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Gina Rinehart lodges defamation case against Nine

Despite requesting 4 minutes of edits to Nine miniseries, Gina Rinehart is pursuing a defamation claim against Nine.

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The off-screen drama surrounding House of Hancock continues with reports Gina Rinehart is pursuing her defamation case against the Nine Network.

Legal proceedings come despite her lawyers and Nine agreeing to some 4 minutes of edits and a disclaimer in the second episode, which pulled a bumper audience two weeks ago.

Media reports state Mrs Rinehart will ask the court to award damages and interest and also make an order permanently restraining Nine from further broadcasts.

The series is available for viewing on 9jumpin, and is due for release on DVD on March 19.

In an amended summons filed late last week, Mrs Rinehart says in broadcasting the mini-series, Channel Nine not only defamed her but committed the tort of injurious or malicious falsehood. Lawyers for Mrs Rinehart will be ordered to list the items in the series they believe to be defamatory. They have previously listed 20 separate items, only a few of which were amended in the second episode.

To be successful, Mrs Rinehart has to prove the alleged false statements were motivated by malice and intended to cause harm to her business. She also has to prove actual damage, such as loss of business which is caused by the false statement.

A hearing today will formalise the listing of the matter.

Channel Nine and Mrs Rinehart are yet to respond to requests for comment.

Source: Fairfax, News Corp

3 Responses

  1. I first thought the series looked a bit trashy, bit of joke perhaps? However, I was flicking through channels one evening and there it was, so I watched it. I was hooked. The things which struck me about the ‘House of Hancock’ was that the Actors looked so close to the people they were portraying past and present and I was impressed by the standard of fit into those characters! the acting was top rate, believable. Remembering that the fashion, hairstyle of that time looks daggy and old hat because it was, a time most of us would rather not revisit in any photo’s. So that perhaps gave it a tacky type feel initially? What struck me was how Gina was portrayed with sensitivity and empathy, she was portrayed as the victim. I felt those same things towards her character and felt for her including the limousine scene at the end. Perhaps that is what upset her most? Of course I don’t know…

  2. Gina’s court proceedings are a waste of time and the sooner our courts name Rinehart as a vexatious litigant the better,

    Our media has the right to express their opinion whether she likes it or not. Channel 9 have been reasonable with her demands and so long as they place a disclaimer at the beginning on any repeat screening or DVD/BD release there is real no case for them to answer. If Gina wants to live in a country with high censorship she should consider moving to China.

  3. Rinehart said she was going to sue regarding the 1st episode, and also the 2nd episode even though she got edits.
    This is just the filing.

    She also has to prove the false scenes are just part of the process of creating a work of art. In Australia, unlike the US, there is not a strong bar to overcome in showing malice, and damage to reputation is pretty much automatically taken and damage to business.

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