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My father throughout his whole life was a huge lover of the bush and of our country, and made himself unpopular at times, standing up for what he could see was in the nation’s best interests. On our long drives together in the bush to check windmills and cattle – I was the gate opener and tool carrier – Dad would sometimes tell me jokes. One he especially liked was told by Dr Edward Teller – scientists who knew both Teller and Einstein said that Teller had the greater mind.

Among the key takeaways from BHP’s full-year results on Tuesday was a massive increase in the miner’s capital expenditure plans, from $US7.1 billion ($11b) this year to around $US10b next year, with the medium-term outlook for $US11b. An increasing proportion of this — around 70 per cent — will go towards so-called “future facing commodities” needed for the energy transition, along with initiatives to cut emissions across its sprawling operations.

I listened intently to them as well as to Gina Rinehart who gave her views on what governments need to do to ensure we continue to enjoy the lifestyle we have grown accustomed to. My personal view is our governments need to listen to the Rinehart has to say. We need successful business leaders and philanthropists with common sense and a love of our country more than ever to give advice to our leaders.

Gina Rinehart has offered a scathing assessment of the costs involved with achieving net zero at a regional summit, warning of the dire consequences for the agriculture industry. Ms Rinehart took aim at the handouts for “climate research and government advisers”, highlighting the angst she sees in the agriculture industry. “The type who have never successfully run a farm, a station, or other agriculture businesses,” she told the regional Queensland crowd. “I think we are also not looking at the costs involved with the agriculture industry.”

While business leaders and policymakers were converging in Perth on Monday for The Australian’s inaugural Bush Summit, more than 2000km away, in the state’s remote Kimberley region, pastoralist Chris Towne and a group of workers were battling to contain a massive fire sweeping across the plains of Gogo Station. Once again, the task of dealing with the blaze had fallen to Towne and his employees. And once again, there had not been any action taken against those suspected of starting the fires“If this was bushland outside Perth it would be front page news.” Towne’s experience in many ways encapsulates the sentiment expressed by many at the Bush Summit: that Western Australia’s regions feel forgotten and ignored.

Keynote speech with Gina Rinehart, Executive Chairman, Hancock Prospecting Group.

Hancock Prospecting executive chair Gina Rinehart says the costs to agriculture of achieving net-zero targets has the potential to increase food prices at the supermarket and force farming families off their land. Ms Rinehart, in her keynote speech at The Courier-Mail Bush Summit, also sounded the alarm on red tape associated with mining which she said could take “decades” to navigate.

18 August 2023.

“I had no doubt that through the determination and commitment of our people at Roy a solution could be developed which will have a lasting and significant safety legacy in Perth,” Mrs Rinehart said. “Hancock Prospecting and Roy Hill has a fantastic association with the Lord Mayor and the City of Perth, and this is another significant achievement we can be proud to have worked together to deliver.”