The Big Fella: The Rise and Rise of BHP Billiton emerged from conversations between the authors after Peter Thompson attended the 2006 annual general meeting of BHP Billiton plc in London, where it became clear that the company had become as newsworthy as it was immense. It seemed extraordinary that there was no published account of the great drama surrounding BHP’s merger with Billiton in 2001 or of the many astonishing events that preceded and followed that seminal event. Indeed, a check with library catalogues revealed that books about the history of BHP were few and far between and mostly company-sponsored, while the only texts available on Billiton were in Dutch.
This was the starting point of a complicated, labyrinthine and exhilarating two-year journey in Australia and the UK that took us from the boardrooms and gentlemen’s clubs in both countries to Broken Hill, where it all began, then to the far reaches of the Australian continent, where new communities surround the great mineral deposits that fill the company’s huge treasure chest to overflowing. We consulted what at times seemed an almost limitless number and range of people, from senior executives in the mining industry (not only of BHP Billiton but of Rio Tinto, Xstrata, Shell and Mount Isa Mines) to astronomers, academics, miners, research scientists, politicians, lobbyists, public servants and intelligence operatives.
We would like to thank the following people (in alphabetical order) for interviews: Paul Anderson, Glen Andrews, Don Argus, Ian Ashby, Carol Austin, Max Banks, Jess Boylan, Alan Breen (by email), John Burton, Kevin Buzzacott, Harley Carey, Mick Carroll, John Clark, Tony Crook, James Curry, Mick Davis, Gary Dillard, Daniel Edelstein, John Elliott, Jerry Ellis, John Elliston, Graham Evans, Paul Everard, Keith Faulkner, Colin Filer, Matt Foraker, Ian Fraser, Russell Fynmore, Brian Gilbertson, Marc Gonsalves, Chip Goodyear, Stewart Greenhalgh, Geoffrey Heeley, Robert Hickman, Lance Hockridge, Juliana Hooper, Carrol Houser, Craig Hoyer, David Irvine, John Jackson, Paul Keating, Derek Keys, Marius Kloppers, Andy Kugler, Peter Laver, Charles Lineweaver, Brian Loton, Robyn Loughhead, J. David Lowell, Benjamin Macklin, Peter Maund, Dave McGarry, Graeme McGregor, Peter McLennan, Malcolm McMillan , Graham Menzies, Brad Mills, Aaron Minchin, David Munro, John O’Connor, Tim Offor, Guy Pearse, Ian Plimer, John Prescott, Pat Quilty, Kelly Quirke, Baron Renwick of Clifton, Gillespie Robertson, Mike Salamon, Stan Salamy, Graeme Samuel, Derek Sawer, Michael Spencer, Fred Stojich, Onofre Tafoya, Alan Tingay, Geoffrey Walsh, Robert Ward, Sir Robert Wilson, Tim Winterer, J. Michael Yeager, Richard Yeeles (by email). Our thanks to Tony Walker and the team at Mt Whaleback and Mt Newman, and to Professor Peter Spearritt of the University of Queensland.
We are grateful to the Geological Society (London) for access to their texts on mining and explanations of mining terms; to the BHP Archives, which are now, alas, disbanded, the documents distributed throughout the company’s various divisions; the National Library of Australia (Canberra); the British Library (London); the State Library of New South Wales (Sydney); the State Library of Victoria (Melbourne); and the State Library of Queensland (Brisbane).
Warmest thanks to Macushla O’Loan, whose hospitality during our travels was beyond generous. We are particularly grateful to Nikki Christer, our publisher at Random House Australia, and to Random House senior editor Kevin O’Brien for his splendid work; and to our agent, Andrew Lownie.
Regarding style, we have taken the liberty of using the present tense – for example, ‘he says’ or ‘she recalls’ – when a specific recollection may in fact have taken place years earlier. Our own interviews are clearly flagged in the References section.