Originally published by Phoebe Griffiths of The Australian.
18.06.2026
Australian mining magnate Gina Rinehart has gifted One Nation leader Pauline Hanson a toy bulldozer to help “cut government tape and bureaucracy”.
Delivering the keynote address at the Townsville Bulletin Bush Summit on Thursday, Ms Rinehart said “big, expensive government, high taxes and tape” were not the right path for the future of regional Australia.
She also suggested Australia give tech titan Elon Musk land for his SpaceX satellite construction, before gifting Senator Hanson the orange toy in an homage to a political stunt by Mr Musk last year.
“You might remember Elon Musk was given a big chainsaw to try and cut government tape and bureaucracy over in America. We need an orange bulldozer,” Mrs Rinehart said, passing the bulldozer to Senator Hanson.
Ms Rinehart told the conference Senator Hanson gives “Aussies across our country hope”.
“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?” she said.
“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.”
She said the first step to improving Townsville’s future was to close all federal departments that overlap with state departments – including the Fisheries, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Industry, Science and Resources.
“Now, what else could we do to bring opportunities to Townsville and Queensland?
“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?”
Ms Rinehart also suggested that Townsville give land to Mr Musk, just days after she emerged with a $US1bn (about $1.4bn) stake in SpaceX.
“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,” she said.
“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.”
Ms Rinehart also suggested that Israeli companies could develop and advance their advanced defence technology on Australian soil.
