Gina Rinehart

Gina Rinehart is not just the richest person in Australia - and potentially soon to be the richest person in the world - she is the daughter of Lang Hancock, legendary arch-conservative, secessionist, mining millionaire and discoverer of the world's largest iron ore deposit in the Pilbara; and a member of a family known as much for its front-page legal stoushes as for its business acumen and toughness. With her reported wealth doubling in the last 12 months, Gina is beginning to flex the enormous power her wealth gives, buying large shareholdings in Channel 10 and Fairfax in moves that look set to give her and her controversial views a major influence in Australian life and public affairs outside of the resources sector. Set against the backdrop of a mining boom that will have the most profound effect on Australia over the next few decades, this is an extraordinary biography of Gina, the family she came from, and the wealth and power she wields, by award-winning journalist Adele Ferguson.