Group Executive News
Discover the latest news and updates from Hancock Prospecting Group.
AGE PENSIONERS KEY TO SOLVING AUSTRALIA’S LABOUR CRUNCH
Perhaps the single best option for tackling these issues is to provide an unlimited work bonus which would allow pensioners to earn as much as they want from work and just pay income tax like everyone else. This is not to suggest a universal pension — eligibility would still be subject to an assets test and other income tests — but to give pensioners greater freedom to work if they choose to. It will give greater freedom and prosperity to pensioners who choose to work, it will increase revenue from the tax on additional income earned, and it will provide immediate relief to businesses across Australia struggling with worker shortages.
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SKILLS SHORTAGE CONUNDRUM
Australia has half a million jobs up for grabs but is finding it near impossible to fill most of them. The Prime Minister’s $5.4b plan to make child care cheaper for families also forms a central part of his strategy to address the skills shortage. But Mr Albanese is also facing calls to encourage pensioners to return to the workforce. New Liberal leader Peter Dutton has pressed the Albanese Government to allow pensioners to earn more money without seeing their pensions being cut back — borrowing an idea championed by WA mining magnate Gina Rinehart and rejected by the Coalition. Currently pensioners can earn $300 a fortnight before their pension payments are reduced, but Mr Dutton wants the income threshold to be increased to $600.
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AGE-OLD RULES NOT WORKING
Estimates from Deloitte Access Economics have a 5 per cent rise in the number of over-55 s in the workforce as boosting national gross domestic product by $48 billion. The idea has long been championed by WA mining billionaire Gina Rinehart, pictured right. Mr Dutton confirmed conversations with Mrs Rinehart had helped inform his stance. Mrs Rinehart said she applauded Mr Dutton “for the leadership he has shown on this issue”. “I would encourage the Government to not only consider the benefits to the department of eliminating pensioners’ paperwork but the revenue generated from additional income tax … and businesses then able to generate more taxable profits,” she said. Mrs Rinehart wants the Government to go further than Mr Dutton’s policy however, by eliminating any upward limit to what pensioners can earn, “and just let them contribute like other Australians by paying income tax” .
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DUTTON IN PENSIONER WORK PLAN | Leader’s Gina-Inspired Policy
Peter Dutton is in Perth for the second time in less than a fortnight , this time to spruik his calls for the Albanese Government to let pensioners earn more money without their pensions being cut back. WA mining magnate Gina Rinehart championed a similar policy before the Federal election as a way to help solve Australia’s worker shortage, but the idea was never adopted by former prime minister Scott Morrison.
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Bannister Downs milk takes home historic win
A “world class” dairy in the State’s south has won a historic accolade this week, with its milk named the most popular dairy product in the country in the prestigious Australian Grand Dairy Awards. Bannister Downs’ Farm Fresh Milk was awarded the People’s Choice Award for the most popular dairy product in the country, which is believed to be the first WA product to do so in the competition’s 23-year history.
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Australia has ‘been at net zero for a long time’: Ian Plimer | Rowan Dean | The Outsiders
Geologist Ian Plimer argues Australia is already at net zero because the nation’s wealth of vegetation sequesters more carbon dioxide than the output of the population. “We’ve been at net zero for a long time because we’re a very, very big country with very few people, we’ve got a huge amount of grasslands and forests,” he told Sky News Australia. Mr Plimer said Australia’s emissions situation wasn’t being recognised because it doesn’t “fit the narrative”.
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Rinehart-owned dairy wins popular vote | WA dairy wins national award
Gina Rinehart and the Daubney family’s joint venture Bannister Downs Dairy has created the first Western Australian milk to be crowned most popular dairy product in the country. Bannister Downs Farm Fresh Milk was awarded the People’s Choice Award at the recent 2022 Australian Grand Dairy Awards. The business was founded by the Daubney family in 1924 and is now operated by third generation farmers Mat and Sue Daubney. Mrs Rinehart entered a partnership with the Daubneys in 2014, to assist the family business to meet escalating demand. She said the People’s Choice Award was recognition for the efforts of the team and a reward for their commitment and dedication.
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Australian Mining Prospect Awards | Lifetime Achievement Award | Mrs Gina Rinehart AO
Hancock Prospecting's executive chairman, the Hon Dr Gina Rinehart AO, was announced as the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2021 Prospect Awards. The Lifetime Achievement award recognises an individual who has contributed to the mining industry through their entire career. It is the most prestigious individual recognition award within the Prospect Awards and is determined through recommendations made by the judging panel. "On accepting this award I'd like to pay tribute to everyone in our industry. We are at our core nationbuilding, mining is the backbone of Australia," Rinehart said. "When mining does well, so does Australia." Hancock's majority-owned Roy Hill was also recognised on the night, winning Australian Mine of the Year and Hard Rock Mine of the Year. "Let's celebrate that mining contributes more to our nation than any other industry."
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Sky News | Chris Smith interviews Mrs Gina Rinehart AO
Hancock Prospecting Executive Chairwoman Gina Rinehart says she does not think either major party leader is “sufficiently across” what she sees as Australia’s “two most important issues”. Ms Rinehart told Sky News host Chris Smith that one of these issues is defence. “I repeatedly say, if we don’t have our country, what do we have? “And the second one is the economy, the economy is so important, it’s what drives living standards, it’s what drives jobs, it’s what drives revenue, it’s what drives opportunities.
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WA continues to be the Regina George of the Federation
Handing down his second state budget as Treasurer, Premier Mark McGowan proudly showed off an Apple Wallet with a balance of $5.7bn. The eye watering operating budget surplus is not the biggest in history. Last year the state - better known for shunning visitors and stunning sunsets - banked $5.8bn as the rest of the country was in and out of Covid lockdowns. Where did WA find all that cash? In the ground and from around Australia. Iron ore keeps WA's books in the black.
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Red dirt royalties keep WA in the black, but McGowan knows they won’t last forever
Royalties from iron ore to feed the steel mills of China have allowed Western Australia to emerge from the pandemic with a surplus while NSW and Victoria face years of growing debt. The mines in the Pilbara region will deliver Premier Mark McGowan $10.3 billion this financial year, allowing the resource state to record a $5.7 billion surplus and cut net debt for the third year running. The WA government earns more from iron ore than land tax, stamp duty and payroll tax combinedIron ore will deliver almost 90 per cent of WA’s royalty income, from mining and oil and gas extraction.
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The 10,000 missing miners
High commodity prices are masking deep-seated problems in the world’s big mining companies were a combination of cost inflation, supply-chain tightness, and shortages of everything is starting to bite. Reports covering March quarter production, scheduled to start flowing this week, might throw fresh light on the size of the challenge confronting BHP, Rio Tinto and other leading miners which are currently enjoying strong investor support because of near-record prices for most of their output.
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FIRB gives Senex Energy (ASX:SXY) takeover the green light
Shareholders will vote on the deal in March, with the Senex Board recommending its shareholders to vote in favour of the deal. Each member of the board intends to vote all shares they own in favour of the deal. If successful, the deal is subject to be completed in March and POSCO previously announced that Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Energy will grab a 49.9 per cent stake, however, this is not a condition to the scheme going ahead.
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Gina Rinehart, Posco seal Senex Energy deal
Billionaire Gina Rinehart and South Korea’s Posco International have won control of Senex Energy following a shareholder vote with the Queensland gas producer forced to defend the value of the deal amid a rapid surge in oil prices. Hancock first approached Posco about a joint tilt for the gas producer after buyout talks were made public with the duo already partners in Ms Rinehart’s Roy Hill iron ore mine in Western Australia’s Pilbara.
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Rinehart and Korea’s Posco take over Senex Energy
Senex Energy has ended its 37-year stint on the ASX boards, with a majority of shareholders approving the $900 million takeover of the east coast oil and gas company amid the global turmoil in energy markets.
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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has exploded our renewables myth
The devastating Russian invasion of Ukraine has captured global attention. While the world’s focus is rightly on the human toll and suffering, the crisis has highlighted the need to end reliance on Russian oil and gas. To achieve that ambition, we must be pragmatic and invest in sensible alternatives, not engage in wishful thinking about renewable energy.
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