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Honour industries that transformed Australia
Australia has long been a nation of primary producers, of farmers and miners who go out into regional and outback areas and contend with whatever nature may throw at them to provide the food, fibre and raw materials that we need to survive and thrive. We have cultivated agriculture that feeds and clothes Australians and tens of millions of people around the world. And we have taken risks and developed the minerals that have enabled higher living standards across Australia and the world. Thanks to our primary industries and the many businesses they support, we live in one of the wealthiest countries that has ever existed, and Australians today have among the highest standards of living ever experienced by human beings.
IR LAWS WILL HIT SMALL BUSINESS
Labor’s proposed industrial relations laws will smash suburban high streets and make it less likely that they will hire casual workers in the future, according to the peak organisation for small businesses. “The new definition of casuals is three pages long and comprises 15 different tests. You shouldn’t need a PhD in law to know how to hire a casual worker,” said Luke Achterstraat, chief executive of the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia.
Hancock Prospecting warns Closing Loopholes Bill could see mining move to countries with lower standards
“If increased regulatory burdens cause new mining projects to be delayed or cancelled, Australia will be unable to satisfy the rising iron ore demand created by net zero targets,” Hancock Prospecting chief executive of group operations Gerhard Veldsman said. Gina Rinehart has warned controversial industrial relations reforms could push mining away from Australia to countries with lower environmental standards.
RED TAPE GROWING FASTER THAN ECONOMY
Australia is struggling under the burden of red tape that is growing at nearly twice the rate of the national economy, leading to urgent calls for parliament to act to cut out-of-date regulations and ban new rules from being imposed without old ones being repealed.
Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Agriculture will use beef profits to finance more property expansion
Ms Rinehart has famously sold off many of the enormous Kidman stations across central and northern Australia to continue her switch to feedlotting for her Wagyu and Santa Gertrudis brands. “Hancock Prospecting remains committed to increasing its investment in the agricultural sector,” the company states in its annual financial report produced this week. The company said the substantial profits made from its beef operations “are being re-invested in high quality properties as opportunities of value are identified”.
Roy Hill welcomes Australian Artistic Swimming
The Australian Artistic Swimming team, development squad and coaches were on deck at our Perth Headquarters last month to learn about their Principal Partner, Hancock Prospecting. Our Executive Chairman, Mrs Gina Rinehart, is the largest individual supporter of Australian Olympic and Paralympic athletes, and through Hancock Prospecting Group, Roy Hill is an Australian Olympic Partner. In the latest edition of the Athlete Roadshow Series, employees from across the Hancock Prospecting Group briefed the team on the various operating businesses, our vital work in the community and the diverse range of career opportunities in mining. Hancock Agriculture businesses were on hand to provide the team with a nutritious lunch, including products from 2GR Wagyu, Kidman Pies and Bannister Downs flavoured milk. Artistic swimming is one of the four Olympic sports with Hancock Prospecting as its principal partner, along with swimming, rowing and volleyball.
PGA reflects on year with annual dinner
The Pastoralists and Graziers Association of WA (PGA) Awards dinner, at Crown Botanicals last week, was a chance to glam up and reflect on a successful day of speakers and interaction at the annual PGA Convention held earlier in the day. The 2023 PGA Rural Achievement Award, for service to the agricultural industry, rural and regional Western Australia and the PGA was announced by PGA president Tony Seabrook. The winner was Gina Rinehart, executive chairman of both Hancock Prospecting and Hancock Agriculture, with the award accepted on her behalf by Hancock Agriculture CEO, Adam Giles.
BIG MINERS DIG IN TO FEND OFF PLANNED IR REFORMS
But Mr Veldsman said that, under the Bill, there was no guarantee those different categories of driver would continue to be paid about the same. “We’re talking about draft legislation where the ‘full rate of pay’ is so unclear, so undefined, so broad and so open to speculation that we can’t say in future if this Bill is to actually pass that we can still do that,” he said. Mr Veldsman added a number of Hancock’s projects had already stalled due to red tape. Another major concern is a proposal to give casual workers the right to ask to convert to permanent employment after six months of regular hours.
2023 Pastoralists and Graziers Association (PGA) Award Presentation
Tony Seabrook expresses acknowledgement of Mrs Gina Rinehart AO’s extraordinary commitment to Agriculture & community.
