Ms Georgina Gina Hope Rinehart may as well be the face of Australia's mining boom.
The 58 year old Perth native is the heiress of Hancock Prospecting, a resources company founded by her late father, Lang Hancock, which holds the rights to some extremely valuable iron ore deposit sites in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
The company inheritance after her father's death in 1992 set Ms Rinehart's net wealth at AUD 75 million, and over the past two decades, she has developed deposits into lucrative mines, acquired large stakes in Fairfax Media and the Ten Network Holdings Limited, and secured regional international deals that have catapulted her wealth and status as a businesswoman to the top ranks on numerous lists.
Her business savvy is monetarily exemplified by the AUD 18.87 billion increase in her fortune over the past year to AUD 29.17 billion, an increase that Mr Andrew Heathcote, editor of the BRW Rich 200 list, called unparalleled.
BRW's Rich 200 list named her the eighth richest person in the world and Forbes ranked her at number 29 on its Top 100 rich list, where she remains the only Australian business mogul.
As with any rich and famous person, however, her life has not been without drama. After her father's passing, Ms Rinehart took legal action against her stepmother, Mr Rose Porteous, over the circumstances of his death and the distribution of his estate. Three of her four children have waged an ongoing battle over the Hancock family trust in an effort to remove her as a trustee. She is also fighting a dispute over the iron ore rich Rhodes Ridge deposit, which Ms Rinehart claims a 25% stake in per an agreement dating back to 1984. The Wright Prospecting business, however, is fighting to gain control of the site.
An outspoken critic of mining legislation, Ms Rinehart holds unique views when it comes to Australia’s economic future and ways the nation can protect itself from the financial crises currently hitting Europe and the US. In January 2012, she proposed a plan to split the nation in half (east to west) to allow for a miner friendly economic zone with lowered taxes and more flexible legal barriers that would allow for foreign workers to come work the northern land.
She is also, as one would expect, not a supporter of the carbon tax. She said that "Now, as a recession approaches, is not the time to burden Australia with a carbon tax and Mineral Resource Rent Tax."
Regardless of the tax, the resources industry will continue to support Australia's economy, therefore giving Ms Rinehart a potential shot at pipping Mr Carlos Slim Helu's Forbes title in 2013.
Source - Business Review Australia
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