Gina Rinehart has criticised Australia’s “woke” education system, claiming children are “taught to be ashamed of our country”.
The mining magnate made the comment in a video address at the Bush Summit in Bendigo, Victoria, on Monday.
Ms Rinehart called for the national curriculum to be “fixed”, government bureaucracy to be cut, taxes to be reduced and she criticised immigration levels.
His comments come after he said on Friday the government should reintroduce compulsory national service for all men under 53 and install an “iron dome” missile defence system over Australia’s northern islands.
She urged the government to “drill, baby, drill and dig, baby, dig” to pay for it.
Ms Rinehart, Australia’s richest person with an estimated fortune of $30.5 billion, said on Monday that “our children and grandchildren are being let down in their schools”.
“Even those as young as three years old and attending preschools are taught that our police are bad and that plastics, which are essential in hospitals, are bad,” she told the summit.
‘They and others in school classes are no longer taught to be proud of our country, quite the opposite.
Mining magnate and philanthropist Gina Rinehart (pictured) appeared in a video address at the Bush Summit in Bendigo on Monday, where she called for the national curriculum to be “fixed”, government bureaucracy to be cut, taxes to be reduced and she criticised immigration levels.
Ms Rinehart with Italian opera singer Matteo Bocelli during a party she hosted for Australian Olympians, whom she has helped fund to the tune of $80 million since 2012.
“They are taught that it is wrong to say there are two genders, and they are even scolded if they say it. They are taught propaganda instead of facts, and progressive causes instead of understanding logic and rationale.”
Ms Rinehart said mining, coal and iron ore do not receive a single mention in high school business and economics curricula.
“In the entire national secondary school curriculum, iron ore is mentioned only twice, while climate change and renewable energy are mentioned 48 times,” he said.
“Schoolchildren are anxious about the end of the world and their deaths, some think in five or ten years. They wonder why they should do their homework if the world is going to end. These curricula are revealing of the generation of young Australians who, frankly, we are failing.
“I’m told that anti-Australia, climate change awareness and human intervention now take up about a third of our school curricula. No wonder we’re falling behind.
She called for an Australian version of Moms for America, a US campaign that advocates against the teaching of racial theory, LGBT issues and discrimination in schools.
Ms Rinehart also said the erosion of pride in Australia among young people due to the education system would have disastrous consequences.
“With the number of defence personnel declining and our school curricula teaching our children to be ashamed of our country, not proud of our history which has, in fact, led us to have one of the highest standards of living in the world and to create primary industries that thrive, we must ask ourselves: ‘Why would our school children want to defend our country in the future, a country they have learned not to like, even to hate?'” he told Summit delegates.
Ms Rinehart also praised the country’s agricultural and mining industries, which she described as “Australia’s engine room”.
“It seems all too easy for some to forget that every aspect of our lives is affected by the mining or agricultural industry,” he told the summit.
‘As you know, everything has to be grown or harvested, whether it’s the food on our tables, the energy used to refrigerate and cook it, the utensils used to eat it, and much more.’
Ms Rinehart also said the erosion of pride in Australia among young people due to the education system would have disastrous consequences.
Ms Rinehart warned that Australia is “going down” and not “up”.
He also criticised “government policies that do not take into account the people of the hinterland” and said cutting taxes would help address the cost of living crisis.
“We don’t want empty words, we want to know what taxes would be removed when GST comes into effect – payroll, licence fees and stamp duty will be removed,” he said.
“Wouldn’t that help reduce the cost of living? We want to hear that the federal government will eliminate the excise tax on fuel, not only reducing the cost of our cars and other vehicles, but also the cost of all goods transported and all goods that require fuel for processing or manufacturing.”
Ms Rinehart also criticised record levels of immigration.
“Let’s not forget that the million immigrants this administration brought in only meant that about 40,000 people joined the workforce,” he said.
‘However, this causes many disadvantages, with almost a million people being added to our housing crisis, rent costs increasing, police being put under pressure with more crime and delays in hospitals increasing, even being turned away from emergencies because our doctors, nurses and medical facilities simply cannot cope.’
On the first day of the Bush Summit in Townsville on Friday, Ms Rinehart called on the government to modernise Australia’s defence infrastructure by moving its infrastructure, including an Israeli-style “iron dome” missile deflection system covering islands in the country’s north.
“You might be wondering, how are we going to pay for this? It’s very simple: we need to reduce government waste, which is a lot, and we need to drill, baby, drill and dig, baby, dig,” he said.
He also called for the reintroduction of compulsory national service for “all biological men… under, say, 53 years of age” and voluntary service for “biological women”.
The Bush Summit is designed to address key challenges facing inner-city communities, including crime, cost of living and infrastructure funding.
A variety of speakers were heard, including Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan, who was booed by farmers during her speech on Monday.
