Minister has no time for the JS vision

WA Mines Minister Bill Johnston has given short shrift to an idea from our favourite French mining boss Jean-Sebastien Jacques.

JS, as the Rio Tinto head honcho is popularly known, suggested yesterday at a mining conference in Melbourne that governments should consider investing in the development costs of mining projects in exchange for a bigger slice of the profits.

“If a community or government wants a bigger share of the pie, they may need to be willing to take on more of the risk, that’s a really important part of our very capital- intensive industry,” he said.

“So, maybe there needs to be a new way of funding mining projects. As an industry, perhaps, it is time to think about a different business model — where we provide mining as a service and let other people finance projects that need billions in upfront investment, before the benefits can be shared.”

Johnston, who is in Melbourne for the annual IMARC conference, told the Bull he had missed the JS presentation.

“We aren’t going to co-invest and I think the theme was targeted towards jurisdictions outside of Australia,” he said.

Funny, JS didn’t mention he wasn’t talking about Australia, but the Bull admits the suggestion does have a WA Inc. feel about it.

BACK FROM DEAD

Quintis is back from its near-death experience, with $145 million of funding from its new owners.

Nine months after the listed sandalwood company went under, its Perth-based business has been recapitalised via a new vehicle — Quintis (Australia) Pty Ltd — under the terms of a newly finalised deed of company arrangement with receivers and administrators.

The group begins anew with 200 staff and 12,500ha of sandalwood plantations across northern Australia.

Unlike its previous incarnation, however, it won’t be relying on a revenue top-up from plantation sales to retail and high net worth investors but rather will concentrate on harvesting and selling its end-products.

The recapitalisation, led by US investment giant BlackRock, saved most of Quintis’ jobs but that is probably of little comfort to the listed company’s 7500 shareholders, who are left reliant on class actions to recover any of their investment in the group’s now worthless shares.

NICE EARNER

By its own admission, there’s nothing particularly exciting about Stan Perron’s Perron Group.

But what it does, it does well.

Latest financial results show the group’s flagship, Perron Investments, turned a lazy $299 million in net profit in the year to June 30, up 10 per cent on a year earlier.

The numbers were helped by a $50.5 million profit on the company’s non-property investment portfolio, which largely offset a lower gain on the annual revaluation of its shopping centres and office towers.

Gross assets grew to $5.8 billion.

Yep, just ticking along nicely as usual.

GOING GREEN

Green is the new black — or even the new stereotypical flannelette checked shirt — when it comes to showing unity in WA agriculture.

A new organisation, spearheaded by Beverley grain farmer Alan Sattler, encourages agribusiness stakeholders to wear a green shirt to show their unity on key areas affecting rural WA, including live export, rural education and mental health.

Sattler said his Green Shirt Movement WA aims to unite the individuals and businesses that make up WA’s agriculture sector from agrifood, fibre, fisheries and forestry, with those along the supply chain right through to the consumer.

Sattler has been wearing his green shirt at every chance possible, including the Perth Royal Show, the front steps of Parliament and the Pastoralists and Graziers Association conference.

Last week he spoke on the live export panel at Kimberley Pilbara Cattlemen’s Association conference in Port Hedland, again wearing green, to outline what the movement hopes to achieve.

“Our ultimate vision is to have every representative from all of agriculture’s industries and associated industries working together to be heard by political decision makers and trusted by consumers,” Sattler said.

Just weeks after establishing, the movement already has close to 1000 followers on Facebook alone.

The concept of a green shirt movement started in Queensland this year at rallies protesting against changes to vegetation management laws.

It aims to take a stance against those the farmers call “fake greens” driving laws and regulations they claim are crippling family farms and causing knock-on effects to regional businesses and communities.

MISSING IN ACTION

There was a distinct lack of Labor perspectives at a meetings yesterday in Sydney of investors and lobby groups fighting against Bill Shorten and Chris Bowen’s plans to stop cash refunds of unused share franking credits.

We had Assistant Treasurer Stuart Robert blowing hard about a policy deeply unpopular with share investors and DIY super operator alike, while Liberal backbencher Tim Wilson gave the lowdown on a parliamentary inquiry into the move and some useful tips about running a successful grassroots campaign.

A mob called Australians for a Fairer Retirement System are pushing the poo cart uphill trying to get the public angry about Labor hurting retirees, with up to $2.5 million self-managed super funds and shareholder-retirees who just miss out on the age pension.

The association includes some top notch investor groups including the SMSF Association, Australian Shareholders Association, WA Self Funded Retirees, Stockbrokers and Financial Advisers Association and National Seniors Australia.

SMSF Association chairwoman Deborah Ralston, a major player in the group, said she had asked Labor representatives to speak at yesterday’s shindig “but every single one of them declined” to rock up. A mid-morning debate was a bit of a one-sided affair about the horrors of the proposal, with Ralston’s offsider John Maroney saying it was scheduled before the universal RSVPs of “no” for the Labor side.

Labor’s absence was surprising given its people have had no problem going toe-to-toe with conference presenter Geoff Wilson, a Sydney fund manager who is leading the defence of franking credit refunds and is warning of the dire consequences of Labor’s plans for the retirement plans of hundreds of thousands of Australians.

After lots of explanation, he said the fix was to vote to Liberal at the next election.

with Stuart McKinnon, Sean Smith, Jenne Brammer and Neale Prior