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The Propel Group has agreed to sell the Rossi boots business to S. Kidman and Co – a beef production company chaired by mining magnate Gina Rinehart. It is the second brand sale this month by the Propel Group to S. Kidman and Co, after offloading its apparel brand Driza-bone. “Rossi boots has been wholly Australian-owned since 1910 and, together with our partners, it has been an honour to grow and develop this iconic Australian brand’s legacy of craftsmanship that is etched into the history of our country,” Propel Group chief executive Caroline Elliott said. “S. Kidman and Co is committed to preserving and expanding the Rossi brand into new markets and we are excited that this will continue under Australian ownership and investment.”

Geologist Ian Plimer has praised mining billionaire Gina Rinehart, saying she “doesn’t get enough credit” in Australia. Mr Plimer told Sky News Australia that Ms Rinehart is “the greatest Australian woman” the country has ever produced. “She did it herself, she didn’t inherit anything,” she said. “She’s built a huge private company, the biggest private company in Australia. “She should be honoured for employing so many people and for paying such a huge amount of tax.”

This is an edited extract of Gina Rinehart’s speech to The Australian Financial Review Business Person of the Year awards on December 14. We need policy that helps Australians. We need policies that make investment in our country worth doing. If we have any interest in maintaining our standards of living, we should be doing what other countries are doing. Rolling out the red carpet for investment. Expensive trade trips, even the expense of trade personnel overseas, well – without cutting the cost and delay, or worse, of government red tape, there’s no reason for those.

Mining magnate Gina Rinehart is quietly on her way to becoming Australia’s biggest truffle grower. “We’re always looking for good opportunities to invest and grow,” she told The Australian Financial Review. The truffles are being grown near the award-winning Bannister Downs Dairy at Northcliffe that Mrs Rinehart has owned in partnership with the Daubney family since 2014. Mrs Rinehart shed light on the venture when announcing yet another bonus stream for workers on her iron ore mines, who are already some of the best paid – and best fed – in the resources industry.

In a timely announcement given the many WA families struggling with food stress, our Executive Chairman, Mrs Gina Rinehart AO, has announced additional support for Foodbank WA through Hancock Prospecting’s ownership interest in Bannister Downs Dairy. A new weekly fresh milk delivery will be provided to Foodbank WA’s Centre for Hunger Relief at Perth Airport and distributed to all branches across the state. It builds on more than 10 years of support Bannister Downs has provided to Foodbank WA through their south-west operations.

Mining magnate Gina Rinehart is expanding her investment footprint into country apparel, with the purchase through her S. Kidman & Co pastoral company of bush outfitters Driza-Bone. From sheltering soldiers at Gallipoli during World War One, to being worn by our Olympians for the Sydney Olympics, Driza-Bone has been an emblem of Australian quality and resilience,” she said. “We are honoured to carry forward Driza-Bone’s pioneering legacy while supporting its growth. Our family’s and company’s long association with the outback seems to be a natural fit,” Mrs Rinehart said. Kidman & Co chief executive Adam Giles said the company’s investment had ensured Driza-Bone remains in Australian hands and sees two iconic Australian brands unite.