Mining billionaire Gina Rinehart used her speech at the Bush Summit in Port Hedland, Washington, to issue stark warnings that Australia could be heading for economic and defence disasters, and called for an “iron dome” to protect mining assets.
Ms Rinehart first told her audience that over the past decade, Australia’s mining industry has earned billions of dollars in export revenue.
He said this revenue supported many Australian businesses and paid $252 billion in wages and $357 billion in taxes and royalties over the past 10 years.
These taxes and royalties allowed Australia to “provide services for nurses, police, defence… veterans, seniors, emergency services and more,” he said.
Australia’s richest person said that if plans to switch to 100 percent renewable energy went ahead, the country’s economy would lose out on these revenues.
“What services would you like to see eliminated without revenue from the mining industry and how much more tax would you like to pay?” he asked.
‘Let us keep in mind, and encourage others as well, why endanger this bonanza, why kill the geese that lay golden eggs.’
The truth is that “sustainable energy cannot meet our basic energy needs; the sun does not always shine, the wind does not always blow; the additional capital to try to connect all this will be enormous.”
Mining billionaire Gina Rinehart (pictured) has used her speech at the Bush Summit in Western Australia to issue stark warnings that Australia could be heading for economic and defence disaster.
Ms Rinehart did not say renewable energy sources had no value, but she pointed out what she saw as their serious limitations.
“In Australia, solar panels generate electricity for 20-25 percent of the year,” he said. “Wind power is only slightly better, typically having a ‘capacity factor’ of 30-40 percent.”
She said: ‘Hydropower may be a little bit better again, maybe generating power 50 percent of the time (but) compare it to coal and natural gas.
‘These thermal power plants typically have capacity factors of between 70 and 90 percent because they can generate electricity steadily as long as fuel is available.’
The billionaire then defended nuclear power, which has been promised by opposition leader Peter Dutton if the coalition wins the next federal election in May.
“While we’re not there yet – well, not yet – nuclear power would be the best of all, running more than 90 percent of the time because it requires less maintenance and is designed to run for longer periods,” Rinehart said.
She also addressed Australia’s defence spending, which she says is “unrealistically and irresponsibly capped”.
“The most important responsibility of government… is the defense of our country,” he said, adding that this is also inextricably linked to the mining industry.
“There is no point in having resources in the Pilbara unless we can export them and receive income from them, so we should have defence to keep our railways and ports and our vital shipping routes open.”
Ms Rinehart said it would be possible to fund increased defence spending by allowing more mines to be opened and cutting red tape.
Borrowing Donald Trump’s phrase “drill, baby, drill,” he said: “Dig, baby, dig! Get rid of government obstacles that delay development and instead turn (mineral mining) into revenue urgently.”
He said the world should learn from what is happening in Ukraine “that warfare is changing and therefore our thinking about defense needs to change as well.”
“A clear example is the cheap Ukrainian-made war drones that destroy a $1 billion Russian warship. We need defense investments that work today.”
Ms Rinehart first told her audience that over the past decade, Australia’s mining industry has earned billions of dollars in export revenue. The Yandi iron ore mine in the Pilbara is pictured.
Ms Rinehart said Australia’s defence spending was “unrealistically and irresponsibly capped”. Australian soldiers in the UK training Ukrainian recruits
In a controversial call, Ms Rinehart said the Pilbara mining region “should have protective iron domes like Israel’s, plus war drones and smart sea mines, in abundance, and the same on our shipping lanes and ports and some islands, from the north-west to the north-east”.
He said a stronger defence capability was also needed as “we only have seven days of fuel reserves in Australia”.
‘It is essential that we can keep our shipping lanes open to receive fuel, whether from Singapore, the United States or anywhere else.
We may have the attitude of not spending on our defense, of relying on America, but how would that work in reality if we cannot protect our sea lanes and ports so that they can allow American fuel, defense equipment, and heavy supplies to reach us?
