Gina Rinehart - Early Life and Family

Early Life and Family

Rinehart was born in Perth, Western Australia, the daughter of Hope Margaret Nicholas and Lang Hancock. An only child, Rinehart lived with her parents at Nunyerry, 60 kilometres (37 mi) north of Wittenoom, until she was four, later boarding at St Hilda's Anglican School for Girls in Perth. She briefly studied economics at Sydney University, before dropping out and working for her father, gaining an extensive knowledge of the Pilbara iron-ore industry.

As a teenager Rinehart met Englishman Greg Milton, while both were working in Wittenoom. In 1973, aged 19, Rinehart married Milton and he changed his surname to Hayward. Together they had two children, John Langley and Bianca Hope. However, the marriage did not last; Rinehart and Hayward separated in 1979 and divorced in 1981. In 1983 she married Frank Rinehart, a 57 year old German American corporate lawyer. They had two children together, Ginia and Hope, born 18 months apart. Frank died in 1990.

She became involved in an acrimonious legal fight with her stepmother, Rose Porteous, in 1992 over the circumstances of her father's death and control of the Hancock assets. The court cases and negotiations ultimately took 14 years to settle.

In 1999 her proposal to name a mountain range after her family was approved. The so-named Hancock Range is situated about 65 km north-west of the town of Newman at 23°00′23″S 119°12′31″E / 23.00639°S 119.20861°E / -23.00639; 119.20861 and commemorates the family's contribution to the establishment of the pastoral and mining industry in the Pilbara region.

In 2003 after a falling out with Rinehart, her son, John Langley Hayward, changed his surname by deed poll to John Langley Hancock; their relationship remains difficult. John's sister, Bianca Hope Hayward, once tipped to take over the family business, served as a director of Hancock Prospecting and HMHT Investments until 31 October 2011, when she was replaced by her half-sister, Ginia Rinehart. Rinehart's other daughter, Hope, married Ryan Welker, an American and a director of Mineral Resources, a Hancock partial subsidiary. Together they live in Sydney. Hancock Prospecting and Gina Rinehart have an 8 per cent stake in Mineral Resources.

Before his death, Lang Hancock established the Hope Margaret Hancock Trust, nominating Rinehart as trustee, with his four grandchildren named as beneficiaries. The Trust holds a large share of the family's wealth. In 2011, Rinehart's daughter, Hope Rinehart Welker, brought legal action in the NSW Supreme Court over a commercial dispute, to have Rinehart removed as sole trustee. Her brother, John, and sister, Bianca, were later revealed to be parties to the dispute. In an agreement reached between the aggrieved parties, the Court granted an interim non-publication order. In making the interim order, Justice Paul Brereton stated "This is not the first occasion of discord in the family, which has immense wealth, no small part of which resides in the trust. In the past, the affairs of the family, including such discord, has attracted considerable publicity in the media." However, in a judgement handed down on 7 October 2011, Justice Brereton said he intended to dismiss an application by Rinehart that there be a stay on court action and that the family be directed into mediation. In December, three justices of the NSW Court of Appeal lifted the suppression orders on the case. However, a stay was granted until 3 February 2012; and extended by the High Court of Australia until 9 March. Rinehart's application for suppression was supported by Ginia Rinehart; and opposed by Hope, John and Bianca, and media organisations. A subsequent application by Rinehart for a non-publication order on the grounds of fear of personal and family safety was dismissed by the NSW Supreme Court on 2 February 2012.

In March 2012, when the suppression order was lifted, it was revealed that Rinehart had delayed the vesting date of the trust, which prompted the court action by her three older children.