Gina Rinehart issues dire warning on why Australia could be headed straight for disaster – and why we need to boost our defence now

Mining billionaire Gina Rinehart has used her speech at the Bush summit in Port Hedland, Washington, to issue dire warnings that Australia is heading for an economic and defence disaster, calling for an “iron dome” to protect mining assets.

Ms Rinehart first told her audience that Australia’s mining sector has earned trillions of dollars in export revenue over the past decade.

She said these revenues benefited many Australian businesses, generating $252 billion in wages and $357 billion in taxes and royalties over the past 10 years.

These taxes and royalties have allowed Australia to “meet the needs of nurses, police officers, defence… veterans, seniors, emergency services and more,” she said.

Australia’s richest person said at the time that if plans to switch to 100 percent renewable energy ever succeeded, the country’s economy would be deprived of this revenue.

“What services would you like to cut if the mining sector no longer generates revenue, and how much more tax would you like to pay?” she said.

‘Let us above all remember, and encourage others, why should we endanger this gold mine, why kill the geese that lay the golden eggs?’

The ‘truth’ is that ‘sustainable energy cannot meet our basic electricity needs, the sun doesn’t always shine, the wind doesn’t always blow, the additional investment to make this happen will be enormous’.

Ms Rinehart did not say that renewables have no value, but she did point out the serious limitations she places on them.

“In Australia, solar panels generate about 20-25 percent of the year’s electricity,” she said. “Wind is only slightly better, typically having a ‘capacity factor’ of 30-40 percent.”

She said: ‘Hydropower could be a little bit better, maybe generating power 50 percent of the time (but) compare that to coal and natural gas.

‘These thermal power plants typically have a capacity factor of 70-90 percent because they can consistently generate electricity as long as fuel is available.’

The billionaire then advocated nuclear power, which Opposition Leader Peter Dutton had promised if the Coalition won the upcoming federal election, which is due in May next year.

“Although it’s not there yet – well, not yet – nuclear power would be the best option. Nuclear power would be in operation more than 90 percent of the time because it requires less maintenance and is designed to operate for extended periods of time,” Ms Rinehart said.

She also spoke about Australia’s defence spending, which she said was “unrealistically and irresponsibly limited”.

“The main responsibility of the government … is the defense of our country,” she said, adding that this is also inextricably linked to the mining sector.

“There’s no point in having resources in the Pilbara unless we can export them and make a profit from them. That’s why we need to have a defence to keep our railways and ports open, and our vital sea routes.”

Ms Rinehart said higher defence spending could be achieved by opening more mines and cutting bureaucracy.

She borrowed Donald Trump’s “drill, baby, drill” line and said, “dig baby dig! Remove the government barriers that are slowing development and turn (mineral mining) into revenue as quickly as possible.”

She said the world must learn from what is happening in Ukraine “that warfare is changing and therefore our approach to defense must also change.”

“A stark example is the Ukrainian-made war drones that cost little but destroy a $1 billion Russian navy ship. We need defense investments that work today.”

Ms Rinehart first told her audience that Australia’s mining sector has earned trillions of dollars in export revenues over the past decade. The Yandi iron ore mine in the Pilbara is pictured

Ms Rinehart said Australia’s defence spending was ‘unrealistically and irresponsibly limited’. Australian soldiers have been pictured in the UK training Ukrainian recruits

In a controversial phone call, Ms Rinehart said the Pilbara mining region should have “protective iron domes like those in Israel, plus war drones and smart sea mines, in abundance, and similarly along our shipping lanes, in ports and on some islands, from the northwest to the northeast”.

She said a stronger defence capability was also needed because “we only have seven days’ worth of fuel reserves in Australia”.

‘It is vital that we can keep our shipping lanes open for fuel supplies, whether that comes from Singapore, the US or elsewhere.

“We can say, let’s not spend money on our defense and rely on the US, but what would that actually mean if we can’t protect our shipping lanes and ports so that fuel, defense equipment and heavy supplies from the US can reach us?”