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You could be forgiven for not knowing anything about the new Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act about to come into effect on July 1. It seems many didn’t. But before you dismiss it as something that doesn’t affect you, think again. It’s not just farmers, miners or industry groups affected by these changes. Many metropolitan landowners and hobby farmers will be liable under the same set of rules. It will be up to the landowner to find out if their land is a culturally significant site and apply for a permit. If they don’t, they could be subject to significant penalties.

Manufacturers have warned an ongoing gas crunch could force factories to the brink, as big users on the east coast scramble to find new supplies to power their industrial operations. The federal government late last year legislated a cap on uncontracted gas at $12 a gigajoule, and said it would establish a mandatory code of conduct to force gas to be sold at “a reasonable price”. The intervention has caused a spate of proposed new gas developments to stall, and leading mining supplier Orica said Australia was not competitive with other jurisdictions. “Our gas pricing in this country is capped at $12. If I manufacture in Canada, I pay less than $C2 per million British thermal unit,” Orica chief executive Sanjeev Gandhi said. “So even when you consider imports and supply chain costs, if I bring the product into Australia, it is still cheaper than the high gas price that I have to absorb. So already today, I have this disparity.”

Recognised for her outstanding contribution to the state and national economy, Mrs Rinehart was also awarded the 2023 Business Award. A passionate philanthropist, Mrs Rinehart supports various medical, educational, sporting, health and community organisations, including the life-changing Hanrine Futures Scholarships, which ensures disadvantaged and vulnerable Indigenous children in the Pilbara receive an education and a guaranteed job.

Australia must stop demonising mining | Gina Rinehart | 2023.

16 May 2023.

Resources companies aren’t doing Australia a favour by investing in the country, they’re doing it because there’s money to be made, even with an increasing government take. But the danger for governments with a propensity to fiddle with industry tax regimes is overestimating their willingness to pay. It’s easily overlooked when company bosses warn that changes to Australia’s fiscal regime will force investment capital offshore and make other jurisdictions more attractive that the country still has a lot going for it.

Western Australia has been toppled as the world’s top-rated mining investment destination but remains Australia’s most attractive jurisdiction. The Institute ranks the attractiveness of the world’s mining jurisdictions by measuring their practices, mineral potential and regulatory and fiscal policies based on a poll sent to nearly 2000 people in the mining industry. WA’s drop was blamed on a drop in its policy score, which shunted it from 4th to 10th last year, as miners “expressed increased concern over its taxation regime, uncertainty regarding environmental regulations and regulatory duplication and inconsistencies”, the Fraser Institute report said.

One of Australia’s leading energy analysts says the Federal Government’s changes to the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax means the nation has “lost its competitive advantage” in the lucrative LNG sector.Mr Kavonic warned the changes could lead to the gas industry — already reconsidering Australian investment after east coast policy intervention — thinking twice about the west coast now, too.

The federal government’s tax take is poised to hit its highest level in 15 years thanks to soaring resource sector profits and inflation pushing workers into higher tax brackets. Veteran budget watcher Chris Richardson expects the May 9 budget to reveal tax revenue as a share of the economy will reach 23.8 per cent next financial year, which will be the highest level of collections since 2008.

Get them young and maybe you’ll get them for life — that appears to be Gina Rinehart’s latest play to shore up an appreciation of mining. The billionaire has unveiled a novel counter to the shrill opposition against the industry, launching a kids app to massage the notion that resources are not only necessary to sustain modern living, but they also offer a fabulous career. Margin Call downloaded the game – Roy Hill Mine Tales – and attempted its basic challenges: dynamite was laid, ore was loaded onto a truck, the minerals were crushed, washed with a hose, and, in a final boss challenge, they had to be sucked up and directed into the hull of a barge, probably destined for China.“All I would say is those kids might have a bright future working for the best mining company in Australia, the biggest prize of all.”