Gina Rinehart publishes list of six ways she wants to change the Australian economy – including nuclear power
Gina Rinehart has proposed six ‘common sense’ steps to improve the lives of Australians, including embracing nuclear energy and scaling back restrictions on working hours.
The mining tycoon, who is worth an estimated $37.41 billion, also wants red tape cut, farmers subsidized to help the country meet climate goals, and infrastructure in regional areas improved.
While she called for the urgent introduction of nuclear power, probably her most controversial idea was to end “the limitation of working hours” to help veterans, retirees and college students.
“Imagine the smiles when we finally get to fill those jobs in the bush and see the opening hours and effectiveness of hospitals and health centers improve,” she wrote in The spectator.
Probably her most controversial idea was to end “the limit on work hours” to help veterans, retirees and college students
Gina Rinehart has proposed six ‘common sense’ steps to improve Australians’ lives, including embracing nuclear energy and scaling back restrictions on working hours
Mrs. Rinehart’s plans have been published in the magazine under the heading “Opening the Gates, Ideas for an Even Greater Country.”
Her main idea was to put nuclear power ahead of renewables “for the good of this nation.”
“It’s time to realize that we need nuclear power in this country.”
“Instead of punishing many farmers with bird-killing wind generators and massive solar panels, we urgently need to enable clean, safe nuclear power for the good of this country.”
Ms. Rinehart used a “scientifically fact-checked” joke about radiation to make this point, attributed to Hungarian-American scientist Edward Teller, known as “the father of the hydrogen bomb.”
The joke started by saying that a man would receive “just a little bit more radiation” if he stood next to a nuclear power plant for a year than if he were in bed with his wife.
“If a man stood next to that same nuclear power plant for a year and then went home to share a bed with two women, he would get more radiation from sharing that bed than standing next to the nuclear power plant for an entire year.”
She wants farmers to be subsidized if they spend more than $200,000 switching to electric vehicles and installations as the country strives to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
Rinehart made it clear how much her controversial father, Lang Hancock’s entrepreneurial spirit, has influenced her
“Do our politicians understand the magnitude of the financial burden this will place on farmers?
“Moving to electric vehicles, including lawnmowers, motorcycles, utes, four-wheel drives, tractors, harvesters, trucks, bulldozers, graders, and front-end loaders, will cost a fortune, and on top of that, about $650,000 will be needed for solar energy. plants with huge batteries for when the sun isn’t shining, and solar panels to replace multi-bore pumps, essential for daily water supply.’
Ms Rinehart also urged governments to return the money regional Australia has made to the economy back to the regions, in part by improving internet access.
Another way this could be done is by building ’24 hours, 365 days’ airstrips in the outback to serve ‘the fastest aircraft in the Royal Flying Doctor Service’.
Mining towns also need top hospitals, she said.
“We should have the best equipped and most luxurious hospitals in Newman, Tom Price, Dampier, Cape Lambert, Port Hedland and other mining towns, thanks to the income we generate in the Pilbara and other mining areas.”
A key focus for Ms Rinehart was reducing the ‘red tape’ of government, both at the federal level and in Western Australia.
“After four years, all government recordings automatically disappear and bureaucrats in every relevant department must sign their names and give reasons why the recording should be reposted.”
One of its more detailed plans is to introduce a series of special economic zones, starting with Northern Australia.
The core of that plan is a tax cut for people who invest in or work in Northern Australia.
Rinehart made it clear how much her controversial entrepreneurial father Lang Hancock has influenced her by starting and ending the column with references to him.
Ms. Rinehart wants airstrips to be operational 24 hours a day, 365 days a year in the outback
She acknowledged that her father “made himself unpopular at times.”
While he is recognized as one of Western Australia’s mining greats and built the family’s fortune, he said Aboriginal people should be sterilized.
But, Mrs. Rinehart said, her father “stood up for what he believed was in the best interest of the nation.”
“My father has made a tremendous and exceptional contribution to our North, to our state, and to this country.”