Leasing Sovereignty: Gina Rinehart’s Ravings on Israel, Taiwan and Elon Musk

Israeli defence personnel and politicians might not be top billing in the boardrooms and reception halls of many countries at the moment, but that hardly bothers Australia’s richest (and continuously enriched) figure, Gina Rinehart. With a conscience shrivelled by the dig-for-commodities mantra and a world view desiccated by inherited wealth, the mining magnate has little time for what might be broadly called the commonweal. She does, however, have much time for Israeli defence prowess.

In her flatulent address at the 2024 News Corp Australia National Bush Summit, held in Port Hedland, Western Australia, the executive chair of Hancock Prospecting had defence on the brain. A closer look at her untutored remarks, and one realises that the defence she has in mind has little to do with the good citizens of Australia so much as the mining assets of one Gina Rinehart. “Mindset change that is needed should include the government’s most important responsibility, and that is the defence of our country. It’s no good having the resources of the Pilbara unless we can export them and receive revenue from them, hence we should have defence to keep our railways and ports open, and our vital sea lanes.”

What, then, was needed? Rinehart is generous with her wisdom, which she promotes as a common good. “So, surrounding this vital Pilbara engine, we should have the protective iron domes like the ones in Israel, plus war drones and smart sea mines, plenty of them, and similarly across our sea lanes and ports and some islands, from the north-west through to the north-east.”

Her interest in emulating an Israeli-styled approach to defence, taking into account that country’s exalted hardware, has clearly not abated. As recently as June 18, she told the Townsville News Corp Bush summit held in North Queensland of an idea of hers intended to advance the military industrial complex. For some reason, she thought it opportune to encourage a military culture in a city that is already garrisoned and, one would think, sufficiently martial for any purpose. Evidently, it’s in dire need of a revival. “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 other advances in defence, and or improve upon their Israeli style domes, and manufacture them here to sell to our country and to help make our people and critical infrastructure safe.”

Her June speech had all the hallmarks of the pampered magnate. Having no understanding of the public purse (she fails to understand the public subsidies that continue to aid her and her colleagues), she is keen to savage the budgets of any number of departments, be there the Federal Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Australian Fisheries Management Authority (fisheries), or the Federal Department of Industry, Science and Resources. She is particularly eager to remainder the kitty of the Federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Clean Energy Regulator. And then there are all those vacant federal offices that could be converted to accommodation for “homeless veterans, struggling pensioners, and frightened women and children, who face horrendous unacceptable violence and rapes.” How generous can this individual be with other people’s resources?

For all that, Rinehart was there to consider how Townsville might benefit from her sagacity. The city had an international airport, a port with ten working berths, an upgraded shipping channel able to accommodate “cruise ships up to 300 metres long”. Oh, and “we speak English.” Taking the scissors to red tape and lowering taxes, the city and its environs would become more appealing to industries. And what, exactly, did she have in mind? A holy trinity of sorts: microchips, Elon Musk’s communication satellites, and Israeli defence manufacturing.

Land designated for wind turbines near Prairie (Rinehart bores with a predictable animus, calling them “toxic, asbestos riddled, bird and bat maiming, bird and bat killing”) would be far better given over to, for instance, those in the “Taiwan computer chip industries”. “Let’s let them know we can offer a safer substitute for their world leading microchips manufacture and development, and would make them welcome.” Build an airport at, or near Prairie; create temporary homes with swimming pools, a country club with exemplary Taiwanese cuisine – the list goes on with numbing babble.

As for Musk, he could get land “for his SpaceX satellite construction and launches.” Give him water and infrastructure as well. “He needs land to expand, and an alternate weather place in an allied country for his multiple satellite launches.” The launches would also “definitely add a tourist attraction.”

Of the three suggestions, the one proposing the grant of land to Israeli defence manufacturing irked the most. It did not take long for a Change.org petition to be launched with urgency, describing Rinehart’s ambition as one of seeking the establishment “of an Israeli military base in this pristine region.” To introduce such a base “would fundamentally alter the area’s character, disturbing not only the landscape but also the local communities and wildlife.” The organisers of the petition may have nothing to fear about Prairie’s prospects but given the Australian government’s tendency to lease sovereignty to the US military imperium with cheerful enthusiasm, their concerns should not be lightly dismissed.

Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He currently lectures at RMIT University. Email: [email protected]