Rich pickings
Gina Rinehart’s 16-year legal battle over mining royalties lays bare what the WA chief justice calls an ‘intolerable’ burden on the justice system.
In her 1,633-page judgment for the Wright v Hancock case, Justice Jennifer Smith of the WA Supreme Court used the word “lengthy” 27 times.
Given the stoush began in 2010 and has delayed her retirement by two years, the judge could have slipped in a few more. Along with “wasteful”.
This was a stellar example of the mega-litigation that WA Chief Justice Peter Quinlan says is an “intolerable” drain on the justice system across the country.
And it is not over by a long shot. Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, will likely appeal to the WA Court of Appeal and — if she loses — the High Court.
