Gina Rinehart calls for immigrants’ social media to be screened in Anzac memorial speech
Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, called for immigrants’ social media to be screened and said children are being taught to be ashamed of the Australian flag in untelevised remarks before an Anzac memorial service on the steps of Sydney Opera House on Friday.Rinehart’s public appearance was attended by about 4,000 people and sponsored by her company, Hancock Prospecting, and RSL New South Wales.Rinehart claimed the Australian government was wasting money, eroding freedoms, running an ineffective defence force, leaving veterans homeless, teaching children to be ashamed of the Australian flag and doing nothing in response to “death chants”.“Our immigration procedures must only allow immigrants who have been thoroughly checked – including their phones, iPads, laptops and social media,” Rinehart said in a speech later posted online.“We need to protect our country – and welcome only peace-loving, contributing immigrants to our shores.
This should not be controversial,What Australians really want their families’ lives hurt by terrorists?”Rinehart condemned the “despicable, hate-filled act – the murder of our Jewish friends, peacefully gathered in Bondi at the commencement of Hanukkah” and said Australia’s response had been inadequate,“After the Jews, who is next? Roman Catholics? Other peaceful faiths? As none are in accord with the religion acceptable to terrorists,“Is it adequate when we know that many in our Jewish community are still living in fear of their lives? Is it adequate, when even after Bondi, within the last month, a huge rally with its flags and death chants, paraded down Macquarie [Street] to where we are now,What happened to laws against hate speech, are those laws deaf when hate and death chants are yelled?”Rinehart also spoke during the televised section for the event’s prerecorded video introduction.
“I warmly welcome your call for all Australians to generously support our veterans,” Rinehart said,“Our companies support, and I hope many more Australians will support, our veterans,”The mining magnate’s company on Thursday announced it would put $200m towards buying properties to convert into housing for homeless Australian veterans, which it described as “the biggest ever private commitment for Australian veterans”,Rinehart has previously donated to RSL, Soldier On, the Commando Welfare Trust, Legacy and the legal defence of former special forces personnel through the SAS Resources Fund,At last year’s service, the billionaire used her address to call for Australia to lift its defence budget to 5% of GDP and invest in “Israeli-style” drones.
Rinehart sat in the front row of Friday’s service with staff including Tad Watroba, a Hancock Prospecting executive director.Dozens of attendees waved and shouted their thanks to Rinehart at the service’s conclusion, with some shaking her hand, thanking her for her speech and taking photos with her.The opposition leader, Angus Taylor, who has called for migrants’ online presences to be screened, spoke briefly to Rinehart at the service’s conclusion.The deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, also attended and spoke before the event’s official commencement, as did the New Zealand defence minister, Chris Penk, and the event’s patron, the former governor general Peter Cosgrove.Marles’ office did not respond on Sunday when asked what he thought of Rinehart’s remarks.
Among the other attendees were former prime ministers Scott Morrison and John Howard, the governor of New South Wales, Margaret Beazley, state opposition leader, Kellie Sloane, and state energy minister, Penny Sharpe.
From Mother Mary to Foo Fighters: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead
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The play’s the thing – but everyone has their own favourite | Letters
Thank you for Michael Billington’s brilliant and fascinating ranking of Shakespeare’s plays, which will surely give rise to much debate (To see or not to see? Every single Shakespeare play – ranked!, 22 April).I’d like to make a case for promotion of The Tempest from its lowly 25th position. Admittedly my fondness for it started with doing it for A-level in 1968, but, having the good fortune to see both the all-female women’s prison version, starring Harriet Walter, and the RSC magical hi-tech production within a few months, I think its versatility deserves a higher ranking. I would swap it with The Winter’s Tale, which for me is just a bit too weird.Marian SainsburyEdinburgh I studied A Midsummer Night’s Dream at school in the 1960s
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Post your questions for Melanie C
Some former girl- and boyband stars spend a lifetime trying to escape the image that made them famous. Not Melanie C. Since the Spice Girls debuted 30 years ago this summer (What’s that sound? Oh, it’s just the unadulterated violence of mortality) she has never shied away from her past as Sporty Spice. Her ninth album, Sweat, leans firmly into it. Led by its gauntlet-throwing title track, these are work-bitch bangers for the gym, the dancefloor – inspired by her pre-Spice raving youth – and quite possibly the bedroom, sung by a triathlon fiend who forged a reputation as a world-renowned DJ
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