
her company.
That initial hire contract of four machines soon increased to
seven. NEMMS then formed a joint venture with Western Plant
Hire (WPH) and expanded to sign a crushing and screening
contract with us. Shortly NEMMS will start rehabilitation work
at our Cloudbreak mine. The total value of our contracts with
NEMMS WPH currently exceeds $20 million.
As Sue says: “We’re not exactly rich yet or anything but
we came from a very poor background, like many Aboriginal
people, and I am just proud that we’ve come this far”.
So are we Sue, so are we.
Traditional owners at the
commissioning of the
Firetail mine at Solomon
»
1.33
m ounce JORC Mineral Resource
»
Ore Reserve 741,000 ounces
»
Mine life 7.5 years
»
1.5
Mtpa CIL process plant
»
First gold poured Sept 2012
Millennium Minerals Limited - An Emerging Gold Producer
ASX: MOY Telephone: +61 (08) 9216 9011 Email:info@mmltd.com.au
www.mmltd.com.au
Operating the Nullagine Gold Project
East Pilbara District
Fortescue CEO Nev Power and Yindjibarndi Elders and
Traditional Owners (L-R) Berry Malcom, Diana Smith,
Bruce Monadee, Maudie Davey and Aileen Sandy