(via Gina The Lion Heart | newmatilda.com)

Gina Rinehart, Australia’s richest person — tipped to reach the position of World #1 — has penned a curious and revealing op-ed for the latest edition of Australian Resources and Investment magazine. In it, she expands on a vision that has long represented her Shangri La: a northern Australian free-trade zone, unencumbered by taxation and populated by plentiful temporary labour from overseas. …

There are two main thrusts to her arguments in favour of the free-trade zone.

First, new taxes from the federal Labor government are killing investment in mining, forcing companies offshore and slowing the breakneck pace of the boom — you’ve heard this all before, and the enormous profits posted by companies like Rio Tinto, XStrata and Rinehart’s own company, Hancock Prospecting, should be enough to wipe the tears from your eyes at the plight of our struggling mining executives.

Rinehart’s second point is more bizarre and is a stalking horse for her real desires, if not those of the industry at large. Australians don’t want to live in sweltering Northern Australia where all the goodies are buried, so we need to regulate them less, tax them less and cut payroll and company tax, stamp duty and the like to make it more economically attractive to relocate. Failing that, we should “…consider the terrible plight of very poor people in our neighbouring countries in Asia. We should, on humanitarian grounds, give more of these people the opportunity of guest labour work in Australia.”

In light of Gina buying a 12-15% share in Fairfax media, it seems worth revisiting who we’re dealing with. Also: Qld really is the Texas of Oz, isn’t it?

ETA: Dear anon, the bold isn’t a rejection of migratory labour, but highlighting the fact that she wants to replace refugee visas - which ‘humanitarian grounds’ implies eligibility for - with exploitative temporary visas that would replace giving SE Asian refugees asylum with forcing them in the most dangerous and badly paid jobs.

It’s both a hopeless ‘rebrand’ of herself, and mining profiteering, as humanitarian rather than white supremist on race politics, and a bid to use state immigration mechanisms to obtain a personal, racially profiled extra-exploitable labour force.

Which is what mining land grabs and immigration have always been about, but she’s getting bolder in her power grab, which is damn scary.

p.s. sending anon snark prevents me from gauging whether to really debate this - in case you’re interested enough to do something - or if you’re a troll and posting your vitriol will encourage you. See how this works? 

If anyone’s interested there’s a petition against Gina’s media grab here at Avaaz.