(Repeats story published late Tuesday; no change to text)
* Australian billionaire Rinehart wants out of battle over
family trust
* $4 billion trust has pitted children against mother for
two years
* Rinehart lawyers say she needs to spend more time on iron
ore projects
By James Regan
SYDNEY, Oct 1 (Reuters) – Australian mining magnate Gina
Rinehart, one of the world’s richest women, wants to relinquish
control over a $4 billion family trust, after several years of
legal wrangling with her children over who gets what and when.
Lawyers for Rinehart, 59, told a court that the legal battle
with two of her four children, which has been played out in
public and captivated Australia, had placed huge pressure on
their client but was now “effectively over”.
Bruce McClintock, one of Rinehart’s lawyers, said the
two-year legal fight between the tycoon and her children, John
Hancock and Bianca Hope Rinehart, had created “untenable risk”
of damage to Hancock Prospecting Group, the mining company
established by her late father and the source of her wealth.
“The increased demands on her time in dealing with the …
plaintiff’s issues has taken valuable time away from her
responsibilities,” he told the New South Wales Supreme Court.
Hancock Prospecting is in the midst of funding negotiations
to develop a $10-billion dollar iron ore project in Australia.
Rinehart nor her children attended the hearing.
Two years ago, Rinehart’s children filed a claim alleging
their mother acted “deceitfully” and with “gross dishonesty” by
secretly delaying by 57 years the date they would get their
trust funds, set up in 1988 by her father, Lang Hancock.
Those allegations are scheduled to be heard in court on Oct.
8.
Rinehart, with the support of her youngest daughter, Ginia,
has denied the claims. Another daughter, Hope Welker, had
already withdrawn her objections.
Throwing a spotlight on the wealthy family, Rinehart has
described the warring children as lazy and spoiled and had
warned their security would be at risk if they persisted with
their legal actions.
The feud started after Rinehart changed the date of
entitlement to the Hope Margaret Hancock Trust from 2011 to
2068. The trust contains almost 25 percent of Hancock
Prospecting, and promised to make each child a billionaire.
Lawyers for the children who filed the claim said on Tuesday
they were falsely led to believe by Rinehart they would be
liable for hefty capital gains tax if the trust was disbursed.
Rinehart, whose fortune was estimated by Forbes at around
$18 billion last year, has been granted a mediation session to
name a new trustee. The mining magnate wants it to be an
immediate family member with “specific characteristics” – such
as impartiality, sensibility and experience in the mining
industry, her lawyer said.
(Editing by Ed Davies)
