Court allows daughter to sue mum Rinehart

A COURT has given Bianca Rinehart permission to sue her mother, Gina Rinehart, for alleged breaches of duties as trustee of a family trust.

The breaches are alleged to include the failure to declare up to $500 million in dividends from Hancock Prospecting.

New South Wales Supreme Court judge Nigel Rein said Bianca, who has replaced her mother as trustee of the Hope Margaret Hancock Trust, would be justified in launching the legal action in the Federal Court.

Bianca claims that while her mother was running Hancock Prospecting, she “improperly” had the company pay her expenses, reducing the amount distributed as dividends.

In addition, Bianca claims her mother wrongly failed to include income from two tenements — Marandoo and the MBM Area — when calculating a compulsory dividend paid by Hancock Prospecting.

The trust owns 24 per cent of Hancock Prospecting on behalf of Mrs Rinehart’s children, Bianca, John Hancock, Hope Rinehart and Ginia Rinehart.

There are also claims against Mrs Rinehart’s lieutenants, Tad Watroba and Jay Newby, for allegedly being complicit in her behaviour.

The claims, which have yet to be tested by a court and are likely to be strongly defended, are the latest chapter in a bitter legal stoush pitting Mrs Rinehart against two of her children — Bianca and John.

Mrs Rinehart has settled with Hope, while Ginia supports her mother.

Justice Rein’s decision to bless Bianca’s proposed course of conduct protects her from legal action alleging she, herself, breached her responsibilities as trustee by launching the lawsuit.