Michael Blakiston

Biography

Michael is a partner in our Projects and Construction group.

An internationally renowned leader in energy and resources law, Michael has a particular focus on advising companies dealing with developing countries and their people. More recently, Michael has taken these skills and applied them to advising industry on dealing with Indigenous organisations on the development of large-scale infrastructure and renewables projects on Country. Michael also advises an Indigenous Corporation on its dealings with industry and Government on a new form of agreement making which will facilitate a new way of developing projects on Country. Michael applies his 40 years of agreement making skills to these engagements in WA. 

Michael has significant experience in joint ventures, development arrangements, project commercialisation, offtake project fundraisings either with debt or equity, construction and service contracts and asset purchases and sales, capital markets strategies and unregulated mergers and acquisitions. 

Michael has served on the boards of numerous ASX listed companies and is currently the Non-Executive Chairman of Develop Global Limited, the Chairman of the unlisted Precision Opportunities Fund Ltd, and a Non-Executive Director of Salubris Australia Limited, an unlisted company developing and commercialising clean energy and carbon credit opportunities primarily with indigenous involvement. 

Experience

Michael’s experience includes advising:

  • POSCO on the development of its green steel ambitions in the Pilbara of Western Australia.  

  • Fortescue Future Industries on high level arrangements for the establishment of hydrogen projects in partnership with each of the Governments of Cameroon and Namibia. 

  • Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation on their agreement making with the Commonwealth, State and Local Government in the Pilbara Region and with Woodside, Rio Tinto, Yara and Perdaman. 

Awards and Recognition

  • Chambers Asia-Pacific 2024

    Ranked for Energy and Natural Resources

  • Legal 500 Asia-Pacific 2024

    Leading Individual for Natural Resources (Transactions and Regulatory)

  • Best Lawyers 2025

    Energy Law, Mining Law, Natural Resources Law and Oil and Gas Law