Speech by Mrs Gina Rinehart AO – McPhee Mine Opening

Speech by Mrs Gina Rinehart AO

McPhee Mine Opening

Sunday 4 October 2026

Pilbara, WA

Good afternoon everyone, 

It is wonderful to be here with you, and to have the opportunity to personally thank and congratulate all of you. It’s getting nearer too impossible to build new mines here in Australia, you did it!

A few years ago, there was no mine here. There were drill holes, studies, then plans, plenty of dedication, and unfortunately plenty of government paperwork.

The journey to get here has not been short. Feasibility work began in early 2019, the project was approved by the Hancock board in 2021, but final federal approval was not received until September 2024. Yet, once our people were able to get on with the job, first ore followed only around 19 months after construction commenced!

Our teams moved around a million cubic metres of earth to build this mine. Plus the really difficult part, many cubic metres of paperwork first!

This mine, just metres from where we are standing at Gintasan, will be ramping up towards producing around eight million tonnes of iron ore each year, with an expected mine life of approximately 15 years. 

This is not a mine operating in isolation. Ore from here will be processed at Roy where it can be blended to improve product mix and maintain production volumes, extending the life of our mega Roy Hill project.  

This is the first outside orebody to be integrated into the Roy system. It demonstrates the benefit beyond individual mines and making the most of the world-class rail and port infrastructure we have already built. 

The benefits also extend beyond the mine site. Hancock and the West Australian Government have upgraded around 92 kilometres of Marble Bar Road into a sealed, two-lane all-weather road, improving safety and connectivity for local residents and emergency services. This is another example of how mining investment delivers lasting infrastructure and benefits for regional Australians. 

But we must not forget, mines don’t last forever, more investment is required to extend mines and create new ones, or this much needed revenue, taken for granted, will diminish, as will its benefits. 

Nor should we forget before there is a factory, there is mining. Before there is a railway, there is mining. Before there is cutlery, ships, hospitals or skyscrapers, there is mining. Almost everything in the modern world begins with someone finding and developing a resource in the ground. You cannot build data centres, power them, connect them without mining.

The more technologically advanced the world becomes, the more important reliable supplies of resources and energy become.

As I mentioned, it took years to finally get federal approval, but just over a year to build the project. It shouldn’t take longer to get approvals to build a mine than it takes to actually build one! 

Too much bureaucracy, duplication of tape and delay adds cost and risks Australia’s international competitiveness.

We cannot ignore what is happening in Africa, where bureaucracy is small, huge investment is pouring into their huge African resources, not only Simandou, and I’ve been accused of mentioning wages over there are tiny. Yes, they are, but I never said that’s what Australian workers should have, that’s fake media, there’s lots of that!, only that we cannot also afford high costs of government, that government fat needs to be trimmed.

Nationally, we should be encouraging investment and development, and be wide awake, that our path of increasing bureaucracy, government tape, plus high taxes and government charges, is causing the usual results. Sending much needed investment and future high paying jobs and revenue away from our country. 

Just look at Victoria, where new mines have basically been stopped, potholes cause danger and deaths on Victorian country roads, police numbers are inadequate, the crime crisis has escalated badly effecting innocent lives, and 2 thirds of the people of Victoria suffer from the cost-of-living crisis, having to choose between heat or eat or the medicines they need. That’s the very sad reality.

Let’s not be swayed by propaganda to try to say the years of big government and almost no new mines had nothing to do with this reality, and that all these crises are caused by a recent overseas war against terrorism.  

Victoria faces a reality that helps to show why we all must stand up for our essential industry. A reality that shows why I often say, “when mining does well, so do Australians. But when mining doesn’t do well nor do Australians.”

And a reality that recognising doing the same thing, increasing bureaucracy, government tape, plus high taxes and charges and then expecting a different and favourable result, is the definition of insanity. The reality of a path to lower living standards, less revenue and more debt and higher taxes for the rest of your lives. That path truly worries me. We need to put in the effort to change that path.   

Hancock has paid almost $23 billion in taxes over just the past decade, making us one of the largest private corporate taxpayers in the country, our contribution is thanks to this industry.

The opening of this mine means continuing the billions in royalties and taxes, while allowing us to provide ongoing high-paying jobs for our fantastic people. I’m sure you won’t forget, smaller government would allow higher take home pay. Smaller government would not deliver the endless ramp up of interest rates, making your mortgage more and more expensive, making it harder to make ends meet, that we can see big government brings. 

Huge thanks to all of our staff, for the efforts you have put into this project.

And best wishes to Hancock Iron Ore CEO Gerhard and our operations team who have the task to ramp up and manage Hancock’s newest mine. 

Please join me in applause for you! 

I especially want to acknowledge and thank our HanRoy CEO Sanjiv, who has once again proven himself to be an exceptional project developer. First with our mega Roy mine and then Sanjiv Ridge, now this mine, and he’s moving through the approval difficulties to start Mulga Downs. Sanjiv has already won several awards, and now he’s a finalist for a CEO Award. 

Please join me in a round of applause for our Sanjiv. 

I also want to thank everyone who has contributed to bringing this new Hancock mine into production. Including our contractors and suppliers, MGM Bulk and MACA. MGM recently won an increased safety award. Congratulations, safety Is critical. 

Please continue to work safely and take pride in what you are contributing to your families, our state and Australia.

Congratulations, and thank you.