BHP’s Slattery says Australia must cut red tape, power costs, to compete

MELBOURNE (Reuters) -BHP’s head of Australia, Geraldine Slattery, said on Wednesday the country must speed up environmental approvals and boost access to cheap power if it hopes to compete for mining investment capital with other nations.

The comments from the world’s biggest listed miner underscore rising competition for capital with nations like the United States that are ramping up mining friendly policies to spur development of an alternative supply chain to dominant producer China.

Slattery outlined what she said Australia needed “to compete in the global market”.

“This is not a small matter, it’s a linchpin to make the resources and many other sectors more productive,” Slattery said, in reference to permitting timeframes, in remarks prepared for a conference in Western Australia.