We’re only three months into 2021 and already we’ve had some pretty big reminders that the COVID-19 pandemic remains one of the biggest issues our sector is facing.
In WA, we experienced a five-day lockdown in Perth and the South West in early February after a case of community transmission of COVID-19. Fortunately there was no further spread and we were quickly able to return to life and business as usual.
Brisbane, of course, has not been so fortunate. Time will tell how significant the current COVID-19 cluster in Queensland turns out to be but the resultant lockdown is another demonstration of how disruptive this virus is. I’ve no doubt there will be member companies and workers within the sector who have been affected by it.
From a CME perspective, we continue to work with the re-elected WA Government and other key stakeholders to ensure our sector has access to the right people, with the right skills, at the right time. But our priority throughout the pandemic has been the health of the entire community and recent outbreaks highlight the need for that approach to remain in place.
On the topic of COVID-19, CME – in collaboration with EY – recently released a major report entitled The WA Resources Sector – Navigating through COVID-19 and recovery. More details are outlined in the Economic Competitiveness section of this newsletter, but it’s a fascinating document, capturing the thoughts of the sector’s leaders on both the early stages of the pandemic and final few months of last year as life in WA returned to something closer to normality.
While I have the chance, it would be remiss of me not to reflect on the outstanding success of our annual Women In Resources Awards earlier in the month.
Not only was it a brilliant event with nearly 1000 people in attendance, but it was a magnificent showcase for some amazing career stories and achievements. Congratulations to the winners and finalists, the sponsors and member companies who supported the event, and the CME staff who worked so hard to make it happen.
It’s also very exciting to have launched in the past week the next phase of our CME Statewide campaign centred around how the resources sector is Building A Better WA. Campaign material is focused on the work being done by operations around the State to be safer, smarter and cleaner with a landing page set up on the CME website to showcase real life examples of the way member companies are putting this into practice.
So much great and innovative work is being done by CME member companies around the state and it’s critical that we highlight this to the wider community.
