Telethon Ball: Generous A-listers come together to raise millions for sick children at annual charity event
The annual Telethon Ball lived up to its reputation as Australia’s most exclusive and generous invitation-only black-tie event on Saturday night with millions of dollars raised for sick children by a guest list that ranged from billionaire philanthropists to influential politicians and bosses of the nation’s biggest companies. “We are investing in kids’ futures and research. This means another thousand kids are going to be better off and that’s got to be a good thing.” Australia’s richest person and reigning Western Australian of the Year, Gina Rinehart, was at the ball along with many of the most senior staff from her sprawling empire.
Editorial: WA must fight against ‘Victorian’ IR laws | Don’t let a group of Victorians decide what’s right for you
Gerhard Veldsman, chief executive of Roy Hill, is the latest business leader to sound off on the “same job, same pay” IR laws, telling the Minerals Week conference in Canberra the overhaul would force miners to shift staff to “minimum award standards”. “Don’t let a small group of people out of Victoria that has never set foot on a mine site decide what’s good for you,” Mr Veldsman, pictured, told the crowd, adding the mining sector already paid nation-leading salaries. “We work together to make the industry better and then we make sure that when mining does well our employees share in it. Same job, same pay threatens to take this away and force us back to minimum award standards.”
In June 2023, the Hancock Prospecting Group of companies launched the ‘Veterans For Jobs’ campaign as part of our commitment to creating new pathways and increased employment opportunities for ex-defence members. Featured across multiple platforms including television, outdoor, print and digital platforms, the campaign highlights the contributions of our existing ex-defence workforce and future opportunities across at Hancock Prospecting, a proudly West Australian company, where loyalty and performance are rewarded.
Calls for more garbage trucks to include mandatory safety warning systems
Calls are growing to make safety warning systems mandatory on garbage trucks after a renowned doctor was killed in New South Wales. The technology is already in place in Perth, thanks to Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, who stepped in after learning of the tragedy.
We’ve launched a striking new recruitment campaign to encourage more veterans to join us. Our collective vision across the Hancock Prospecting Group of companies is to create new pathways and increased employment opportunities for ex-defence members (EDM). We know we already have veterans in every part of the business. We now want to use this as a springboard to become the first point of call for others wishing to enter the mining and agricultural industries.
Ageing population sparks calls to cut senior workforce tax barriers
With the Australian population set to age, the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) says the government needs to “remove unfair tax and red tape barriers stopping Australian pensioners, veterans, and students who want to work.” Research Fellow at the IPA Saxon Davidson told Oliver Peterson on Perth Live that Australia needs to emulate New Zealand where pensioners are not punished for working, “Leading surveys show that twenty per cent of pensioners would rejoin the workforce if these unfair barriers were removed.”
Introducing RoyBot: Roy Hill’s innovative AI tool boosting employee productivity at scale
In late 2022, Roy Hill Executive Chairman Gina Rinehart encouraged her leaders at the West Australian iron ore mining company to start using the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, ChatGPT, to increase their personal productivity. These productivity gains made a strong impression, and the company began considering how a similar, customised application rolled out across Roy Hill’s entire workforce might improve employee productivity at scale. The system is designed to respond to a broad spectrum of inquiries related to production data, company policies and procedures, as well as general HR information. Roy Hill’s employees interact with RoyBot using natural language, asking questions through the internal web application.
Opening the gates | Ideas for an even greater country | Gina Rinehart AO
My father throughout his whole life was a huge lover of the bush and of our country, and made himself unpopular at times, standing up for what he could see was in the nation’s best interests. On our long drives together in the bush to check windmills and cattle – I was the gate opener and tool carrier – Dad would sometimes tell me jokes. One he especially liked was told by Dr Edward Teller – scientists who knew both Teller and Einstein said that Teller had the greater mind.
GINA Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting has been quietly implementing changes this year that will reshape the way it operates. One key development was the acquisition of properties in West Perth so that staff at subsidiaries Roy Hill Holdings and Atlas Iron can be co-located with the parent company. Another key development was the creation of HanRoy, a new entity to coordinate the evaluation of all projects. Led by chief executive group projects Sanjiv Manchanda, HanRoy is currently working on more than half a dozen mining and infrastructure projects. At the same time, Gerhard Veldsman was put in charge of all mining operations, with both men reporting to Hancock chief executive Garry Korte.
