She’s the richest female in the Asia-Pacific region and bidding fair to become the wealthiest woman of the world. This year, Gina Rinehart’s estimated personal pickings are likely to double – to at least $20 billion. This is thanks to a 15% investment recently made by POSCO in her Roy Hill iron ore mine; her 50-50 joint venture with Rio Tinto in the Hope Downs operations; and $125 million in iron ore royalties she banks each year. Late last month Ms Rinehart also acquired around 13% in the Australian Fairfax Media group, potentially making her the country’s second most powerful media mogul after Rupert Murdoch.
See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=11476&l=1.
The organisation Get Up! Action for Australia believes it is part of a strategy by the mining industry.
They said: “This week mining billionaire Gina Rinehart became the largest shareholder in Fairfax, having already bought a stake in Channel Ten. But this new video (http://www.getup.org.au/minersmediaplan) reveals this move is bigger than one woman’s ambition – it’s part of a coordinated and very deliberate strategy, with climate skeptic ‘Lord’ Monkton seen here advising a room full of mining executives on how the industry must gain control of Australia’s media.
“We’ve seen what happened in the USA when coordinated, super-wealthy corporate interests set about deliberately reshaping the media landscape to suit their agendas. It’s bad news for democracy and it’s bad news for the issues we care about. And while this most recent purchase was a brazen move, it’s hardly the first time a mining industry executive has used their vast wealth to push an agenda.
“Last year, Rinehart helped set up a new lobby group calling for a special ‘Northern Economic Zone’ demanding lower tax, government concessions and cheap migrant labor from Asia. She helped bankroll the campaign against Government efforts to ask the mining industry to pay their fair share of tax through the Mining Super Profits tax and she’s been actively sponsoring prominent climate skeptics like Monckton, Ian Plimer and Andrew Bolt, who got his own TV show weeks after she invested in Channel Ten.”