Out of Africa: An update from Bill Witham

July 2021 marked an exciting milestone for AAMEG as we celebrated 10 years promoting and advocating for Australian Miners and explorers in Africa. Not only was this 10th anniversary a significant opportunity to reflect on the great work undertaken since our establishment, but more importantly it was a rare chance to honour the people behind the founding and ongoing evolution of our growing influence and support.

It takes many hands to establish, develop and embed the reputation we now have in State, Federal and International arenas. From our founders, volunteers, members, Board and partnering organisations we should all feel proud of our collective impact in our shared mission to deliver sustainable mining and energy projects with positive social outcomes. Thank you to all who participated and made our anniversary dinner so memorable – it was a huge success and something we hope to replicate in future years.

The last three months have flown by, and luckily we were able to complete two trips to Canberra: one for Minerals Week and another with our Chair Peter De Leo who accompanied me in discussions with DFAT, ambassadors and other important stakeholders in Canberra, aiming to reinvigorate the relationship with DFAT and the many new Heads of Mission.

Although COVID-19 policy, travel, quarantine, vaccines and geopolitical support are all complex issues, we continue to represent our members behind the scenes on these matters. While we understand the government’s tough stance, please know we are continually prosecuting our important case to allow our industry to continue to operate, whilst providing updates on country and company impacts at the Federal level.

For those of you heading to Diggers and Dealers, we look forward to sharing a chat and perhaps a drink with you next week. As always, please reach out with any feedback or questions.