Australia’s richest person has provided a rare insight into her initial struggles, motivations and ambitions after celebrating 30 years at the helm of what is now the country’s biggest private company.
Little help for disaster victims as aid trickles in. 8 January 2023.
Privately owned agribusinesses thrived on good seasons, heady markets and strong demand during 2022 with the farm services sector a standout performer among Australia’s top 500 private companies. CBH came in behind Anthony Pratt’s Visy company ($9.3b) and Australia’s top performing private business, Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting, which has now held the top spot for three years. The Perth-based Hancock company includes Mrs Rinehart’s Hancock Agriculture pastoral and feedlot beef enterprise, which has been in the news of late as she prepares to sell 2.4m hectares of S. Kidman and Company pastoral country in northern Australia bought in 2016.
WA’s powerhouse red meat processing sector injected $21 billion into Australia’s economy and $1.3b into the State last calendar year, a new report has revealed. The independent report commissioned by the Australian Meat Processor Corporation estimated the industry supported 8400 fulltime equivalent jobs in WA, totalling $470 million of household income annually.
Costs and labour shortages burden WA companies Business confidence in WA has slumped to its lowest level since the onset of the pandemic nearly three years ago as companies battle cost pressures and skills shortages. On average, each business is trying to fill six vacancies — with professional services, resources and retail most affected. Four in five report struggling to find particular skill sets.
The so-called jobs crisis has been caused by the splurging of hundreds of billions of dollars of borrowed money at both State and Federal levels on projects that could have waited. It’s the end of 2022 and time to take stock of where we are now. Something has gone badly wrong. There will always be droughts, floods and fires and it is unreasonable to think otherwise. What must be at the centre of all government thinking is the necessity to be world competitive. Do not allow these costs, bureaucracy, red tape and lack of meaningful discussion to undermine and threaten the greatest and most resilient manufacturing system remaining in Australia today.
Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting says billions of dollars in future royalty and tax revenue for the WA economy would be in jeopardy if multi-employer bargaining codes are forced onto the mining sector. Hancock Prospecting chief executive Garry Korte said a six-week period of strike action at Port Hedland would cost $9 billion in lost iron ore export revenue and an estimated $551m in lost mining royalties to the WA Government. “If the Bill were to pass in its current form it would open the door to a confrontational industrial relations system that could cripple our industry and result in poorer wage outcomes for our workers,” he said.
“Businesses will carry a much heavier regulatory burden which inevitably leads to less productive workplaces. It is not a long term recipe for wage growth, it is the opposite.” WA’s mining giants including Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting and Rio Tinto have been among the most vocal critics, saying there was no evidence the reforms backed by unions would create real wages growth or boost productivity.
