Mining billionaire Gina Rinehart has presented Pauline Hanson with a bright orange bulldozer, saying Australia must “bulldoze” government waste and bureaucracy in a theatrical moment at her Bush Summit in Townsville.
The gesture appeared to echo a campaign-style image from the United States, where Elon Musk has been associated with dramatic calls to slash red tape. Addressing the crowd on Wednesday, the Hancock Prospecting executive chairman stood alongside the One Nation leader and argued that Australia needed its own symbol for cutting through bureaucracy.
“You might remember Elon Musk was given a big chainsaw to try and cut government [red tape] and bureaucracy over in America,” Mrs Rinehart said. “We actually need a beautiful big fat … orange bulldozer.”
She then handed Senator Hanson an orange toy bulldozer and urged the audience to join in by making bulldozer noises, turning the political message into a crowd-pleasing stunt.
Mrs Rinehart also used the moment to commend Hanson, praising the One Nation leader for giving Australians hope.
Mrs Rinehart praised Hanson for giving Australians hope.
‘Firstly, thank you, Pauline,’ she said.
‘You give Aussies across our country hope … never departing from the values you have consistently held.’
Mrs Rinehart slammed the Albanese government, which she claimed had a culture of ‘big expensive government, high taxes and red tape’.
Gina Rinehart has gifted Pauline Hanson a bright orange bulldozer, declaring Australia needs to ‘bulldoze’ government waste and bureaucracy
Rinehart said Australia could become a hub for Elon Musk’s SpaceX – which is now the fifth most valuable company in the world, creating jobs for locals
‘Whenever you hear the word subsidies, whenever you hear the word partnerships, whenever you hear the word investment by state and federal government… guess what, that really means higher taxes for you,’ she said.
Mrs Rinehart also revealed her bold plan for Australia to allow Musk’s SpaceX to build rocket launch sites off the coast of Townsville.
Mrs Rinehart is a big fan of Musk and recently invested an estimated billion dollars in his company.
‘Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have those rocket launches with satellites happening on those islands out there?’ she said.
‘Imagine the tourism opportunity.’
She said the project would create highly skilled jobs for young Australians who would otherwise be forced to move overseas for work.
Mrs Rinehart also called on Australia to encourage Taiwanese microchip manufacturers to relocate production to northern Australia amid growing concerns over tensions in the Taiwan Strait.
‘Why don’t we offer some of our land, preferably in the north, to companies in Taiwan to come to Australia and build their microchips here?’ she said.
Gina Rinehart said Australia needs a bulldozer to cut through government waste and bureaucracy, and handed Pauline Hanson a toy one to lead the charge
The stunt was inspired by Elon Musk’s chainsaw-wielding campaign against red tape in the United States
Gina Rinehart is a friend of Elon Musk and wants him to invest big in Australia
The mining magnate also criticised what she described as the government’s narrow focus on ‘critical minerals’ and said industries such as iron ore, copper and nickel were equally vital to Australia’s economic and defence capabilities.
‘We’re ignoring truly critical minerals that are needed in much bigger quantities – iron ore, copper and nickel.
‘You cannot build any of this defence stuff without these ingredients as well,’ she said.
‘We need to fast-track everything. We need to, in my view, be adding as much revenue to our coffers as possible now, really fast-tracking that so we can not only get out of all the crises we’re in, but also start defending our country by putting more money into defence.’
She also called for vacant military accommodation to be opened to homeless veterans, claiming Canberra was failing to support former servicemen and women.
‘Why isn’t Canberra listening?’ she said.
‘Are they so arrogant, so heartless, so unconcerned for their fellow citizens and veterans that they leave their barracks and other spare accommodation closed and will not open it up for the approximately 6,000 homeless veterans we have in our country?’
‘Another thing is that we are, with our socialist policies, causing some of these veterans to become homeless by not letting them work as much as they would like to.
‘If we let them work more, if they wanted to – I’m not saying they must – and just pay taxes while keeping their extremely well-deserved pensions, this would be better for them in so many ways, including perhaps helping with their housing.’
