Ian Macfarlane has announced he will step down from his position as chief executive of the Queensland Resources Council (QRC) by the end of the year.
Macfarlane said the QRC was in very good shape, supported by a strong policy team and board, and its ongoing efforts to increase awareness about the critical importance of the resources sector to the Queensland economy continues to gain momentum.
“The resources sector is more important to Queensland than ever before,” he said.
“It is the basis of Queensland’s economic prosperity, ongoing jobs and our future success, and it’s worth standing up for.
“Over the past three years, our sector proved its importance to Queensland when resources companies quickly adapted to the challenges of COVID and were able to continue to operate and support the state economy. This kept hundreds of thousands of Queenslanders in jobs and in business at a time other industries such as tourism were forced to shut down.”
After his retirement from the QRC, Macfarlane will continue to serve on the board of Woodside Energy, CSIRO, SoMAC, the fibre composites CRC, Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise and as a member of UQ’s Rural Clinical School Toowoomba Community Advisory Committee.
QRC President Brent Gunther thanked Macfarlane for his service to QRC.
“For the past seven years, Ian has been a strong advocate for not only Queensland and Australia’s resource sector but also for mining communities, mining suppliers and the tens of thousands of Queenslanders who work in mining operations around the state,” Gunther said.
“Ian and the QRC team have ensured that mining’s role in supporting the Queensland economy is recognised and celebrated.
“We are extremely grateful for his contribution, and he goes with our best wishes for the future.”
