From Schwartz Media. I'm Ruby Jones. This is seven am. The knight Donald Trump claimed victory. He celebrated with his closest friends. Among them was Australia's richest person, Gina Reinhart.
Rein Hart, who describes herself as a longstanding member of the Trump support group the Trumpets, is not only cultivating her ties among America's right wing political elite, She's long been a highly influential figure in Australian politics too, and with the Australian election just months away, Reinhart's friendship with
Opposition leader Peter Dutton is more pertinent than ever. Today, National correspondent for the Saturday Paper, Mike Sekham on Gina Reinhart, her money and how she uses it to shape the country. It's Tuesday, November twenty six, So, Mike, Gina ryan Hart. We all know her Australia's richest person. Her fortune, of course, was made from her mining interests. But tell me just how rich is she?
Well? According to Forbes magazine, she's worth, at the most recent count, thirty point one billion dollars, which, as you say, makes her Australia's richest person by quite a long way. Second place is another mining magnate, Andrew Forrest, and he was worth slightly less than half of what Gina was worth. So she's rich.
Mate, okay.
And so what is the story of how she amassed that kind of wealth.
Well, really it's largely the luck of birth. I've got to say. Her father was an iron ore explorer, Lang Hancock. He was very politically conservative, quite an outspoken racist. In fact, in a TV interview back in nineteen eighty four he said some incredibly things about sterilizing Indigenous people in order that we might quite breed them out. So not a very nice man really, and he didn't just give his
awful opinions. He also gave lots of money to politicians, including hundreds of thousands to his good friend Joe biaka Pedersen, who was the strongman Premier of Queensland in the sort of sixties seventies eighties and led a notably corrupt government at the end of which a number of his ministers went to jail. So anyway, Gina has followed in her
father's footsteps in business. She became executive chairwoman of Hancock Prospecting in nineteen ninety two, its biggest asset is the Royal Hill Mining Project, which started shipments to Asia in twenty fifteen. She's also got investments in rare earth minerals, in gas, in cattle, and in property.
Okay, so, Gina ryan Hart. She took her father's business and built on it, making ever more money over the years. Has she also followed in his footsteps when it comes to seeking political influence? Mike, what do we know about her donations? Well?
Absolutely, she's a major donor to the Conservative parties, to the Liberal and National Parties. I might ad not always as open about it as is legally required. Back in twenty twenty three, an investigation by the ABC revealed a donation of almost one hundred and fifty thousand dollars to the Liberal Party from Hancock Prospecting, but routed through a third party, a little mob called the Sydney Mining Club. It was only after the ABC began asking questions that
ryan Hart finally declared it. She also cultivates relationships with senior figures on the Conservative side of politics. Tony Abbott was close to her Barnaby Joyce, former leader of the National Party, Matt Canavan, probably the most prominent climate denier among the coalition ranks, and of course the current Opposition leader, Peter Dutton in particular, appears to cherish the relationship that he has with her.
Disclosed trip on Thursday night, which so Dutton could be the star speaker at the private seventieth birthday party for Gina Hina estimated Dutton was at the event for about forty minutes before presumably getting on a red eye flight to Melbourne where he appeared in a Friday morning campaign event for Dunkley.
His office said he paid for those flights himself and by the way, the Liberals lost the by election. More recently, we've heard other stories about Dutton flying on Ryinhart's private jet, which he's defended by saying it saves the taxpayer's money because she lets him use the jet for free.
I thought that was very expensive and the cheap option for the taxpayer was for my office to speak to missus Reinhardt's office as to whether the plane might be available that was at zero cost to the taxpayer.
In one case, last November, Dutton was flown to roy Hill, which is up in the north of Western Australia in the Pilbro where he gave a speech which just may have been written for him by Ynahut herself.
We need to hear more parents tell their children the schools they attend and the cities they live in are only possible because of the mining sector. We need to hear more teachers tell their students that the roads, the bridges, and the railways that we travel on have been constructed thanks to your sector.
He also lauded the work that she carried out at the MIND as being quote a national treasure unquote. So he's pretty pretty keen to keep Gina onsite.
I think you would say, right, clearly, some of these personal relationships they're working out well for Gina. Are there other ways that she seeks political influence?
Mike?
She also donates to conservative think tanks, the most prominent of them at the Institute of Public Affairs, or the IPA. The IPA was founded back in nineteen forty three by a group of prominent businessmen, including Sir Keith Murder, father of Rupert, and over the years it has campaign against Aboriginal land rights, against racial discrimination laws, and particularly against
measures to address climate change. As to who funds the IPA, well, it's always been very cagey about that, but Back in twenty eighteen, as a consequence of a long running dispute involving the Rhineharts in the New South Wales Supreme Court, Reinehart was forced to reveal that over the two preceding years she had given the IPA something like four point five million dollars and that accounted for, you know, by various estimates, between a third and a half of its funding,
by billionaire standards, by the standards of Rhinehart's wealth. You know, four point five million is not a lot of money, but you know it's enough to fund a lot of ten inchies research. And anyway, the IPA's influence goes beyond mere money. It maintains very close links with the Murdoch media empire and also serves as kind of a hotbed, I guess you would say for the conservative side of
Australian politics. Trains up a lot of liberal politicians and there appears to be a level of coordination in all of this. As an example, rein Hart was linking housing shortages to immigration back in as Dutton declared his intention to slash Australia's migrant intake. Reinhart was championing nuclear power before the coalition embraced it. So just how far reaching Reinehart's influence is on coalition policy kind of remains to be seen, largely because the Dutton opposition has released so
little policy to date. But as we get close to the election, likely you know, by next May, I think the full extent will become clearer. What we do know is that the Institute of Public Affairs doesn't act alone. It's part of a global network of conservative think tanks united by a very specific worldview, one that's shaping the future of the United States.
Coming up after the break that network and what Gina Reinhart's influence in the United States tells us about her plans for Australia. Mike, you've outlined the ways that Gina Reinhart uses her wealth to five and not only conservative political parties, but also the Institute of Public Affairs, which develops research and these talking points that end up funneled through conservative media and laying the groundwork for coalition policy.
But can you tell me more about how the IPA, how it fits into this bigger global picture.
Well, the IPA is part of a global network of hundreds of conservative think tanks. It's one of eight in Australia with these global ties. The two most prominent in this country are the IPA and the Center for Independent Studies, which was central to the disinformation campaign around the Indigenous Voice to Parliament. This global network is called the Atlas Network, comprising around five hundred and fifteen think tanks across ninety
nine countries. And we've just seen a very big example of what these think tanks are able to achieve when they work together. Hundreds of them under the leadership of their Heritage Foundation, which is another member of the Antlas network in the US, got together to create Project twenty twenty five, which was essentially the policy roadmap of the incoming Trump administration.
Yeah, Project twenty twenty five. It had a lot of bad press during the presidential debate. Trump even distanced himself from it at one point because of these plans that it put forward that included guarding the government, replacing bureaucrats with loyalists, expanding presidential power dramatically, and also the size and the role of the military. So what is the overarching philosophy or ideology that unites all of these groups, Mike.
Well, we got something of an insight into this back in April when a woman called Jennifer Grossman, who's the American chief executive of the Atlas Society, which is a related but separate body, hosted an event in Perth to present Jena Einheart with a Lifetime Achievement award. And before she even I and a mouth, Jennifer Grossman's attire spoke volumes. I think she wore a biscuit colored plain outfit, unadorned except for an enormous shiny brooch in the shape of
a dollar sign above her heart. Now, the Atlas Society takes its name from the mid twentieth century book written by author Einrand. The book was called Atlas Shrugged. It was a nineteen fifty seven dystopian book about the dire consequences that ensue when government and the plebs interfere with the virtuous pursuit of wealth. Rand wrote a number of books in the same vein thoy've frequently been criticized as elitist, racist,
and badly written. But Reinhart told Grossman that she'd been a fan of Rand since she read Atlas Shrugged at age thirteen. And I'll quote her now. She said, the values that we're in that book I haven't shied from ever since, and Reinhart summarized the central message of Rand's books as there's no such thing as a free lunch. Rand herself, however, characterized her philosophy as quoting her the virtue of selfishness.
Okay, so, Mike, how do you think that Gina ran Hart's admiration for this particular worldview? How do you think it's going to play out? As her political influence in the United States strengthens.
She has incredible access over there. When the victory party was held at Marri Lago after the election, there was Gina ryan Hart. And it's not just her access to Trump. She's just met with Elon Musk. The details of their meeting are private, but Gina Reinhart told the Financial Review that it was quote a chance to congratulate Elon on his leadership to drive an office of government efficiency. He's
talking about cutting maybe one third of government spending. Ryan Hart said this was an approach quote much needed in Australia too. And this meeting with Musk raises the question, I guess of whether rein Hart might be seeking a similar role only for Dutton. And the question was actually put to one of the tear independents, Monique Ryan, on
breakfast television a week after the US election. Monique, what about Gina or Twiggy come in and try and sort the red tape out here in a government of efficiency.
Yeah, look as exactly. That's exactly the corolla I was going to make Carl. You've got the world's richest man, and you've given him this position of incredible influence in the American government. I think jobs for mates is a very bad idea. I don't think that politicians should be putting their friends, their dear friends into positions of great influence in this country exactly.
And then I rang her later and she ventured that Australia's system of government would probably not allow a formal appointment allah mask. But she was worried, nonetheless, that Dutton would take advice as Prime Minister from his RANDI and friend Gina Reinhart.
Okay, So, Mike, what does all of this mean for gena Iryn Hart's position in Australian public life, especially if the Coalition does win the next selection and her friend Peter Dutton becomes the Prime minister. Should we expect to see more of her and hear more of her ideas about tax and bureaucracy and immigration.
You know, I think it's pretty clear that she would seek to use political influence. She's trying to use political influence already. She's trying to get government policy in place that would suit her business interests and would make her wealthier. You know, is there a risk here for Dutton in being seen to fall in line with the demands of the country's richest person. Until recently you would have thought there was, But look at what happened in the US.
When you throw enough money behind a campaign, no matter how preposterous or how obviously self serving, an alarmingly large number of people will fall for it.
Mike, thank you so much for your time.
Thanks Ruby, cheers.
Also in the news today, Independent Senator Lydia Thorpe and her former Green's colleague, Senator Marine Ferruki, have asked the Senate to investigate the prevalence of racism and sexism in the federal halls of power, with Thorpe telling the press that Parliament is quote simply not safe if you are a woman of color, and the Supreme Court has found that Victoria police engaged in a quote joint criminal Enterprise when they recruited barrister Nicola Gobbo to inform on her clients,
including drug king pin Tony Mockbell. The findings, which investigated the behavior of police and prosecutors, found that at least four members of Victoria Police worked with Gobbo to pervert the course of justice. The outcome of this case could see Mockbell, who's currently serving a thirty year sentence of his conviction overturned on appeal. I'm Ruby Jones. This is seven am. Thanks for listing