Labour unrest has flared up across Australia's resources sector, with its lucrative iron ore mines and ports facing heightened strike risks, adding to high costs and red tape that majors like BHP warn are eroding the country's investment appeal.
Mining unions have amped up industrial action since the leftist Labour government enacted a law in 2022 giving them the power to negotiate wage deals that cover several employers, more scope to request flexible arrangements and allow industry-wide strikes.
Working days lost to disputes across the country jumped in the December quarter of 2025 to the highest level since 2022, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data, with workers fighting for pay hikes and job security as the country battles four per cent inflation and three interest rate rises over the past year.
Strike action in June disrupted shipments of liquefied natural gas from the Ichthys LNG project, which accounts for roughly 10 per cent of Australia's LNG output, before its Japanese operator, Inpex, reached an agreement with unions.
Global major Shell's Prelude floating LNG vessel is up next for wage negotiations, and if it does not reach a new employment deal, unions can apply to Australia's labour umpire to launch strike action.
"Seeing union victories in the oil and gas sector in the region will tell a lot of workers that being unionised can make a difference," said David Peetz, a professor of employment relations at Griffith University.
Oil and gas workers began to re-unionise before the 2022 law changes, and ran prolonged wage fights in 2022 and 2023 to win big pay hikes.
Unions are escalating tension at BHP's Port Hedland operations, a major artery for iron ore, where they may look to take coordinated industrial action if an agreement is not reached at their next meeting on July 7.
Port Hedland, also used by Fortescue and Hancock, ships around $150 million of iron ore a day, underscoring the scale of potential disruption to the country's top export earner.
Australia risks, "losing its status as a top mining destination," if costs and productivity aren't addressed, BHP's head of Australia, Geraldine Slattery, told a conference in March.
Australian mine workers are already among the world's best paid.
If increasing industrial action leads to higher wages, "then BHP and Rio will continue to automate as much as possible," said analyst Jon Mills at Morningstar.
(Reporting by Melanie Burton in Melbourne and Helen Clark in Perth; Editing by Sonali Paul)