Gina
The Guardian
Gina Rinehart tops Australia's rich list. She is a success story, worth almost $40bn. She’s also a climate sceptic, a Trumpette, a litigant – even against her own kids – and the woman who saved Australian swimming. She doesn’t shy from a fight and she’s sensitive about controlling her image. As her wealth continues to rise, so do her power and her influence. For her whole life she has advocated for rightwing causes – she’s a fierce critic of bureaucracy, and wants to cut red and green tape to boost the country’s prosperity. We explore how much power she has. Hearing from a range of her critics and defenders, and tracing her influence from the Pilbara to the corridors of power, this series asks: who is Gina Rinehart and what does she want? Listen and subscribe to Gina on Apple podcasts, Spotify or any other podcast app. You can also find all The Guardian's best other series by the Australian audio team here on this podcast feed.
Episodes
Mentioned books
May 18, 2025 • 1h 14min
Gina: What does she want? – episode 7
At 13 years old, a young Gina Rinehart read a book that would help shape her worldview – Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, which is having a moment around the world. The novel’s capitalist underpinnings promote the idea that people should strive to be their best industrial selves. In this episode, we explore how these values are playing out in Rinehart’s life today, including her proposal to build a coalmine in Canada’s Rocky Mountains. And we hear how author and environmental campaigner Tim Winton views her efforts to prevent an overhaul of Australia’s environmental laws
May 11, 2025 • 1h 14min
Gina: Mythmaking – episode 6
Gina Rinehart’s father, Lang Hancock, is well known as a pioneer of the iron ore industry in Australia but few realise Hancock started his mining career on a smaller scale and digging for a different substance – blue asbestos. Hancock and his partner started the mining operation at Wittenoom in the 1940s before selling it to another company, CSR, which mined the area for 20 more years. Wittenoom has become synonymous with an immense tragedy that unfolded upon thousands of the people who lived and worked there due to exposure to asbestos fibres. In this episode of Gina, we interrogate some of the stories her family chooses to celebrate – and others they don’t Listen and subscribe to the Gina podcast at theguardian.com/gina
May 4, 2025 • 18min
Gina: The DNA request – update episode
In the last episode, we covered historical claims made over the years that Lang Hancock, Gina’s father, had two unacknowledged daughters with separate Indigenous women. Since then, the daughter of Sella Robinson, one of the Indigenous women who claimed to be Hancock’s daughter, has decided to speak publicly for the first time Listen to all the episodes of Gina at theguardian.com/gina
Apr 27, 2025 • 1h 12min
Gina: The portrait – episode 5
It’s the portrait of Gina Rinehart that launched 1,000 memes, went viral globally and became Australia’s Mona Lisa. But it’s also a symbol of how wealth intersects with other areas of life, including art and sport. How does Rinehart use her money to control her image – and what would she rather you don’t see? This episode of Gina is about power and control, and the colonial history of Australia. It contains references to outdated offensive language and events that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people may find distressing. It also contains the names of Indigenous Australians who have died. Listen with care
Apr 20, 2025 • 45min
Gina: The first-born son – episode 4
Twenty years ago, John Hancock had dinner with his mother, Gina Rinehart. He says it’s the last positive interaction he had with her. In an in-depth interview, he explains how his relationship with his mother fell apart and discusses a high-stakes legal case that could threaten the foundations of her empire Listen and subscribe to the Gina Podcast at theguardian.com/gina
Apr 13, 2025 • 1h 9min
Gina: Love and money – episode 3
Gina Rinehart has been Australia’s richest person for the last six years in a row. But where does her money come from? In episode three we unpack the bitter rivalries, court battles and family conflicts behind the Hancock fortune – and consider a fundamental question: is Rinehart a mining heiress or is she a self-made mining magnate? We then look at her crowning achievement to date in her time at the helm of Hancock Prospecting – owning and operating her own iron mine at Roy Hill, something her father was never able to do Listen and subscribe to the Gina Podcast at theguardian.com/gina
Apr 6, 2025 • 57min
Gina: Like father, like daughter – episode 2
Michael Yabsley, a former advisor to mining mogul Gina Rinehart, and Ken Henry, ex-Treasury Secretary, dive into the profound political influence of wealth. They discuss Rinehart's strategic opposition to the mining super profits tax and how she learned from her father, Lang Hancock, a pioneer of the iron ore industry. The conversation also tackles the push for Western Australia's secession, personal rivalries in mining, and the complex interplay of politics and economics that shapes Australia's future.
Mar 30, 2025 • 48min
Gina: Becoming Mrs Rinehart – episode 1
Gina Rinehart is Australia’s richest person – and as her wealth continues to rise, so does her power and influence. But what does she want? In the first episode of Gina, senior correspondent Sarah Martin explores the impact Rinehart could have on Australian politics. Rinehart grew up in the vast expanse of the Pilbara. To understand her story, we delve into her past and how her unique childhood under the influence of Lang Hancock shaped her
Mar 16, 2025 • 8min
Gina: the billionaire who wants to make Australia great
Gina Rinehart is Australia’s richest person – and as her wealth continues to rise, so does her power and influence. But what does she want? As the federal election approaches, Guardian Australia’s new series explores the impact she could have on Australian politics. Senior correspondent Sarah Martin investigates decades of family history and infighting to make sense of how she became a mining billionaire, legal warrior and Trump admirer – and what she might do next.
Jan 9, 2025 • 23min
How to: Zoë Foster Blake on how to write a book
How does a hugely successful entrepreneur and parent find the energy, creativity and time to write a novel? Zoë Foster Blake tells Bridie Jabour how she makes the most of 90 minutes and where she starts You can support the Guardian at theguardian.com/fullstorysupport
