Speech by Mrs Gina Rinehart AO
News Corp Townsville / Townsville Bush Summit
Thursday 18 June 2026
Firstly, Thank you. Pauline, you give Aussies across our country, hope, never departing from values you have consistently held, cut bureaucracy, cut tape and regulations, cut government waste, and, exit the Paris Accord, a record tried overseas with very successful results, Australians first.
Today we are here to discuss the future potential of Townsville, a city very special to many, including me.
Now, who thinks big spending government, wasteful government, causing high taxes, plus massive government tape and regulations causing delay or preventing projects, is what we need to do to ensure investment flows to Townsville. Any hands?
Who thinks, massive government tape and regulations, high taxes, helps our exports, our international cost competitiveness, or helps struggling businesses. Any hands?
Big expensive government, high taxes and tape, is not the right path for Townsville’s future.
In my view we cannot sustain our massive government burden, with its record debt, and need to significantly cut these government costs. As a first step, close all federal departments that overlap with state departments. Not Just tinker around the edges, because, during years fighting to cut, costs would continue to mount.
Let’s look at the savings in cutting some of the overlapping bureaucracies alone, the screen shows where these figures taken from Federal Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Australian Fisheries Management Authority (fisheries) – approximately $1.576 billion per annum.
Federal Department of Industry, Science and Resources – approximately $0.781 billion per annum.
Federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Clean Energy Regulator – approximately $1.338 billion per annum.
Just to example a few.
This is not counting their wasteful expenditure, or the costs of delay they have caused, or the damage they have caused, just the savings in bureaucracy costs alone.
Empty federal offices could be changed to accommodation, for homeless veterans, struggling pensioners, and frightened women and children, who face horrendous unacceptable violence and rapes. As an aside, like Pauline, I don’t like Australians to be homeless. I wrote to my staff to ensure that we immediately filled the first of our 200 million I’ve committed to homing homeless veterans. I am pleased to report the first property in West Australia is now full of happy veterans. And I want to add a warm thanks to Harvey Norman, who generously agreed to supply all equipment needed for the kitchenettes, plus bed linens.
Now, what else could we do to bring opportunities to Townsville and Queensland?
We already have a few benefits to offer, not many.
We have, land, we have the Townsville international airport, and we have the Townsville port with around ten working berths and a recently upgraded shipping channel that now takes vessels up to about 13 metres draft, subject to tide, and cruise ships up to 300 metres long and we speak English. And when not working, we have beautiful scenery and friendly Aussies, fishing, fresh produce and more.
And, with the saving in federal departments, and wastage, importantly we could enable, lower tape and lower taxes.
What industries should we try to attract? What about the world’s best microchips? What about Elon Musk’s communication satellites. What about defence manufacturing to protect our people and critical infrastructure?
Apparently, we have land out near Prairie designated for toxic, asbestos riddled, bird and bat maiming, bird and bat killing wind towers. What a waste.
Let’s stop this misuse and let the Taiwan computer chip industries know, we have free land to offer for their world leading microchip industry, with tax holiday, an international airport to go to and fro, and a port at Townsville.
Let’s let them know we can offer a safer substitute for their world leading microchips manufacture and development, and would make them welcome.
Of course, if this land near prairie isn’t suitable, offer other choices nearer Townsville.
Taxpayers saved dollars could go on charter jets and cargo ships, to Taiwan, to bring the high skilled staff they chose, and their immediate families to Townsville, plus equipment. And doctors and nurses and their immediate families, for a regional hospital. Should the prairie land option be suitable, add a proper airport at or near prairie, even a heliport, temporary homes with swimming pools, country club with top Taiwanese restaurant, hospital and other attractions, using a small portion of the saved taxpayer dollars, to make a Townsville region offer attractive.
And, over at the sparsely or non-populated islands on the screen, where there aren’t high end tourist facilities, offer to Elon, at no cost, for his SpaceX satellite construction and launches. Add water and the infrastructure Elon needs. He needs land to expand, and an alternate weather place in an allied country for his multiple satellite launches.
Wouldn’t this be fantastic for Australian university student graduates, to be able to have the opportunity to learn near Townsville with world leading proponents and facilities, instead of having to leave their families and go overseas.
And, satellite launches would definitely add a tourist attraction.
Townsville made important history years ago, as a navy, [Australian and American forces staged from here, supplied from here, repaired aircraft here, and flew operations across northern Australia, New Guinea and the South-West Pacific. And out in the Coral Sea in 1942, our navy was there too. HMAS Australia and HMAS Hobart, under Australian-born Rear Admiral John Crace, helped block the Japanese invasion force heading for Port Moresby. The Japanese turned back, and the Battle of the Coral Sea became one of the great strategic victories credited with helping protect Australia] base at Townsville, helping defend our country in WW2, I understand many veteran families still live in this area.
That important culture, could flourish again, if we also offered free land, be that near prairie if suitable, or elsewhere near Townsville, to the Israelis and transport here for their skilled people, immediate families and equipment, and encouraged the Israelis to develop and build their advanced war drones, and or other advances in defence, and or improve upon their Israeli style domes, and manufacture them here to sell to our country to help make our people and critical infrastructure safe.
I have to stop part way, as this time is all I’m permitted.
