Given the nature of Indonesia’s archipelagic geography and marine territory, foreign trade and investment is an integral part of the country’s economy. According to ASEAN Briefing, the government has homed in on the development of special economic zones (SEZ) as a priority policy, with an aim to attract over US$50 billion in foreign investment in the next decade.
Gina Rinehart is pushing for Australia to become nuclearpowered instead of upsetting farmers with “bird-killing” wind generators and sprawling fields of solar panels. The billionaire made her case for nuclear energy while warning that the demand of meeting net zero carbon emissions could force Aussie farmers and graziers off the land, and lead to higher food prices. Giving a speech at The Australian Bush Summit, the mining magnate said governments had to step in to help farmers by cutting red tape and providing “real assistance”.
Executive Chair, Hancock Prospecting Group | August 14 commences 1.40 PM
Mining magnate Gina Rinehart and cricket legend Adam Gilchrist will headline the inaugural West Australian leg of the Bush Summit in Perth on Monday. Mrs Rinehart, Australia’s richest person, will deliver the keynote speech before she participates in a Q&A session with The Australian’s managing director, John Lehmann. Bush Summits are being held around Australia for the first time this year, and will bring together decision-makers and thought-leaders to discuss the biggest issues facing regional industries and communities. This year’s Perth event comes at a time when regional WA is in the national spotlight in a way rarely seen.
Western Australia’s Kimberley is regional Australia at its most extreme, whether it is in scale, beauty, challenges or opportunity. And it is a region at a crucial moment in its history. When record-breaking floodwaters swept through much of the region earlier this year, following well-publicised social unrest and crime last year, the region’s immediate prospects looked difficult. Yet it is a region that has continued to capture imaginations, with the area now emerging as a prospective new renewable energy hotspot and drawing a new generation of investment that could take it closer to finally capitalising on its potential.
WESTERN Australia-based miner Roy Hill has signed a multi-year agreement with the WA branch of the Royal Flying Doctor Service that includes provision for ongoing support, advocacy and promotion plus a cash injection of $150,000. Hancock Prospecting group operations chief executive officer Gerhard Veldsman said Roy Hill provided ongoing opportunities for thousands of people in the Pilbara, building economic prosperity. “Through the strong backing of our executive chairperson Gina Rinehart, we are committed to sharing that prosperity and recognise the significant commitment of rural and regional communities throughout WA, and their right to health care,” he said. Rinehart donated $6 million to the RFDS in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020 for critical care equipment and telehealth technology to help rural and remote Australians in New South Wales, Queensland, the Northern Territory and South Australia.
Health care for Australians living in rural and remote areas will be given a $16m lift thanks to donations to the Royal Flying Doctor from Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart. The Rinehart Medical Foundation and Hancock Prospecting will give major cash boosts to the Queensland, NSW and WA sectors of the 95-year-old organisation, which relies on donations to fund a third of the health care it provides. “The multimillion-dollar gift will help ensure that all Queenslanders – no matter where they live, work and play across the state – can feel safe in knowing that they are connected to the best medical care available.” The RFDS said that Mrs Rinehart’s family association with the organisation went back to the 1950s when her mother, Hope Hancock, used to host fundraisers at her home.
Hancock Agriculture chairwoman Gina Rinehart said the summit was an opportunity for governments to better understand those living and working outside our cities. “Eighty-five per cent of Australians live in large urban locations, but we should not forget the engine room of our country, that being outside the cities in mining and agriculture and all of those who work in our bush,” she said. “They in turn make possible jobs for the many businesses the primary industries support; the truckies, the shops, even accountants, legals, tax advisers and many more.”
“Canberra Hill is not a wealth creator or nation builder, but a user and waster of taxpayer funds, an inefficient disperser of taxpayers’ funds, and its record shows a place which fails to understand economic realities,” she said. “This lack of economic realities has resulted in policies which restrict our pensioners, students and even veterans from working as much as they may choose, while there is a widespread worker shortage, a worker shortage crisis, affecting many businesses and supplies.” At a time of record revenue, thanks to mining, one would expect government services to be provided abundantly and efficiently. Unfortunately, the opposite is the case. Notwithstanding the money flowing into state government coffers, the standard of the provision of services, which is the key role of state governments, has never been so poor.
The modern history of the Hancocks is well known but earlier generations also had a big impact on our State’s development It is quite a picture. The striking white horses kick up dust as they work in unison to pull the coach through the WA outback. Five men sit atop the coach and a lone rider keeps pace alongside. The photo presents a fascinating reminder of how once supplies, mail and people were carried across vast stretches of WA.
