Resources Minister Madeleine King’s advice to Andrew Forrest over Fortescue’s green ads targeting rivals

Resources Minister Madeleine King has taken a thinly-veiled swipe at Andrew Forrest’s efforts to champion Fortescue’s green credentials, suggesting the iron ore billionaire’s empire should instead “look in their own backyard”.

Fortescue used full-page ads in newspapers across the country on Tuesday to crow about its decarbonisation efforts, claiming: “Mining emissions are rising. You’re paying for it.”

The ads are part of a campaign Mr Forrest launched in April urging his resource rivals to help plug a $2.5 billion fuel excise hole in the Federal Government’s Budget by capping the amount they can claim in diesel subsidies.

Amid heightened fears over fuel security across Australia following the outbreak of war in the Middle East — and the Government’s decision to halve the fuel excise — Fortescue’s founder, majority shareholder and executive chairman proposed a $50m limit on the amount of fuel tax credits that can be claimed each year by Australia’s biggest diesel-guzzling firms.

Fortescue pitched the controversial plan as a “practical, ready-to-implement solution” and suggested fuel credit reform would likely only need to apply to the top 15 diesel-consuming miners, leaving small businesses and farmers still able to claim their credits.

Mr Forrest is no stranger to spruiking the mining giant’s efforts to reduce the use of fossil fuels across its sprawling Pilbara network, the billions of dollars spent switching to electric-powered machinery and the development of green energy projects such as massive solar and wind farms.

But in recent years, major projects once launched with great fanfare to generate and export green hydrogen have either been abandoned or scaled back.

Fortescue’s full-page ads read: “Some large miners claim the technology to decarbonise isn’t ready. While they report falling global emissions, here in Australia their diesel use is growing. Hardworking Aussies are footing the bill through billions in diesel tax refunds.”

Speaking on ABC radio on Tuesday, Ms King said she found it “concerning” that companies were using Government policy “to create an advantage over their competitors”.

“Now, I think competition is a really good thing in any market and the same goes for iron ore,” she said.

“But to see campaigns waged, you know, throughout the media is, I think, a bit off when companies should perhaps look in their own backyard and monitor their own behaviour.”

The West Australian last week reported that BHP and Rio Tinto had notched up an emissions win against Fortescue after years of being raked over the coals by Mr Forrest for supposedly not doing enough to decarbonise.

Fortescue’s green credentials were called into question by a report released by consultancy firm Mandala Partners which found that the iron ore giant’s carbon emissions rose while its two main mining rivals improved their decarbonisation.

Fortescue has fallen behind its major competitors despite famously committing to the most aggressive climate goals in the mining sector, the report, cited in ads by BHP, said.

It blamed the rise on the issue-plagued Iron Bridge operation, which produces magnetite — a type of iron ore — for its backward step in the race to produce zero emissions by the end of 2030.

The 2030 goal is 20 years earlier than BHP and Rio’s net zero targets.

BHP’s own climate change efforts were put in the spotlight in an ABC Four Corner’s episode on Monday night that claimed it is pulling back on key decarbonisation projects in its WA ron ore operations — slowing a climate strategy the miner had once positioned as central to its long-term growth plans.

The documents show the world’s biggest miner shelved a board-approved solar and battery project at its Jimblebar iron ore mine and deferred a 500 megawatt solar, wind and battery system.

BHP also abandoned plans for a lower-emissions iron ore processing facility, that had the potential to prevent 1.7 million tonnes of emissions a year, according to the report.

A spokesman for the miner said that as of mid-2025, BHP had reduced emissions by 36 per cent from its 2020 baseline, with progress driven by shifting 70 per cent of the company’s total electricity use to renewable sources.

However, many of the technologies the resources industry will need to achieve net zero — notably in heavy earth moving and bulk logistics equipment — “are not yet ready to be deployed.”