Send miners to parliament and students to work, Gina Rinehart says

afr.com:

Australia’s richest person Gina Rinehart has called on the mining sector to push its own workers and advocates into parliament, so they can tear up environmental regulation she warns is jeopardising the industry’s ability to maintain its current levels of production.

In a speech to mining executives and Liberal leader Peter Dutton at her Roy Hill mine on Wednesday, Mrs Rinehart took aim at Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for taking overseas trips to spruik trade while his government was handcuffing local industry.

“Platitudes and press releases move precisely zero tonnes of iron, copper, nickel, rare earths or any other mineral,” Mrs Rinehart says in a copy of the speech seen by The Australian Financial Review.

Gina Rinehart at the Roy Hill mine in 2014. Bloomberg

“The reality of what the government is doing with its excessive and complicated tape, and the risk of bad policies being introduced, is that we risk not even achieving replacement tonnage to maintain current production, let alone massively expanding across a range of minerals and metals.”

In a speech quoting Winston Churchill, drawing from Margaret Thatcher and interspersed with a video clips from Elon Musk and Canada’s conservative opposition leader Pierre Poilievre, Mrs Rinehart made a rallying cry to the mining industry to push its way into Australian parliament.

Mr Dutton was expected to address the event, as well as former governor general Sir Peter Cosgrove, who was expected to beam in via a holographic video.

“Now I’m suggesting something in addition, encourage and support people from our industry, to put themselves up for parliament. We need strong people in government, not afraid to stand up for common sense, and for mining,” she said.

The mining mogul