Gina Rinehart uses huge profits to fire another warning shot through government tape

Rinehart, who is estimated to be worth more than $45 billion, used the company’s results to launch another blistering tirade against government tape – which Hancock Prospecting operations chief Gerhard Veldsman said threatened to pause plans to increase production at the decade-old mine to maintain.

The mining magnate warned that the sector faces threats on multiple fronts – including regulatory pressure that delays or prevents new projects, and impractical policies that could hinder investment and endanger living standards.

She has also revived her campaign for the federal government to introduce special economic zones with less burdensome regulations and tax cuts such as those introduced in China, citing the Minerals Council of Australia’s claim that 80 percent of major projects are stopped before the regulators.

“Australia’s increasing government intervention, combined with ideological and expensive or impractical policies, is negatively impacting new investment in mining, which will lead to lower living standards,” she said.

“This should be a wake-up call to all Australians. We should not take our standard of living for granted.

“Australia has now seen six straight quarters of declining living standards and the highest number of business failures on record.”

Veldsman said this year’s profits provided the basis for reinvestment in the company, which would provide the basis for workforce training, lucrative employment opportunities and further mining projects that would generate profits.

But he said this depended on “timely and practical” government approvals, which were needed as the Roy Hill operation neared the end of the mine’s expected life.

“As Ms Rinehart has previously warned, the life of the Roy Hill mine is finite and is expected to end in early 2030 without further investment, which will require timely and practical approvals,” he said.

“Unnecessarily lengthy, duplicative and even contradictory conditions and processes at state and federal levels impose significant costs and cuts must be made to ensure that the mines of the future can be developed, their contributions can be sustained and to maintain our standard of living. .”

The comments come just weeks after Rinehart used the approval of Hancock Prospecting’s $600 million McPhee project to raise concerns during the debate over the government’s environmental reforms.

The federal government has tried to overhaul environmental laws and create a standalone Environmental Protection Agency, but legislation has stalled after a tug-of-war with the Greens and the opposition.

The plan aims to stop damage to critical habitats and strengthen the Environmental Protection Biodiversity Conservation Act, but industry claims it could duplicate approvals, delay and blow away the costs of major projects and deter investment.

Roy Hill is the largest revenue generator for Hancock Prospecting, which has a 70 percent stake in the company.

The equity interest is held by a consortium consisting of the Japanese conglomerate Marubeni Corporation, the South Korean steel producer POSCO and China Steel Corporation.

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