Article by Gina Rinehart AO, courtesy of the Herald Sun.
20.08.2025
It really saddens me that our government, rushed on by unthinking media, is heading Australians to living-standards-destroying net zero. The Paris accord Australians simply cannot afford.
Let’s start with thinking about our nation’s defence, or lack thereof, as our national defence has not been supported with adequate budget increases for actual defence – that is for investment outside of Canberra admin – positioning us at the lack thereof level. And unlike other countries, who carved defence out of the Paris accord, guess what, we didn’t.
So let’s consider the vehicles and equipment that would need to be changed to operate without fossil fuels.
Vehicles – where is the extra budget for those to be changed to EVs, and to spend on a huge number of charging stations around the country (away from other premises in case they catch fire) so that after lengthy procurement delays, they can be used whenever required?
Trucks — our analysis of haul trucks shows the massive batteries would significantly limit carrying capacity, and charging them would take longer than refuelling. The result? We’d need more than three times as many trucks to only equate to what we have now, and a long production time. Where’s the budget for this?
AI and communications required by defence, not just when the sun shines and the wind blows at suitable speeds, but required 24/7.
Navy ships and submarines: are we going to change them to nuclear, again, where is the extra budget for this?
Jets and helicopters – do we really want to subject our expensively trained, too few pilots and crews to biofuels? I sure don’t.
Manufacture of items needed for defence – well those factories not carved out of the Paris accord either would be forced to close for much of the year at least.
That’s just some of the items we’d need huge extra budgets for for our defence, and we can’t ignore the very long lead times for procurement.
And what about the Royal Flying Doctor Service, also not carved out for the Paris accord? “Sorry, we can’t collect any emergency patients – even if in huge pain or risking death – for the next eight-plus months as we’ve exceeded our emissions permitted.” Is this really the situation we want?
And our police force, again no carve-out. How long would it take, and how much would it cost, to procure a new full EV fleet plus add charging stations and extra vehicles? Plus to change their operations that require electricity 24/7, not possible without fossil fuels. Again, no budget for this huge expense either.
And our hospitals, again no carve-out. Nurses, doctors, technicians forced to acquire EVs prior to being able to see patients. Maintenance – all servicemen forced to acquire EVs too for aircon servicing, lift servicing, refrigeration, cleaning, plumbers, electricians, plus medicines. “Sorry heart patients, maternity patients, cancer patients, car accident victims, etc – we have to close the hospitals for nine or 10 months of the year.” Or longer. Who really wants this, or the extra costs for patients and taxpayers that net zero requirements would incur?
Those who die from inadequate hospitals and others, the funeral services can’t handle given the need for constant refrigeration, germ control, funeral cars, ovens, offices. Do families suffering from the loss of their loved ones want further problems and huge delays for burials and extra expense, caused by lack of carve-out for funeral services? Many Australians die each day, affecting many families around Australia.
Emergency services, ambulances, fire brigades, again no-carve out, well they require vehicles, helicopters, 24/7 communication. Well, let’s hope there aren’t any more emergencies requiring helicopters or fire brigades, and that it won’t take too many years to convert ambulances and fire engines to EVs and add suitable charging stations around Australia. At what cost, and who will pay?
Medicine manufacture, its storage and transport, ports, airports, veterinary clinics, aged centres – the list of non-carve-outs goes on and on.
The disruption and expense immense. Just imagine one of these aged centres, closed for much of the year, given no carve-out.
Who is going to look after the elderly, when aged care facilities will have to close in accord with net zero requirements? They simply can’t meet the expense of their staff, and all maintenance people, cleaners, caterers, plumbers, electricians and more having to be provided with EVs, plus to pay for more solar panels and wind towers for their intermittent electricity.
Why isn’t our media asking, where on earth is the money going to come from, to try to change all the above and more, so they can still function under net zero parameters?
Sometimes the media reports on the devastation being caused by the thousands of miles of expensive transmission lines, ever-increasing in expense, toxic usually foreign solar panels and wind towers additions, and the upset to farmers and their land. But that is just the tip of the iceberg.
Where are farmers – living basically and on low profit margins, often burdened by debt – going to get the money to change where they can their vehicles, their staff’s vehicles, equipment, electricity needs to non-fossil fuels? Paying their staff more so they can afford EVs? And adding charging stations.
They can increase the costs they sell us food for awhile, but then many Australians will be forced to buy inferior products from overseas, where net zero isn’t a burden, and where clean water and clean air may not or are not available like here in Australia, while our own delicious agriculture industry sadly shrivels up.
Why isn’t the media and our government thinking about the mums and dads and their families, small and medium business owners, who are struggling with higher costs and the ever increasing cost of electricity, thanks to the huge cost of duplication of new transmission lines, green electricity, and closure of the cheaper more reliable coal mines and delay in approvals for gas projects, which had provided less expensive and more reliable power.
Behind the struggling and record failing businesses are the mums and dads and their families. These are Australians, not just numbers.
The misery doesn’t stop with sadly failing businesses unable to pay the higher costs plus government-caused increasing admin burden, but all those the government keeps deliberately poor, not permitting them to work for more than some cappuccinos per week.
The pensioners, veterans, tertiary students and disabled, too many of these Australians are already living hand to mouth and having to choose between eat or heat.
And the reality of those on low incomes is even greater – for instance, think of the mothers unable to get full-time jobs because of a young child or children at home, or because they or their partner have family members who require significant care.
As electricity costs continue to go up, thanks to wrong decisions regarding the Paris accord and net zero, where is the taxpayers’ money to help all of these Australians pay for the extra electricity charges?
Which media need to remember please: don’t stop at their electricity bills, but include every single thing that requires electricity.
The cost of net zero is so huge, it doesn’t just stop at electricity bills for wrongly called renewables. We can’t believe the propaganda – countries that increase green electricity in reality all end up with higher electricity costs, albeit some costs may be hidden by taxpayer subsidies. This leads to the deindustrialisation of our country, meaning job losses, stress and no doubt having to raise taxes to be able to pay for extra welfare payments.
How can net zero be paid for, when Australian governments overspending already have our country in record debt?
Am I being pessimistic? Well, who hasn’t heard of AI, and that the developed and developing world is using AI to advance and cut costs. How can we compete, if we don’t have the huge amounts of 24/7 reliable electricity that data centres for AI require?
Green electricity doesn’t provide this, and it’s finally coming to roost, the truth that governments should not have been throwing taxpayers’ money into hydrogen. A fuel that not only leaks through metals and is explosive, but takes more energy to produce than what it supplies.
And who hasn’t heard of the lowering of productivity in our country? Well the billions and billions and billions the mining companies and supply businesses are having to spend to try to buy electric vehicles and machinery, and install solar and wind and batteries – none of this is to add to productivity or create extra revenue, just wasted on compliance with net zero.
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with individuals choosing to spend their own money to aim for net zero, but why should executives use shareholders’ money and governments use taxpayers’ money unproductively for net zero?
It’s time for properly and truly considering the costs and consequences of net zero, the many many many Australians that net zero requirements by our governments will hurt, the cost Australia simply cannot bear. It’s time for truth.
My speeches at the Bush Summit with executives and with some involved for generations in agriculture, discussing both mining and agriculture – for which you also need to include all the businesses they support – will not be shying away from the truth. I hope that the Bush Summit will include others concerned enough to stand up for the truth.
Gina Rinehart is the executive chairman of Hancock Prospecting and S Kidman, the national presenting partner of the Bush Summit.
