Gina Rinehart’s NSW Supreme Court battle with her children Hope, John and Bianca could spill into open warfare by the end of this week if Justice Paul Brereton decides to lift the suppression order covering the case at a hearing on Friday.
Late last Friday, Brereton decided to keep the suppression order in place for another week, but not before dismissing Gina’s attempt to have the case brought by her three children – Hope Rinehart Welker, John Langley Hancock and Bianca Hope Rinehart – stayed and placed into mediation.
That decision means the kids are now free to use the courts on take on their mother.
Due to the suppression order, the specific details of the case remain unknown. However, the dispute centres around a trust that was set up by Gina’s late father Lang Hancock for the benefit of his grandchildren.
The trust owns 25% of the shares in Hancock Prospecting, which based on Rinehart’s personal fortune has a value of somewhere north of $10 billion.
Gina owns the other 75% but is also the trustee of the grandchildren’s trust. Hope, John and Bianca want to oust their mother as trustee.
The only bright spot for Gina is that her youngest daughter, Ginia, is not a plaintiff to the case as first suggested. Instead, she is on her mum’s side in the spat.
The parties will return to court on Friday to present arguments on why the suppression order should remain in place.
While Rinehart is no stranger to litigation – having run long court battles with her late father’s wife Rose Porteous and fellow Perth billionaires Michael Wright and Angela Bennett – surely the idea of battling your own children in open court is enough to make you want to settle any dispute quickly and confidentially.
Amazingly – or perhaps not, given Rinehart’s history of litigation – the family appears to have foreseen an incident just like this. In 2007, all parties signed a deal to keep family disputes confidential and push them through mediation and arbitration before they hit court.
It’s not clear whether that agreement has been followed in this case and if it hasn’t, why not. I bet several family members are asking the same question.
James was the editor and publisher of SmartCompany and LeadingCompany for five years. He is now the Australian Financial Review‘s companies & markets editor, and a former BRW editor.
