BHP Group Limited American Depositary Shares (Each representing two Ordinary Shares) AGM 2026

With a single discovery. I am actually heading to the Broken Hill soon, and I cannot wait to see it for myself. Today's AGM is an important opportunity to hear from you, answer your questions, and talk openly about the business. We will discuss our performance, the opportunities we see ahead, and our plans to make the most of them. Welcome also to shareholders joining us online and from around Australia and around the world. Thank you for your continued support. It has been a big year for BHP. We have had a smooth leadership transition, another strong year of operational and financial performance, and we have advanced growth projects that will shape the future of this company. All of that gives the board confidence in the road ahead. Before I talk about the performance or growth, I want to start with what actually matters, and that is safety.

Everyone who works for BHP or alongside BHP should return home safely at the end of every shift. In the last few months, two of our colleagues have lost their lives on site. One at BMA's Peak Downs mine in Queensland and one at Escondida in Chile. These are tragedies. These are tragedies for their family and friends, their workmates, and for the wider community. It affects all of us at BHP, including the board, and so it should. We are asking the hard questions of ourselves and of the business. We owe that to the people affected and to every person who comes to work across our operations each and every day. Mining has made tremendous progress on safety over many decades. Terrible events like this remind us that our work is not done. Our focus remains on eliminating fatalities and serious injuries at BHP altogether.

Let me be quite clear, there is nothing more important. This year marked an important transition for BHP. Mike Henry retired as our Chief Executive Officer after more than six years in the role and a long career with the company. Mike left BHP in excellent shape. During his tenure as CEO, the company became simpler and it performed better, and it is much better positioned for the future. On behalf of the board, I want to thank Mike for his outstanding leadership and contribution. We now have Brendan in the driver's seat. The board appointed Brandon Craig following a thorough succession process. He is the right person to lead BHP into this next chapter. Since taking on the role on July the 1st, Brendan has brought his own energy, clear thinking, and deep operational experience.

After 27 years with BHP, working at each of our major operations in Australia and the Americas, he knows this company as well as anyone. He has a strong understanding of our people, our assets, and our opportunities. The board has great confidence in his leadership. I would also like to welcome Mark Vassella, who joined the board on the 1st of June. Many of you will know Mark from his leadership of BlueScope Steel. You might not know, though, his first-ever job was working for BHP in Newcastle. Mark brings valuable experience, sound judgment, and a deep understanding of Australian industry, and we look forward to benefiting from his insights in the years to come. It was another good year for BHP, but what does that mean for shareholders? For 2026, the board approved total dividends equivalent to about AUD 2.40 per share.

That's in U.S. dollars, $8.7 billion returned to shareholders and represents our highest dividend in four years. The record highs in our share price over the last few months show how the market is valuing us. Our dividend and share price directly benefit over more than 600,000 shareholders, as well as millions more Australians whose superannuation funds invest in BHP. I hope the shareholders in the room were pleased with these results. For the longer term, our 2026 dividend also says something important about the company in the eyes of the board. It means that the business is strong and performing well. It means we can fund our future plans and reward shareholders at the same time, and it shows our confidence in the future of your company. One of the reasons we're confident is because of the way our business is positioned for the future. Mining is cyclical. There are peaks and there are troughs.

What we have is a portfolio that is designed to perform through the cycle. The world needs growth. It needs new infrastructure, reliable energy, modern technology, and food security. All of these things depend on the resources that BHP produces. China remains a major center of industrial activity and commodity demand. They remain a huge customer market for us. India is entering what we expect will be a multi-decade period of infrastructure investment, manufacturing growth, and economic development. On top of that, all of the infrastructure and wiring for renewable energy and for artificial intelligence. Taken together, these trends give us confidence that demand for copper, for iron ore, and steel-making coal will remain strong for many years to come. Jansen, our Canadian potash business, is on track to deliver its first production mid-next year.

A growing population needs more food from the same amount of farmland. Fertilizers like potash will be key to improving agricultural productivity. We have a range of options to grow across our commodities. It's a good problem to have, but it also means we pay a lot of attention to competitiveness. We must always strive to be better than our competition. That's why we remain focused on improving productivity, adopting new technologies, developing our people, and making our operations safer and more efficient. Countries around the world are doing exactly the same. We are global allocators of capital, and as many of you will know, capital will always flow to the projects, companies, and the countries that can deliver the best returns. It is why we continue to support policy settings that encourage investment, productivity, and economic growth.

These things matter for us at BHP, but they matter just as much for Australia's long-term prosperity and competitiveness. Make no mistake, Australia must compete for capital if it wants to win, nationally and in every state. We are seeing other countries move very quickly. Canada is a very good example. It has recently announced a productivity mega deduction, which allows businesses to immediately deduct the full cost of eligible capital investments. For mining, Canada also makes mine development costs fully deductible in the year they are incurred, and that matters. It lowers the tax burden on new investment. It improves returns, and it gives companies greater confidence to commit capital. That, in turn, creates jobs, it creates incomes, and taxes for the nation.

This is just a particular example of government policy being used to encourage productivity and attract investment, and we've seen similar examples in other countries where we are investing, like Argentina and Chile. Australia should pay close attention to that. Another area of competition is action on climate change. There is a view by some that resources companies are moving too slowly. That is not the BHP I see. We've been taking practical action for years. We are cutting greenhouse gas emissions from our own operations, using more renewable power, and backing developing technologies that can lower emissions from mining. Working with industry partners and equipment producers, we're trialing two 220-ton class battery electric haul trucks in the Pilbara with our trial of battery electric locomotives set to expand in the coming months.

We have an operational decarbonization target in place for 2030, and we're on track to meet it, and we'll do it without putting BHP's competitiveness at risk. BHP does more than work to reduce its own emissions. We produce materials the world needs to decarbonize. Copper and steel are in the wind turbines, electric vehicles, transmission lines, solar panels that will power the future. Government has a critical role to play. The wrong policy settings carry real risks. Too prescriptive, too rigid, or backing one form of abatement when another may prove better tomorrow. Let's avoid tinkering with policy settings that are actually starting to work. The world wants lower emissions, and so do we. The task is to cut emissions in a way that works, one that delivers real results, protects competitiveness, supports jobs, and keeps creating value for shareholders and nations into the future.

I was speaking to a group of our partner and stakeholders about the future last night and about BHP's history here in New South Wales. It reinforced to me how important our partnerships are. Over many decades, we have built strong relationship with communities, with customers, suppliers, traditional owners, and governments. These relationships are not separate from business performance. They're essential to business performance. They help create the conditions for long-term success and allow us to build stronger businesses, support stronger communities, and contribute to better futures for the countries where we operate. This year, we increased our spend with indigenous suppliers to more than $1 billion U.S. dollars, three times what it was just three years ago. More broadly, BHP's total economic contribution was more than $50 billion U.S. dollars, and more than $12 billion U.S. that was paid in taxes, royalties, and other payments to governments.

Successful companies should create value for shareholders, but they should also make a positive contribution to the communities and economies that support their operations. That has been part of the BHP story for generations, and it remains an important part of how we create value today. Ladies and gentlemen, BHP enters 2027 in a good position with exciting growth opportunities. We have world-class assets, a strong balance sheet, and a highly capable leadership team. Perhaps most importantly, we operate in a world that will need more of what BHP produces. BHP is in a strong health with exciting growth plans ahead. This is good news for the millions of Australians with a stake in the company, direct shareholders, super fund holders, employees, suppliers, and the communities in which we operate. To all of our shareholders, whether you're here in Sydney or joining us online, thank you for your continued support.

Thank you for your trust and thank you for your investment in BHP. It is now my pleasure to hand over to your CEO, Brandon Craig.

Thank you. Thank you, Ross, and thank you to all our shareholders joining us here in Sydney and online around the world.