Gina Rinehart has hit out at fellow billionaire Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest over his failed ‘green hydrogen’ dreams, and claims ‘her friend’ Donald Trump has the right idea to lower energy prices by ‘drilling’ for natural gas.
Ms Rinehart argued in her fourth video address to the National Bush Summit, held on Thursday in the central-western New South Wales town of Orange, that renewables or even nuclear power are not the answer to quickly curbing rising energy costs.
Without naming him, she was even more critical of fellow mining magnate Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest’s failed attempt to produce ‘green hydrogen’, which was slashed last month, costing 700 jobs.
“If a billionaire wants to spend money on unproven, highly flammable, explosive hydrogen, then he should do so. But he should do so at his own expense, not as a burden on the taxpayer and not to add to our enormous national debt,” Ms Rinehart said.
In 2023, the Albanian government $2 billion in Mr Forrest’s ambition to produce 15 million tonnes of hydrogen fuel by the end of the decade, a target that has since been abandoned.
Ms Rinehart was also sharp in her criticism of renewable energy sources, which the Albanian and state governments are promoting as Australia’s future.
‘“It is clear that our governments have mismanaged energy policy,” said Ms Rinehart.
‘Our bills keep rising, supply and demand are being disrupted and our energy system is becoming increasingly unreliable.’
In her video address on the fourth day of the National Bush Summit, Ms. Rinehart was fierce about police pushing renewable energy
‘Many warned of what was happening. But our governments chose not to listen.
‘Instead, they have focused too much of their efforts and our taxpayers’ money on ramping up the connection of more and more so-called ‘renewable’ energy sources to the grid. They have pushed for the closure of cheap and reliable coal-fired power plants, while simultaneously disrupting the development of gas.’
Mrs Rinehart said that those who ‘likes to claim that our country can run on sunshine and windmills’, ‘but feel free to put them on your own territory if you want’.
“But don’t force us to, because the wind doesn’t always blow and the sun doesn’t always shine, even at night!” said Mrs Rinehart.
It was at this point that Ms Rinehart’s video address, for the second day in a row, did not go entirely to plan, despite appearing to be staged.
As she herself said, “The sun doesn’t always shine, not even at night.” The battery in the light was dead and Mrs. Rinehart disappeared into the darkness, leaving only a silhouette on the screen.
Just as on Wednesday, when a horse kept nibbling at her coat, Mrs. Rinehart bravely carried on and soon the light was back on.
Instead of renewable energy sources, Ms Rinehart said Australia should follow in the footsteps of her “pro-energy security friend” who says “drill baby, drill”, a mantra used by Trump, who is running as the Republican candidate to regain the office he lost in 2020.
“We have so much natural gas in Australia, and if we decide not to use our vast coal resources, let’s at least use our gas resources,” Ms Rinehart said.
Mining magnate Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest has drastically scaled back his ambitions to produce ‘green hydrogen’ despite the Albanian government investing $2 billion last year
Ms Rinehart said we should follow the mantra of her “pro-energy security friend”, US presidential candidate Donald Trump, who often has the crowd chanting “drill, baby, drill”.
‘Natural gas is needed as a raw material for production and processing, but also for generating electricity for homes, offices, hospitals, shopping centres, hotels, restaurants, traffic lights, schools and sports and entertainment centres.
‘If you don’t want to use gas, let them choose not to. But if you want reliable energy, you should get it.’
While Ms Rinehart said that while Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s plan to install more nuclear power involved a “proven” energy source, it would take “more than a decade” or even two decades because of “government bureaucracy and approvals”
“Let’s develop our vast natural gas reserves and deliver as much as we need,” Ms Rinehart said.
Ms Rinehart’s iconic Australian clothing brand Driza-Bone is one of the sponsors of the Bush Summit, which lasts six days and takes place in six different regional locations.
The regional centres hosting the summit are Townsville in Queensland, Bendigo in Victoria, Launceston in Tasmania, McLaren Vale in South Australia, Orange in New South Wales and Port Hedland in Western Australia.