Gina Rinehart to foot Bianca Rinehart’s legal costs in latest family court feud over Lang Hancock’s legacy

Gina Rinehart has been ordered to pay Bianca Rinehart’s legal bills fighting a failed bid for the NSW Supreme Court to block litigation in WA’s top court. NSW Supreme Court equity Chief Justice Julie Ward has also rejected a push by Mrs Rinehart for Bianca to pay up to 80 per cent of legal costs for arguments over transcripts and other documents dating back to the 1990s. Chief Justice Ward said Bianca had “successfully resisted” Mrs Rinehart’s allegations that she was pursuing an improper purpose trying to get the documents in her role as a trustee. The document access push was launched by Bianca as the trustee of the HMH Trust, which holds 23.4 per cent of Hancock Prospecting for herself and siblings John Hancock, Hope Welker and Ginia Rinehart. Under the NSW Supreme Court order, Bianca took over as trustee in mid-2015. The latest NSW row comes as John and Bianca prepare for mediation with their mother, which is expected to be run for at least two years under the supervision of former WA chief justice Wayne Martin. That mediation is aimed at resolving a variety of rows over the legacy of Mrs Rinehart’s late father Lang Hancock, including Hancock Prospecting’s interests in Hope Downs tenements being mined by Rio Tinto. Lang’s death in 1992 triggered an array of legal battles and ultimately a successful application by Hancock Prospecting for his estate to be administrated by a bankruptcy trustee. Mrs Rinehart testified at public examinations carried out by trustee Max Donnelly in 1999, 2000 and 2001. In the latest NSW Supreme Court row, Bianca asked Mrs Rinehart to hand over copies of the examination transcripts and various documents because they likely contained information related to HMH Trust. Mrs Rinehart argued production of the documents would not be in the best interests of HMH Trust, whose major asset since 1988 had been the stake in Hancock Prospecting. She claimed Bianca wanted the documents to help with her claims in Mr Martin’s arbitration that she had personal ownership of Hancock Prospecting’s principal mining tenements. In a mixed ruling last month, Chief Justice Ward threw out the application to stop the WA Supreme Court proceedings on the basis that the WA court should decide about access to matters on its files. She also rejected allegations that Bianca was engaging in an improper purpose, saying the fact that the material “might be relevant” to the Martin arbitration did not permit an improper inference to be drawn. The judge found HMH Trust may well have ownership of documents that Mrs Rinehart obtained via trusts before 2012. But she found those documents sought by Bianca could be used in the Martin arbitration to the detriment of HMH Trust’s interests. With Bianca having no immediate need for copies of the various documents, Chief Justice Ward ordered Bianca’s access be put off until the Martin arbitration was resolved. In her costs ruling, Chief Justice Ward said the documents arguments were “very much a draw”. She ordered each party bear its own costs of the documents row, but ordered Mrs Rinehart to pay Bianca’s costs of fighting the bid to stop the WA Supreme Court action.