Business chief urges action on racism, anti-Semitism
One of Australia’s giant companies has condemned racism, antisemitism and violence that are eroding the country’s multicultural harmony.
Retired Orica chairman Malcolm Broomhead offered his thoughts to investors at the explosives maker’s annual general meeting in Sydney following the mass shooting at a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach on Sunday.
“This is a very unusual situation for our country and I am simply calling on our government to show leadership and put an end to this type of behaviour,” Mr Broomhead said.
“If this is not brought under control we run the risk of other communities being subjected to racist hatred and in fact we are already seeing this.
“This is something that really affects the fabric of our country.”
Mr Broomhead, who grew up in Papua New Guinea, said Australia was blessed with abundant natural resources, a highly educated population, a history of civil peace and had the potential to be “the next leading democracy on the world stage”.
“Yet at times it seems like Australians are undermining our own success, and I wonder if we don’t feel like we deserve that success,” he said.
“A recent example is the senseless attack in Bondi at the weekend, which reveals the erosion of our multicultural harmony as racism, anti-Semitism and violence erupt.”
In the terrorist attack, 15 people, including a 10-year-old girl, lost their lives, including the armed father and his son, and dozens were injured.
Mr Broomhead also touched on energy policy in his speech, saying that despite having some of the world’s largest energy reserves, Australians face some of the highest energy costs, which is hurting the manufacturing sector and increasing the cost of living.
“Some of the decisions our leaders are making are confusing,” he said.
Orica is a major consumer of gas to produce its explosive products.
New chairman Vik Bansal said the company would encourage the NSW and Queensland governments to follow Western Australia’s domestic gas reservation policy.
“However, I also understand the constraints of the gas industry because they are committed to long-term contracts with their customers, and these are sovereign contracts with important trading partners such as Japan, Korea, China and Southeast Asia,” he said.
Mr Broomhead, who became Orica’s chief executive 24 years ago and chairman in 2016, leaves the business in a good position, having achieved its highest earnings in 13 years.
Orica said demand for blasting technology, specialty mining chemicals and digital solutions remains strong and it continues to evaluate a potential hydrogen supply chain hub in Newcastle, NSW.
Orica shares rose 1.8 percent to $24,115 on Tuesday afternoon.
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