Advertisement

Rinehart to sue over show

Gina Rinehart's dispute with Channel 9 over its version of her life story is far from over, with lawyers acting for Australia's richest person foreshadowing a multimillion-dollar legal battle with the network.

Mrs Rinehart's lawyers are set to pursue action in the NSW Supreme Court after issuing a list of 20 "glaring errors" of fact in the final instalment of House of Hancock.

They issued the statement immediately after a heavily edited version of the program went to air last night.

It is estimated up to 20 minutes was cut from the original version after 11th-hour legal wrangling, but the cuts did not go anywhere near far enough to satisfy Mrs Rinehart.

Rinehart lawyer Mark Wilks said although Channel 9 inserted a disclaimer stating certain scenes were fictionalised, the version shown last night was "almost entirely fiction".

Mr Wilks said Channel 9 was made aware of the "falsehoods" and the distress it would cause before going ahead with its telecast.

Many of the factual errors listed by Mrs Rinehart's lawyers relate to the portrayal of events leading up to the death of her father Lang Hancock and her relationship with his housekeeper and then wife Rose Porteous. The list is backed by references to immigration documents, court records and sworn testimony from witnesses.

Mrs Rinehart maintains she "almost never" spoke to Mrs Porteous and scenes showing confrontations between the two women were false.

Her lawyers said the Channel 9 account denigrated the memory of Mrs Rinehart's late parents, Lang and Hope, and her late husband, Frank Rinehart.

Hancock Prospecting executive director Tad Watroba said last night that Channel 9 had been given a long list of what was incorrect or never occurred.

"The mini-series does not portray Mr Lang Hancock, Mrs Hope Hancock, Mr and Mrs Rinehart, or their deep and genuine feelings for each other," he said. "The series is based on scenes which either didn't occur, or the very, very few that had some slight basis being so distorted as being untruthful portrayals."

Channel 9 refused to comment last night.

On Friday, Justice Peter Garling ordered Channel 9 to hand over a copy of the show, which could be viewed only by the billionaire mining magnate and her lawyers.

Mrs Rinehart's legal team then applied for an interlocutory injunction and the Supreme Court took the unusual step of sitting on a Saturday to resolve the dispute before the show aired.

On Saturday, Channel 9 issued a statement saying it was "delighted" its legal dispute with Mrs Rinehart had been settled.

John Hancock, who is locked in a long-running legal dispute with his mother, has described much of the Channel 9 portrayal as false and a source of unnecessary distress for Mrs Rinehart.