Why Gina Rinehart wants Peter Dutton to get a bigger budget
Julie-anne Sprague
Mar 7
The nation’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, has lambasted successive governments for “grossly inadequate defence spending”, calling for budget spending to be reprioritised to bolster military industries and equipment.
“We have had a wake-up call in recent weeks of the importance of a country being able to defend itself, and I have been advocating for a long time that the Australian government take its primary responsibility to Australians far more seriously, and that this be reflected in how taxpayers’ money is spent. Less wastage of taxpayers’ money, and more spent on actual defence,” Mrs Rinehart said.
She sounded the alarm on energy security, warning that Australia should heed the lessons of Germany, which she said was too reliant on Russia for its energy needs. She said it was
critically important Australia was self-sufficient in fuel and energy supplies.
“We need to
learn from Germany closing its nuclear power and coal-fired power stations, so that it is now primarily dependent on Russia, despite then president [Donald] Trump’s strong warning,” Mrs Rinehart told
The Australian Financial Review.
“Germany is faced with rising power costs and shortages, and you can see its resultant initial aid to help Ukraine – 5000 helmets! We must learn that being self-sufficient in fuel and energy supplies is of critical importance.
“For a short time under its previous president the US was fuel and energy sufficient, which means that important economic sanctions could be effectively employed.
“Instead, we see the US sending Russia tens of millions each day to get fuel, which helps to support Russia’s war against Ukraine, and whichever nearby country may be next, because [President Joe] Biden is too frightened to put on more effective economic sanctions, given his far-left-driven policies to cut off oil and gas supplies from Canada, and restrictions against new oil and gas and coal supplies in the US.”