Sydney stockbroker Angus Aitken calls McGowan a ‘knob’ as he criticises Rio, BHP for backing border delay

Outspoken Sydney stockbroker Angus Aitken has fired a salvo at mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP for backing in Mark McGowan’s move to indefinitely delay the reopening of WA’s hard borders, as he also labels the Premier a “knob”. Angus Aitken, a partner at Aitken Murray Capital, called Rio “a bunch of lost dogs” in a note to clients on Tuesday and questioned how the miner and BHP could support the “small minded” move to halt the reopening. Mr Aitken said neither miner had “done anything entrepreneurial or smart in decades”. “BHP calls themselves the ‘Big Australian’ (but) how can the Big Australian support such small minded policy like the WA Govt has at the moment which makes them a global laughing stock?” Mr Aitken, the former head of institutional sales at Southern Cross Equities and Bell Potter, said in the note. “Does the ‘Big Australian’ actually support fully vaccinated Australians not being able to travel freely between States? As board members of BHP and Rio do they actually feel comfortable not being able to see their largest cashflow generating assets in person?” His comments come after 30 mining bosses — including BHP’s Brandon Craig and Rio Tinto’s Simon Trott — met with Mr McGowan and Health Minister Amber Jade-Sanderson on Monday to discuss COVID-19 and operational procedures. The West Australian understands some leaders voiced their disappointment in the Premier’s decision to delay the reopening — blindsiding the industry — while were understood to be supportive as COVID-19 case numbers continue to rise. In an interview with The West Australian last week, Rio’s iron ore chief Simon Trott said the reopening of WA’s borders was a “positive” even if it did cause short-term pain with an expected spike in absenteeism. Mr Aitken’s criticism also extended to the Premier, who he described as an “absolute knob”. “I love WA, I own a house down the coast there I cannot visit, my wife and her family are from there we have raised a lot of capital over the decades for WA companies and supported WA based companies and businesses,” he said. “The only thing I hate is Mark McGowan — he is an absolute knob. “The only good thing for WA people from the borders being closed is that even bigger battler politician Anthony Albanese cannot come into their State.” Mr Aitken said BHP would have “an enormous volume day” next week when its dual-listed structure is collapsed “but you don’t always make money owning the largest and least nimble stock in a sector”. “They exited oil and gas at the absolute bottom to Woodside gave away their coal assets in Colombia to Glencore . . . they will clearly buy something massive for a stupid price so how is that a good long term story? “Rio are like a bunch of old lost dogs, they used to have the best assets and the best people and that is no longer the case. They are clearly going to do more M&A similar to BHP in terms of filling their pipeline and both . . . don’t feel exciting organic stories in any way to me.”