Gina Rinehart has gifted Pauline Hanson with an orange model bulldozer as a sign of support for the One Nation leader’s proposed cuts to bureaucracy and government waste.
The Hancock Prospecting boss handed over the gift at News Corp’s Future Townsville Forum in Townsville on Thursday.
Ms Rinehart urged the crowd to make bulldozer noises as she invited the One Nation leader onto the stage.
“I would like to just get a little help from the audience. Can you all sound like bulldozers, please?” Ms Rinehart said.
“Come on, I want some bulldozer noise. Pauline, may I invite you to the stage quickly, please.
“You might remember Elon Musk was given a big chainsaw to try and cut government tape and bureaucracies over in America.
“We need more than [a chainsaw]. We actually need a beautiful big fat orange bulldozer.”
Ms Hanson was gifted the toy bulldozer as the Hancock Prospecting boss praised the politician for giving “Aussies across our country hope” and “never departing from values you have consistently held”.
Before handing over the gift, Ms Rinehart told the audience she supported Ms Hanson’s pledge to cut bureaucracy.
“We can’t sustain it, cut tape and cut regulations, cut government waste so we can spend on defence,” she said.
Ms Rinehart detailed radical reform which she argued would secure Townsville’s future.
“As a first step, close all federal departments that overlap with state departments,” she said.
She called on the government to “not just tinker around the edges” and cut all overlapping departments, because while debates are had over which should remain, “costs would continue to mount”.
“Big, expensive, government, high taxes and tape is not the right path for Townsville’s future,” she added.
“Empty federal offices could be changed to accommodation for homeless veterans, struggling pensioners, and frightened women and children who face horrendous, unacceptable violence.”
Speaking at the National Press Club, on Wednesday, Ms Hanson criticised government spending and rising national debt.
Referring to the scale of accumulated debt over two decades, she said Australia had moved from “debt free” to “almost $1 trillion” in debt over the past 20 years.
“I’ve also got to look at pulling down that debt,” the One Nation leader said.
“We’re spending about $50 billion a year. Can you imagine where we can spend that $50 billion a year? In hospitals and schools.”
Ms Hanson said One Nation would cut a lot of spending from the federal bureaucracy.
“I’d get rid of the climate change department, the Aboriginal department, and also duplication of education and the health departments… with the states,” she said.
“We can cut a lot of spending. NDIS needs to be cut back, but what the government is doing now, they’re actually going to reduce it by 160,000 Australians.
“Some of those possibly really do need the help and assistance with NDIS. They’re going to deny them. What we need to do is go after the rorts, the scammers.”