ROGER COOK: Thank you, everyone, for joining us here at Paraburdoo. It’s great to be here with Federal Resources Minister Maddie King, local Mines Minister David Michael, but also joined by Jakob Stausholm and Simon Trott from Rio Tinto. It’s great to be here to celebrate the opening of the Western Range mining project. And like so many iron ore projects in the Pilbara, it continues to make Western Australia the economic engine room of the nation. Western Range is set to play a critical role in supporting both Western Australia’s and the nation’s prosperity. And WA has the strongest economy in the nation, which was borne out by the ABS data recently. We want to keep it that way. My government is focused, working day in, day out, to maintain the strength of our economy, continuing to get great projects like this up, backing in the ingenuity and the determination of the joint venture partners here at Western Range – Rio Tinto and Baowu Group.This means that we’ll continue to make sure that resources play a central role in our economy, making sure that we can continue to provide the iron ore and the precursor products to continue building our great cities and countries around the world. With about $1 billion worth of contracts awarded to the Pilbara-based contractors who work in the Western Range project, we also underscore the importance of these projects for local jobs, for local businesses and continuing to support local communities. Behind every contractor is a boss. Behind every boss is a great group of workers. Behind every great group of workers there is families, and families living in the communities which are supported by these incredible projects. I’d like to acknowledge the great work by Rio Tinto and Baowu Group in working with the local traditional owners, the Yinhawangka people, who have a significant role in the design and the deployment of this particular project on their ancient and sacred country. This is about continuing to make sure that mining plays an ongoing role in our community. But it’s more than just mining – it’s about WA’s continuity as a secure and attractive place to invest. I want Western Australia to be a global leader in investment attraction, industry facilitation and regulation. And we’ll continue to work with great countries like the – companies like these to ensure that we can continue to advance the Western Australian community, creating great Western Australian jobs and supporting the national economy. Thank you.

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Thank you very much, Premier. And thanks to you for coming here today, and also to Minister David Michael, the Western Australian Minister for Mines and Petroleum, as well. And also very importantly, thanks to the traditional owners of the land on where we’re here today, the Yinhawangka people, and thank you for their generosity of spirit in welcoming us here today but also in the management – care and management plan that they have agreed to with the Baowu Group and Rio Tinto to enable the development of the Western Range iron ore mine you can see operating behind us here today. It really is a remarkable project – 50 years of collaboration between Rio Tinto and Baowu Group and its predecessors that have led to this moment and will lead to many more decades to come of such really important trade and investment relationship. The iron ore of the Pilbara has built the great cities of China and will continue to do so for decades to come. As the Premier has said, it’s a remarkable relationship that we have. It is the ballast behind the bilateral relationship between Australia and China, and that is found right here in the Pilbara from the historic time in the 80s when that first big Chinese investment came into this very place. It will continue to be the bedrock of the prosperity not only of Western Australia but of the nation as a whole. And as the Australian Minister for Resources, I’m deeply proud of what Rio Tinto and Baowu Group have achieved here over the decades and will achieve into the future, and doing that with traditional owners, Yinhawangka people. So, it’s a very important day, not to be underestimated. And as we can all see and here, work never stops here at the Western Range, which is a remarkable part of the activity here in Paraburdoo that provides for jobs for workers locally, for contractors, for those that fly in and fly out to service this great enterprise that is the Pilbara iron ore region for both us as Australians but also for our friends partners in China. And with that, I’m handing over to Jakob.

JAKOB STAUSHOLM: Well, thank you, all of you, to come up here today. What a beautiful day on this beautiful country, the Yinhawangka country. I could not be more proud to be here with Minister King and with Premier Cook. And, as they have explained, in a way, opening this mine represents a continuation of a tremendous history of Australia, of Western Australia, but it also represents a new beginning. I could not be more proud of seeing how we have worked in deep partnership with the Yinhawangka people. It’s a new way of working together, really taking the guidance from them on how we develop the mines of the future, applying new technology, applying your safe production system. We are building something world pace setting. We have impeccable ESG credentials in line with what expectations are from the traditional owners. I am very pleased, and I think what we are doing here is not just an isolated mine; it is a design for how we’re going to build new mines in Western Australia. Thank you. So, it’s over to you.

JOURNALIST: Jakob, during your four years in charge, do you feel as though you’ve built enough internal talent for Rio to be able to select their next CEO internally?

JAKOB STAUSHOLM: I really hope so. I remember when I was interviewing for the job as CEO, I said succession planning starts day one. I mean, I’m a little bit touched by being on the Yinhawangka country. That’s what you learn, is that we’re all just a small part of the puzzle, learning from the past and bringing to the future. And I have taken my stint a normal almost five-year stint as a CEO, which is a normal tenure, and I really hope I can pass on the baton to whomever the board select. But that could very well be an internal candidate.

JOURNALIST: And on the day, you announced as stepping down, we didn’t have the replacement named, and often that is the case.

JAKOB STAUSHOLM: Yeah.

JOURNALIST: So, should we read that as a sign that something’s gone awry here, something’s gone wrong, that your successor wasn’t announced on the same day?

JAKOB STAUSHOLM: No, it actually just provides the room for the board to do a thorough selection process. Because you’d rather publicly announce things when you’re a public company rather than things leak and creeps out. And now we can do the job in the right way and select exactly the right person to lead Rio Tinto in the future.

JOURNALIST: Can I ask a question to Mr Cook?

SPEAKER: Any more questions on the project?

JOURNALIST: There’s been a lot of speculation that you received a nudge and there was tension between you and the chairman, Dominic Barton. Was there tension with Dominic?

JAKOB STAUSHOLM: We are absolutely aligned. It’s important to say we in the management team and the whole board is absolutely aligned around the values of Rio Tinto, about pursuing the four objectives, about our strategy and the strategic choices and about the assessment of our performance. So, there is no disalignment.

JOURNALIST: That comment that he wanted to double down on operational excellence, is that a reference to perhaps too much focus on ESG?

JAKOB STAUSHOLM: If you look at my statements at the full-year results, I said exactly the same thing, because we have, under the four objectives, made a lot of progress on rebuilding trust in the company, working towards impeccable ESG credentials, improving how we execute projects. This project here is an example. This project is on time, on schedule. We’re back there. We still have further potential to do in the best operator, our safe production system is really working. So, I said that at the full year, and my chairman repeated that a couple of weeks ago.

JOURNALIST: So just to clear it up – you weren’t pushed and there wasn’t tension with the chairman?

JAKOB STAUSHOLM: I’m not commenting on anything. We are completely agreed between ourselves that it is the right time to look for a successor, and I will be stepping down. I’m very happy and proud of my what will be five years of CEO for this company.

JOURNALIST: Is the [Indistinct] strategy still on the way?

JAKOB STAUSHOLM: Sorry?

JOURNALIST: The [Indistinct] strategy is still on the way?

JOURNALIST: With Lithium --

JAKOB STAUSHOLM: Sorry, the [indistinct] strategy, we are absolutely aligned about in the whole board. This is a next pillar. Think about it like some visionary people, 50, 60 years ago, said Rio Tinto should go into iron ore. We need to think about the future to the next decade and the next decade. And we are lucky that we have built our portfolio, outstanding [indistinct] resources in Argentina, in Chile. It’s going to complement our what I would call [indistinct] of iron ore for the future.

JOURNALIST: Jakob, let’s move on to issues of the day with the Premier and the Minister shortly, so if there’s any questions on the project –

JOURNALIST: One quick question. Just a couple of weeks ago, Andrew Forrest of Fortescue said that the Pilbara was at risk of being left behind because steelmakers are moving to better ore. Is that the case? Is that a real risk, or is there anything in that?

JAKOB STAUSHOLM: The Pilbara in aggregate is the main fuel engine of [indistinct] iron ore for the world, and particularly towards China. And it will be in the future. It is for us as companies to make sure that the Pilbara ore remains relevant. And how do we do that? We do that in partnership, like you see today, with Baowu, working on how can we decarbonise the supply chain. If we find the right solutions – and we will – then Pilbara will be the source for many, many decades to come.

JOURNALIST: Can I just ask a quick one on unionisation? So obviously giving a big chunk of your workforce 25K, you know, pay rises. You’ve flagged already that there’s going to be potential job cuts and rationalisation this year in the iron ore business. Does that put that further at risk?

SIMON TROTT: We always need to focus on making sure our business is strong and as efficient as we possibly can, and that continues to be my focus and my team’s focus. The model of direct engagement between all levels of our work has delivered – has delivered for our business, it’s delivered for our stakeholders, it’s delivered for the community in which we are, and that continues to be what we’re focused on.

JOURNALIST: I have a question on CMRG. I was just wondering, and with an increasing understanding in the market that you know they’re making an impact, and some people say you know, responsible for reducing volatility in the iron ore market. I just wonder how your relationship with them and your biggest customer China, is going?

SIMON TROTT: So, we’re here today opening Western Range. Western Range is developed so that we can continue to meet our customer requirements. And as part of that, we regularly engage with all participants in the market, including CMR, and that’s what we’re continuing to do today. And those discussions are progressing in the normal way. Every year we come up to another contracting cycle, and that’s where we are at the moment.

SPEAKER: Issues of the day with the Premier now.

JOURNALIST: Simon, just a quick question: are you going to throw your hat into the ring to be the CEO?

SIMON TROTT: We’re here today opening Western Range. That positions our business for the future, and that future is certainly my focus, my team’s focus, and I’m not going to comment on board processes.

JOURNALIST: Are you confident about the future of the iron ore industry here in WA, and are you concerned at all about Trump’s 50 per cent tariffs?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: I’m absolutely confident in the iron ore industry of Western Australia, here in Paraburdoo and a western mine and right across the Pilbara. It’s an extraordinarily strong industry, decades of high performance, always driving efficiencies and productivity within operations and providing jobs and our livelihoods for many, many Western Australians and, indeed, for other workers in the country that come to live and work in WA.

JOURNALIST: Is it still appropriate that there’s a limit on the amount of Rio Tinto shares that Chinalco can own, or after all this time, are we such trusted partners that we can perhaps relax that?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Look, I’m not going to go into the details of the limits on shareholdings. I’d probably need to do some more research behind that. But we see today this is the culmination of 50 years of partnership with the Baowu Group and its predecessors. You know, starting way back in the 80s when discussions first happened that enabled the really important first Chinese investment into an iron ore industry that has built and will continue to build the cities of China and has driven – Western Australian resources have driven the modernisation of China. And that’s something every Western Australian can be really very proud of. So, we are trusted partners in this industry of iron ore, where we work together very closely to make sure that these developments can happen for the combined prosperity of both our countries.

JOURNALIST: Given that iron ore is so important to Australia’s, you know, revenue, what’s government doing about Trump’s tariffs and the disruption that’s causing? How are you going to deal with that?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Certainly. And so, we’re having measured conversations with the US administration all the time. Different departments are working on how we best make – I don’t want to say deals, but talk about ways in which we work together in a really productive sense. We have a really strong relationship, of course, a historic relationship through ANZUS and also AUKUS, but we have a lot we can do together, we still do together. But in regards to the tariffs, there is no doubt that in a globalised economy, of which we have all benefited – Americans and Australians – the ripple effects of trade disruption go far and wide, and we are not immune. And that is why our government is taking a measured and sensible approach to how we talk with and negotiate with the US administration in relation to the tariffs. I think they’re entirely unhelpful. The Prime Minister has said as much, and ultimately, they’ll affect the consumers in the US more than they’ll affect the rest of us.

JOURNALIST: Will Australian government who once so support to facilitate the cooperation between China and Australia in the mineral resources industry and the related sectors?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Well, indeed, over many decades, the Australian government has assisted in that very important endeavour, from the moment that senior officials from China and our Prime Minister Bob Hawke helped to enable those discussions way back in the 80s. And we continue to do that as we have normalised our trading relationship over the past few years since the Albanese government has come into power. That will continue. The Prime Minister, indeed, is intending to travel to China later this year to continue that strong relationship. So that’s what the Australian government will continue to do, and we look forward to working with the Chinese government, also organisations like Baowu Group and working with companies like Rio. These really important commercial relationships are very much part of the fabric of our relationship as well.

SPEAKER: Last question for Minister King, guys.

JOURNALIST: [Indistinct] for us to cooperate with China and Australia?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Yeah, well, these commercial relationships are the ballast. You know, they form the friendships as well between business women and men that travel between our two countries to talk about the trade that they undertake. So, the relationship between Baowu and Rio is vitally important. It’s vitally important and has been for some time and it will be into the future.