No love lost as Forrest gets involved in family's long-running battle 'A lot at stake' in Rinehart $5 billion trust case The case will decide who will gain control of the lucrative family trust, if it can't be decided through mediation. PT1M45S http://www.smh.com.au/action/externalEmbeddedPlayer?id=d-2v60g 620 349 October 9, 2013 - 9:14AM On June 9, 2010, billionaires Andrew Forrest and Gina Rinehart made history when they appeared on the back of a flat-bed truck at Perth's Langley Park and railed "axe the tax" against a proposed new mining tax. Imaginations ran riot at the idea two of the country's richest people had formed a powerful club capable of dethroning the then prime minister Kevin Rudd and influencing policy. It also created the perception that Forrest and Rinehart were close, politically and personally. But perceptions can be misleading and in the case of Rinehart and Forrest, animosity runs deep. Thus it took Forrest less than 24 hours to agree to wade into the fierce and messy family feud between Rinehart and two of her four children. On Friday October 5, Rinehart's estranged son John Hancock wrote to Forrest asking for his support before the trial that was set down for October 8. Forrest, who has a close-knit family and is believed to be very uncomfortable about the Rineharts' public feud and the slur it puts on corporate Australia, slept on it and decided to get involved the next day. It was a big decision because Forrest has never made public his feelings for Rinehart, or his views on the family stoush. But his action will put him in Rinehart's firing line. He is believed to have made the comment "Gina will never talk to me" soon after sending an email that he would sign an affidavit. It prompted a close associate to liken the decision to putting "a fire under the devil." But for Hancock to get public support from a big corporate name is a big win, particularly given his mother's comments that she believed her children were "manifestly unsuited" to running the trust. Documents filed in the court state that none of the plaintiffs has "the requisite capacity or skill or the knowledge, experience, judgment or responsible work ethic" to manage it. Hancock has known Forrest for more than a decade. Indeed, in 2003, just after Rinehart had concluded her battle with her stepmother Rose Porteous, John discussed a business proposal with Forrest. The scene was Forrest's kitchen table and the topic was opportunities in the Pilbara and China. Forrest offered John a job and shares in his start-up, which later became Fortescue Metals Group, which is now worth $14.6 billion. Hancock needed permission from his mother to take the job. She blackballed the offer, along with the shares, which today would be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Forrest is also believed to have put a similar proposal to Rinehart to form a partnership with her family business Hancock Prospecting, a move that would have made her even richer than her current $22 billion wealth. She gave a resounding no, expecting Fortescue Metals never to get off the ground. Forrest got financial backing elsewhere but Rinehart has always been in the background making life difficult. The most glaring example was her attempt to block five key mining leases at Fortescue's proposed $1.8 billion Cloudbreak mine, which lies on her Mulga Downs pastoral station. She lobbied state and federal governments to protect the land on Mulga Downs for conservation. A key argument against the project was the alleged sighting of endangered night parrots in marshes at Mulga Downs. It took Forrest a lot of jumping through political and environmental hoops to get the leases granted but not before proving he had taken every step to ensure there were none of the endangered birds on the land. This is believed to have delayed the project months and cost a tidy sum. There are numerous other cases of disagreement and delay. A former executive at Fortescue described the relationship between Rinehart and Forrest as fraught. Andrew wanted Gina to use his rail and she wouldn't do it. She would rather build her own even though Roy Hill [the mine she is now trying to raise finance to build] is about 30 kilometres away from the end of Forrest's railway. It is crazy," he said. Against the backdrop of Forrest's sworn affidavit Rinehart, her four children and the legions of lawyers are trying to reach a settlement before day two of the trial.