News

On Saturday, Geraldton Mayor Shane Van Styn claimed on his Facebook page the tree-planting event at Wonthella Bush Reserve was “shut down” because of the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act, which came into effect on July 1. Mr Van Styn told The West Australian on Sunday the city had checked online beforehand for Aboriginal heritage at the site and found no problems, but halted the event after one of the local traditional owners turned up and said the reserve was a significant site for her family. However, a member of the family told The West Australian she was not concerned about the planting of the trees but rather what she believed was the renaming of the land to honour Queen Elizabeth II.

9 July 2023.

Healthcare for Australians living in rural and remote areas will be given a $16m lift thanks to donations to the Royal Flying Doctors from Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart. The Rinehart Medical Foundation and Hancock Prospecting will provide major cash injections to the NSW, Queensland and Western Australian sectors of the 95-year-old organisation which relies on donations to fund a third of the healthcare it provides. Royal Flying Doctor Service (South Eastern Section) Chief Executive Officer Greg Sam said the $4m boost for NSW comes at a “challenging” time in its history as the RFDS had played a critical role delivering essential healthcare and more than 32,000 Covid vaccinations to remote and vulnerable communities during the pandemic.

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.

Iron ore magnate Gina Rinehart has donated $8 million to the Royal Flying Doctor Service to buy a state-of-the-art aircraft that will help save lives in the most isolated corners of the State. The Rinehart Medical Foundation and Roy Hill will contribute $4 million each to buy and fund an aeromedical fit-out of a PC12 NGX plane in what is one of the most significant donations to the RFDS. Last month, Ms Rinehart was crowned Western Australian on the Year not only for her contribution to WA’s mining and agricultural sectors but for her generosity to various medical and health organisations. RFDS Western Operations chief executive Judith Barker said the organisation had a $90 million program to replace 12 planes by 2030. Ms Barker said the RFDS had a long association with Ms Rinehart and her mother, Hope Hancock. “We’re really grateful for the support that we get from her, Roy Hill and the foundation who recognise that the RFDS is there to support them and their endeavours in rural or remote areas,” she said.

Hancock Prospecting group chief executive Garry Korte has called for magnetite ore to be carved out of the Federal Government’s safeguard mechanism as he warns of “unintended consequences” of the policy. Billionaire Gina Rinehart’s company is concerned that magnetite iron ore is not distinguished from hematite under the Government’s safeguard mechanism despite its potential to help the steel industry lower emissions. Mr Korte said the creation of a separate magnetite iron ore variable under the safeguard mechanism was critical to encourage investment in magnetite in Australia. “Without (the variable), the safeguard mechanism will result in the offshoring of investment and reduction in value-add opportunities in Australia,” he told The West Australian.

Hancock Agriculture chief executive Adam Giles discusses free-trade agreements, animal welfare and what’s ahead for the S Kidman and Co brand, today on The Australian Ag Podcast. Mr Giles travelled to the UK and Europe last week as the first Australian beef was being served up to British consumers under the recently signed free-trade deal. He was accompanied by Hancock owner, billionaire businesswoman Gina Rinehart, and met with consumers, importers and distributors to trumpet the benefits of Aussie beef Hancock Agriculture operates one of Australia’s biggest beef cattle herds across more than 3.5 million hectares of NSW, Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory, with the portfolio including the famed S Kidman and Co cattle stations.

Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen will release the full text of the mandatory code of conduct governing the country’s gas industry within days, a document that will go a long way to determining whether several new developments materialise. Australia’s east coast gas market is facing a material shortfall in the next few years as traditional supplies run dry and proposed new developments struggle to secure regulatory and social licences. Senex Energy, owned by South Korea’s Posco and Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting, earlier this year suspended its proposed $1bn Atlas project in Queensland, while Cooper Energy has delayed a go-ahead to expand its Otway gas project off Victoria.

The Australian Rowing Team were delighted to host their Patron Mrs Gina Rinehart AO at the European Training Centre in Italy yesterday. Her leadership and support, along with funding provided from Hancock Prospecting, has enabled these athletes to be at their best as they prepare for Paris 2024 and make Australia proud. Thanks Mrs R and thanks Hancock Prospecting.

BHP boss Mike Henry has doubled down on criticism of the Federal Government’s crackdown on labour hire laws, arguing it is taking Australia in the “wrong direction” and will make the country less competitive. “An industrial relations system that delivers productivity, flexibility, and competitiveness to drive job creation and wage growth. Predictability and reduced risk. Under those conditions, the capital will flow,” Mr Henry told the World Mining Conference. “Worryingly, some policies are taking us in the wrong direction and are going to make Australia less competitive: this includes recent and proposed changes to industrial relations legislation, particularly the same job same pay legislation and multi-employer bargaining.”

Thank you to our team members who took up the challenge in 2022 to help raise $3M for Telethon.

Strong commodity prices and WA’s powerhouse resources sector have played an “outsized” role in boosting the Federal Government’s coffers, with the Budget surplus ballooning to $19 billion at the end of May. New figures from the Department of Finance show a surge in company and personal tax payments underwriting a stronger than expected result. Receipts from the resources sector was one of the biggest contributors. Mr Albanese argued strong export links would be paramount to ensure unemployment levels remained low. “One in four Australian jobs depend on international trade and that ratio is only going to increase as the economic transformation under way in our region, the fastest growing region of the world in human history, gathers pace,” he told the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce on Friday.