Guy Debelle quits Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue Future Industries board for vanadium minnow Tivan

Guy Debelle, the star former central banker turned businessman-climate activist, has quit the board of Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue Future Industries. His move is the third high-profile departure from the iron ore billionaire’s empire in the space of a week.

Dr Debelle has stepped down as a non-executive director from the board of FFI – the green energy arm of Dr Forrest’s Fortescue Metals Group – and opted to take his first ASX-listed company board seat at aspiring vanadium miner Tivan, whose executive chairman, Grant Wilson, is a longstanding acquaintance.

From left, Christine Morris, Andrew Forrest and Guy Debelle.

Dr Debelle said his resignation took effect on Thursday but followed a notice period of a few weeks that predated the latest burst of executive instability at Fortescue this week. He said he had no regrets about his tumultuous 17 months at Fortescue and was “moving on” and looking forward to “a great opportunity” at Tivan.

“Tivan is focused on something which is going to be critical in the green transition and focused on one particular aspect of it clearly but with huge potential,” he told The Australian Financial Review. “I’ve known Grant for a long time, we go back a fair way, so he’s been talking to me about the whole Tivan proposition for a while.

“And then with the opportunity coming up to get on the board, I already had a reasonable understanding of what the proposition is and the way Tivan is going about it, if we can pull it off, would be great.”

Snaring the highly credentialed Dr Debelle – who was deputy governor of the Reserve Bank for more than five years – as a non-executive director is a feather in the cap for Tivan. The company is valued on the ASX at just $90 million but has grand ambitions to process vanadium flow battery precursors and assemble batteries in the Middle Arm Sustainable Development Precinct south of Darwin Harbour.

It is also a vote of confidence in the future of the critical minerals industry, which the government and mining industry are eyeing as a replacement for the huge coal and gas exports that now buttress the federal budget.

But it comes as a further blow to Dr Forrest and his $66 billion business empire, which has been rocked by high-profile executive departures. Thursday evening’s resignation of chief financial officer Christine Morris after just two months in the role and the resignation last weekend of Fiona Hick after just six months as CEO of the company’s flagship iron ore division brought to 11 the toll of departing executives in just three years.

Dr Debelle is already counted among those 11 executives because he resigned as CFO of FFI – his first post-Reserve Bank role – last November after a serious bicycle accident just five months into the role, but stayed on as a non-executive director.

He had resigned from the Reserve Bank in March last year after a 25-year career, during which he rose to the position of deputy governor, to join FFI because he said he wanted to help kickstart Australia’s struggling clean energy transition.

Dr Debelle has been outspoken on the need for Australia to drive the energy transition hard to seize the opportunity to become a clean energy superpower, and this month criticised the Albanese government for “complacency” in its carbon reduction efforts.

He said on Thursday there were huge opportunities for Australia in critical minerals and clean energy more broadly, as well as challenges in seizing the opportunities because of the many obstacles to the energy transition.

“It’s not just going to happen, and it is going to be challenging. The challenges are absolutely there. But the sooner we deal with them, the greater – the sooner – we realise the opportunity.”

Mr Wilson, a former hedge fund manager and columnist with the Financial Review, wrested control of Tivan (formerly known as TNG) from its former board last November. In February, it bought the giant Speewah vanadium deposit in Western Australia to add to its Mount Peake resource in the NT.

It plans to fast-track the development and tackle the challenge of commercialising vanadium flow batteries. They cost more to make than lithium-ion batteries, which have cornered the market, but can provide longer-duration storage, which is imperative for firming variable wind and solar energy.

“I am excited to join Tivan who are focussed on realising the great opportunity Australia has in the green transition, particularly in the critical minerals space,” Dr Debelle said in a statement.

“I am looking forward to working with the team to further enhance Tivan’sinclusive and sustainable approach to developing its resources to benefit the community and deliver value for its shareholders.”

Mr Wilson said: “On behalf of members of the board I am delighted to welcome Guy to Tivan. This is about talented people coming together, shoulder to the wheel, to advance durable pathways for Australia to navigate the energy transition.

“Guy is highly regarded in policy circles and across global financial markets. His work ethic, intellect, networks and solution-driven ethos will further invigorate Tivan, and bolster our emergence as a strategic leader in the critical minerals sector.”

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