Hugh Morgan

Hugh Morgan is a Member of the Board of the Reserve Bank of Australia. He was the CEO of Western Mining Corporation from 1990 to 2003, and the President of the Business Council of Australia from 2003 to 2005 and is a Director of the Australian Davos Connection.

Morgan was one of the orginal funders of the Centre for Independent Studies and helped to establish the HR Nicholls Society. He has also funded the Institute of Public Affairs, sits on the board of governors for the Committee for Economic Development of Australia, and is on the Asialink Council. Morgan was also a member of the secretive neoliberal Crossroads group, which met during the early 1980s. He is a known climate change sceptic, and opponent of the Kyoto Protocol.

In 1997 "it was revealed that Western Mining Corporation had quadrupled its forward gold sales at the same time the RBA was planning to sell two thirds of its gold reserves. WMC's CEO, Hugh Morgan, was a member of the board at the time. He did not, and was not required to, absent himself from the board discussions which dealt with the gold sales." 

"Hugh Morgan is Chief Executive Officer of First Charnock Pty Ltd. He joined North Broken Hill in 1965, becoming a Director (1971-1976). Hugh was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Western Mining Corporation (1990-2003) and prior to that served as an Executive Officer (1976-1986) and then Managing Director (1986- 2003).

"Hugh has served as a Director of Alcoa of Australia Limited (1977-1998 and 2002- 2003); a Director of Alcoa Inc. (1998-2001); Member of the Board of the Reserve Bank of Australia (1981-1984 and 1996-2007); Non-Executive Board Member of the CSIRO (1978-1983); United Nations Lead & Zinc Study Group Government Advisor (1970-1976); Chairman (1986-1994) of Central Norseman Gold Corporation Limited; Councillor (1979-1988) and Member of Executive Committee (1986- 1988) of the Uranium Institute; Past Chairman of the Australian Lead & Zinc Development Organisation; Council Member (1998-2003) of the World Economic Forum and Member (2001-2003) of the International Business Council (formerly World Business Council); President (1981-1983), Senior Vice-President (2002- 2003) and Executive Committee Member (1976-2003) of the Minerals Council of Australia (formerly Australian Mining Industry Council); Chairman (1998-2000), Vice-Chairman (1994-1998) and Executive Committee Member (1994-2001) of The International Council on Metals and the Environment; Member of the Executive Committee of the Australasian Mineral Industries Research Association (1980-1988); Director (1986-1991), Vice-Chairman (1988) and Chairman (1989-1991) of the World Gold Council; Board Member (1998-2006), Joint Chair (2003-2005) of the Commonwealth Business Council; President (2003-2005) of the Business Council of Australia; Member of the Earth Resources Development Council (2006-2009); Board Member (2003-2007) of Committee for Economic Development in Australia (CEDA); Director of the Australian Stock Exchange (1982-1989); Member of Foreign Affairs Council, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2002-2008).

"Hugh is a Member of the Anglo American plc Australian Advisory Board; Member of the Lafarge International Advisory Board; Honorary Member of the Business Council of Australia; Chairman of the Order of Australia Association Foundation Limited; Trustee Emeritus of The Asia Society New York; Chairman Emeritus of the Asia Society AustralAsia Centre; Board member of the Australian American Education Leadership Foundation; President of the National Gallery of Victoria Foundation; Chairman Emeritus of the Commonwealth Business Council; Member of the European Australian Business Council and Member of the South Australian Minerals and Petroleum Expert Group (SAMPEG)."


 * Advisory Board, World Growth
 * Executive Committee (1999), World Business Council for Sustainable Development

Climate Change "Dirty Dozen"
In a talk given in Australia on 20 February 2006, Clive Hamiliton (director of The Australia Institute) identifies Hugh Morgan as one of Australia's climate change "dirty dozen" (these also include: John Eyles, Ron Knapp, Alan Oxley, Peter Walsh, Meg McDonald, Barry Jones, Chris Mitchell, Ian MacFarlane, Alan Moran, Malcolm Broomhead, and John Howard):
 * "As the CEO of Western Mining and a member of the Business Council of Australia, Morgan's anti-greenhouse activism reached extreme levels. He was influential in the Australian Aluminium Council and was responsible for establishing the greenhouse sceptics collected together in the Lavoisier Group. He described the AGO's four discussion papers on emissions trading as "Mein Kampf declarations" and has railed against the Kyoto Protocol as a devious plot by European bureaucrats to seize control of the Australian economy. Despite these extraordinary views Morgan has enjoyed unparalleled access to the Prime Minister."

Related Sourcewatch

 * Australian Nuclear Energy Pty Ltd
 * The aluminium industry in Australia and greenhouse gas emissions