PM Anthony Albanese parties with BHP for 140th anniversary after securing critical minerals deal with TrumpThe NightlyWed, 22 October 2025 11:31AMCommentsComments
Anthony Albanese helped mining giant BHP mark its 140th anniversary during this week’s trip to the White House that secured a crucial critical minerals deal with Donald Trump.
Among the last of his official appointments while in Washington DC before returning to Australia, the Prime Minister attended a lunch at the Australian Embassy to celebrate the Big Australian’s milestone.
Mr Albanese presented the President’s Interior Secretary Doug Burgum with an Akubra during the event.
“I had committed to speak at the BHP event that will be held in Melbourne tomorrow (Thursday) to commemorate the 140th anniversary of BHP,” Mr Albanese told reporters.
“So, we decided to bung on an event here as well. Why have one party when you can have two?
“And I’m very pleased that my friend Dominic Perrottet has now come here and has been very good at organising that.”
Mr Perrottet, who was premier of NSW between October 2021 and March 2023, is now head of US corporate and external affairs for BHP based in Washington.
In a post published on LinkedIn, BHP said: “For 140 years, BHP has stood for strength and continuity. And that will never change.
“We run a world-class portfolio of large, long-life assets in commodities with strong and enduring demand.
“Copper to help keep our world connected. Potash to help feed it. Steelmaking materials to help build it.
“We’re proud to be part of building what’s next.”
Also on LinkedIn, the PM said his deal with Mr Trump was about “using Australian resources to power American tech”.
“There’s no better example of Australian resources leading the world than BHP,” he said.
“And today we celebrated 140 years of this great Australian company in Washington DC.”
The US-Australian deal will jointly invest more than $US3 billion ($4.6b) in promising Australian projects, including two in WA.
The funding pact was part of a long-awaited, co-operation agreement signed by Mr Albanese and Mr Trump in Washington overnight on Monday that aims to break China’s stranglehold on critical minerals seen as essential in producing smartphones, wind turbines and electric cars.
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