BHP shareholders have joined a chorus of criticism levelled at the mining giant over its support for the Indigenous Voice to parliament.
Last week, lawyers from Pogust Goodhead smashed Australia’s largest company over its $2 million donation to the Yes campaign, labelling it hypocritical.
Pogust Goodhead is currently leading a $70 billion class action suit against the mining giant over the Samarco mine disaster in Brazil in 2015, which devastated Indigenous peoples’ lives.
A total of 700,000 people – many of them belonging to Indigenous communities – are pursuing a class action suit against BHP in the UK for its role in the dam failure.
A number of shareholders piled on as Pogust Goodhead’s criticsm went public, with some saying they were confident they could “make their own mind up” without major corporations wading into social issues.
“I am pretty sure people can make up their own mind on these social issues,” one wrote in a lengthy thread on HotCopper, Australia‘s largest stock trading and investment forum.
“I am disappointed in those large companies and sporting clubs feeling like they need to influence such things by coming out in support on behalf of their shareholders without asking how said shareholders may or may not feel.
“I for one, as a BHP shareholder, DO NOT need the CEO to offer my support for this or any other social matter thank you very much.”
“The Voice is a load of BS and I can‘t believe our CEO has been fooled into supporting it. I hope everyone makes their opinion on this clear in the next AGM,” another shareholder said.
“Bingo, it’s a personal matter. Corporates shouldn’t be pushing anything,” another added.
“Managers backing the Yes side ought to reflect on how they would feel if the board insisted the company go out and advocate a No vote,” another replied.
Almost eight years on from the Samarco disaster, lawyers from Pogust Goodhead arrived in Australia to lobby politicians and mining representatives, warning that BHP’s support of Indigenous communities only goes so far.
Brazilian Indigenous tribes who protested against BHP in London also joined the effort in Australia.
“BHP’s donation to the Voice campaign is an absolute textbook example of greenwashing. I think it’s effectively virtue signalling from a large corporation,” Goodhead said in an interview with news.com.au.
Goodhead said no amount of appointed sustainability managers or pledges to promote environmental, social, and corporate governance initiatives would erase the fact that thousands of people were still without a home in Brazil.
“It’s very easy to virtue signal with a donation to a political campaign to put some nice puffery on your website,” he said. “It’s different to actually resolving issues as seen in Brazil.”
The Pogust Goodhead touring party met with MPs and crossbenchers in Canberra and will travel to BHP’s headquarters in Melbourne to engage with unions, super funds, investors, and local Indigenous representatives.
“The reaction has been one of surprise actually,” Goodhead said. “This has been a little off the radar. This happened nearly eight years ago. Given the passage of time, it’s understandable that this disaster isn’t at the front of Australians’ minds at the moment.”
In a statement to news.com.au, a BHP representative said its donation to the Yes campaign was a “voluntary social investment”.
“Our relationships with Traditional Owners and other Indigenous stakeholders are fundamentally important to BHP and our business,” the spokesperson said.
“We operate on the traditional lands of Indigenous peoples across Australia and around the world. We partner widely with Indigenous communities and have long-term agreements with Traditional Owners, who are critical to BHP’s ability to start new projects, expand existing projects, and to BHP’s operational continuity.
“Our relationships with Traditional Owners are, as a result, central to our business success, and the creation of long-term value for BHP’s shareholders.”
In regards to the UK class action, the BHP spokesperson said they were fighting the legal fight and denied all claims of the company’s wrongdoing.
“BHP will continue to defend the UK group action and denies the claims in their entirety,” the said.
“This action is also unnecessary as it duplicates matters already covered by the existing and ongoing work of the Renova Foundation and other legal proceedings in Brazil.”