BHP has posted a sharp fall in profit on lower commodity prices and urged governments to do more to join the "electrification mega-trend".
Australian governments need to avoid workplace laws that impair productivity and impede investment, CEO Mike Henry warned on Tuesday.
"Policy matters ... policy impacts on overall returns," Mr Henry said in a teleconference after releasing a lower dividend and profit for the year to June 30.
Australia may have been "a few steps ahead of the pack" on traditional resources - iron ore, coking coal and gas - but that is not the case for future-facing minerals, he said.
He called for more attractive investment settings through the taxation system, industrial relations settings that allow for high levels of productivity and affordable, reliable energy for Australia to step up the value chain.
"Those three things will support more investment in downstream infrastructure, not just for BHP but for others as well," he said.
BHP reported a 58 per cent fall in net profit to $US12.9 billion ($A20 billion) amid global economic uncertainty and with inflation still running hot.
While copper, iron ore and nickel sales volumes rose, earnings took a hit from higher labour, diesel and electricity prices and lower prices across major commodities.
Even accounting for the sold-off petroleum business, underlying attributable profit, which adjusts for discontinued operations of $US10.7 billion, fell by 37 per cent to $US13.4 billion.
But BHP said commodity demand remained relatively robust in China and India, even as other major economies slowed.
Responding to the Queensland government's threat to take away coal mining leases, he said the company was investing more than $A1 billion a year in the Bowen Basin.
BHP is Australia's largest producer and supplier of seaborne metallurgical coal through its Queensland Coal alliance with Mitsubishi.
The new royalty regime resulted in an additional $US700 million ($A1 billion) in royalties paid to the Queensland government in 2022/23, BHP said.
Mr Henry said the underpayment of almost 30,000 workers dating back to 2010 should never have happened and the company was committed to avoiding a repeat.
The company revealed the pay debacle in June and pledged to spend more than $400 million to pay it back.
Shares in BHP fell 1.3 per cent, or 58 cents, to $42.94 in afternoon trade as the financial results missed market expectations.
The biggest drivers of the fall in full-year profit were a 12 per cent drop in copper and an 18 per cent tumble for iron ore, partly offset by record production at Western Australian Iron Ore (WAIO) and South Australia's Olympic Dam.
Overall, the cost of mining production is now estimated to be higher than it was before the pandemic.
BHP said it had managed the impact of inflation on costs better than competitors Rio Tinto, Fortescue Metals and Brazil's Vale.
But the lag effect of the past year's inflation peaks and continued labour market tightness will continue to impact costs throughout the 2024 financial year.
The company said it was focused on increasing annual production at WAIO to more than 305 million tonnes, with an eye on growth to 330 million tonnes annually in coming years.
Options under consideration include developing new mines and leveraging existing infrastructure, increasing ore beneficiation, or building a new hub.
Longer term, BHP expects strength in nickel from the electrification "mega-trend", and demand for a reliable source of nickel and copper.
To support growing demand for nickel in the battery market, Nickel West is assessing options for a major smelter renewal project, which could potentially process more nickel from northern mining operations and take additional feed sources.
BHP declared a fully franked final dividend of US 80 cents per share, bringing total cash returns to shareholders to $US1.70 per share.
