Open slather on Rinehart’s family affairs. Prepare for plenty of reading regarding Gina Rinehart‘s family affairs. The mining magnate has lost her final chance to keep the details of her court dispute with her children secret, with the High Court this morning refusing to hear Rinehart’s appeal against the lifting of a suppression order.
Rinehart’s daughter Ginia, who has sided with her mother in the dispute, issued a statement following the decision declaring the case is motivated by greed: “I have no doubt that one day soon my brothers and sisters will regret putting money before family. Unfortunately, this realisation will come too late as the damage to our family and its good reputation will already have been done.”
Julian Assange holds hopes for Bob Carr. Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has called on incoming foreign affairs minister Bob Carr to demand that Sweden promise not to extradite him to the US.
Reiterating comments made to The Power Index earlier this year, Assange told ABC Radio National breakfast this morning that the assistance he has received from Australian diplomatic officials has been “almost completely useless” but that Carr, as a historian and a journalist, might “come out swinging for us”.
Based on posts on Carr’s blog, Thoughtlines, Assange shouldn’t be too optimistic. Carr once blasted him as an “under-educated egomaniac” and criticised WikiLeaks’ release of US diplomatic cables.
Gunns’ superhero Chandler changes his mind. The future of Gunns’ Tasmanian pulp mill is in doubt following an announcement this morning that Richard Chandler, the NZ-born businessman with an estimated wealth of $4 billion, has terminated his proposal to pump $150 million into the timber company.
The cash would have given Chandler a 39% stake in the company, technically making the move a partial takeover, and offered Gunns a much needed equity break. The reasons for the back flip are unknown.
ACTU’s new guy Dave Oliver fighting fit. He hasn’t been officially offered the job, but ACTU’s likely new secretary, Dave Oliver, looks set to leave the days of the low profile Jeff Lawrence well behind.
In an interview with The Australian, Oliver outlined a war strategy for dealing with Tony Abbott at the next election. He’s declared the ACTU will be “high profile” with “more mobilisation, more engagement with the community” and much more visible than their presence at the 2010 election.
Glasenberg takes on Rinehart in the billionaire game. Commodities trader Ivan Glasenberg has made his first appearance on the Forbes billionaire list, published overnight, with his estimated $US7.5 billion ($6.9 billion) fortune securing him the prize of the world’s 125th richest billionaire.
But the impressive acquisition of wealth, most of it via last year’s Glencore float, has been overshadowed by the surge of Gina Rinehart, who’s moved up from the 100th spot in 2011, to the 29th in 2012. Rinehart’s doubled her wealth to US$18 billion in the last year, according to Forbes.
Andrew Forrest, with a net worth of $US4.7, was the third Aussie on the list, followed by James Packer and No. 7 on the Rich Crusaders list power list, Frank Lowy. Rinehart and Forrest are still up for the top spot on The Power Index’s Rich Crusaders power list.
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