PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Western Australian Chamber of Minerals and Energy (CME) has joined the opposition against mining entrepreneur Andrew Forrest’s call for the government to remove the ‘licence to operate’ for some miners.

The Minerals Council of Australia earlier this week reprimanded Forrest for calling on the Australian government to regulate how iron-ore producers in the Pilbara should run their business, saying it set the country on an interventionists path.

The CME concurred, saying it was critically important for the Western Australian resources sector to be able to continue to operate competitively in the global marketplace.

“Calls to remove the ‘licence to operate’ for some miners should be ignored,” said CME CEO Reg Howard-Smith.

“As evidenced by growth in the resources sector, we have prospered and thrived in an internationally competitive environment. We should not be frightened of the dynamics of the global marketplace.

“We all want our resources sector to be globally competitive. This success will deliver more royalties to the community and maintain the rich diversity of producers in the Australian market, as opposed to more government intervention,” said Howard-Smith.

He noted that over the past decade, iron-ore producers in Western Australia had expanded their capacity to meet a growing market, adding that the increased capacity from all Western Australian iron-ore exporters had resulted in the state increasing its significant share of seaborne trade in iron-ore, and with it large increases in state royalties, taxes and community benefits.

“The quality of our resources, the productivity of our employees, our proximity to market, coupled with the stable and predictable regulatory environment provided by both the Western Australian and Australian governments, has facilitated investment which has driven this substantial increase in production capacity,” Howard-Smith said.

“CME is supportive of initiatives which improve our international competitiveness, reduce cost pressures and stimulate further growth, not increased regulation and red tape.”