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,
Oil at three-week high as US-Iran peace talks stall, and Goldman lifts price forecast – business live
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets, and the world economy.The new week begins with the oil price rising, again, as the stalled US-Iran peace talks threaten to extend disruption to crude supplies from the Middle East.Brent crude has jumped about 2% this morning to a high of $107.97 a barrel, the highest level since the two sides agreed a ceasefire on 7 April.Prices rose after Donald Trump cancelled his plan to send US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner for ceasefire talks in Pakistan on Saturday, saying “too much time” has been “wasted on travelling”
Nationwide could have first customer on board for nearly 25 years
Nationwide building society could have a customer on its board for the first time in nearly a quarter of a century after one of its longtime members secured enough support for a spot on the lender’s annual ballot.James Sherwin-Smith will be up for board elections at Nationwide’s annual general meeting (AGM) in July, having gathered more than the 250 peer nominations necessary to run alongside existing directors.If successful, the 45-year-old from West Sussex would be the first Nationwide customer – known as members – to sit on the board of the building society for 24 years, with the last having retired in 2002.The last time a member-nominated customer was even on the AGM ballot was 2005, though they failed to secure enough votes to be elected to the board.The building society’s board members are typically appointed by the existing directors
Musk and Altman’s bitter feud over OpenAI to be laid bare in court
The bitter rivalry between two of the tech world’s most powerful men arrives in court this week, as Elon Musk’s lawsuit against Sam Altman and OpenAI heads to trial in Oakland, California. The case is set to feature some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley, and its outcome could affect the course of the AI boom.Musk’s suit, filed in 2024, focuses on the formative years of OpenAI when he, Altman and others co-founded the artificial intelligence company as a nonprofit with a grand purpose.“OpenAI is a non-profit artificial intelligence research company. Our goal is to advance digital intelligence in the way that is most likely to benefit humanity as a whole, unconstrained by a need to generate financial return,” reads the company’s mission statement, published in late 2015
UK departments at odds over energy demands of AI datacentres
One vision of the UK’s future involves a decarbonised economy powered by clean, renewable energy. Another involves making the UK an AI superpower.The government departments responsible for these two visions do not appear to have agreed on their numbers.The Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) thinks AI datacentres will consume 6GW of electricity by 2030. The Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) appears to think they will use less than a tenth of that
Ireland revenge mission falls flat amid flurry of squandered chances but England march on | Sarah Rendell
Ireland sent out mixed messages from their camp before their game with France on Saturday: was this a revenge mission for their Rugby World Cup quarter-final exit or not? The head coach, Scott Bemand, had denied it but the captain, Erin King, admitted the World Cup game had added some “venom” to the encounter and the full-back Stacey Flood said France should be “worried if I was them”.The Irish team may have had the image of Axelle Berthoumieu biting Aoife Wafer, an action that was not caught during the quarter-final but the France back row was given a nine-game ban afterwards, for added motivation if any was needed. There was certainly no love lost between the teams, with the fixture full of tension, squabbles and huge hits.But Ireland missed the chance to land a vengeful blow on their rivals and the opportunity slipped through their fingers with three disallowed first-half tries and a missed penalty. The visitors’ inability to put daylight between themselves and France on the scoreboard allowed the hosts to take the game away from them in the final 25 minutes
Storm success was as certain as death and taxes. So how has it all gone wrong? | Nick Tedeschi
For over two decades, Melbourne Storm have been the standard for how an elite sporting organisation operates in Australia. Led by head coach Craig Bellamy and head of football Frank Ponissi, the Storm have known nothing but success. The only time they have missed finals under Bellamy was during a ban following the 2010 salary cap scandal. In 23 years with Bellamy in charge, the Storm have won nine minor premierships, finished in the top four 18 times and played in 11 grand finals, winning five. Success has spanned players, spanned time and spanned the changing nature of the game
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