You can no longer watch this TV mini-series after billionaire Gina Rinehart sued Channel Nine over the two-part series, broadcast in February 2015, for injurious falsehood and misleading and deceptive conduct, falling broadly into three categories: sheer inaccuracy, portraying her as an unloving daughter, and implying unfair business practices.
In an earlier court hearing Mrs Rinehart had also argued about details such as her weight, whether her father Lang Hancock cheated at tennis and the colour of her mother Hope Hancock's hair. That's it then: you can no longer watch it on TV or buy the DVD, but you can still read the book by Debi Marshall which I picked up at Vinnies for a couple of dollars. It tells you all about what at the time played out in the gossip columns and front pages of all the newspapers around the country.
In case you've forgotten: Gina Rinehart’s perfect family life was ripped apart when her mother Hope died causing her father Lang to begin a dangerous downward spiral of grief and despair. In a loving attempt to help her ailing father, Gina employed a new housekeeper to help get him back on track ... a gorgeous Filipino called Rose Lacson – not realising that it would tear apart their family for generations to come. After the death of her husband Frank, Gina was determined to stabilize the family company which is spiraling into debt. As Lang became sicker Gina began to go head to head with Rose Hancock which ended in a two-decade-long public feud filled with murder accusations, drug charges and illegitimate half caste children. Sensational? Salacious? You bet!
I also found another book by Paul Auster, "Invisible"; Sam Harris' "The End of Faith - Religion, Terror and the Future of Reason"; and, for some light entertainment, Richard Glover's "Best Wishes - Making the World a better, less annoying Place one Wish at a Time". I don't know when I will have time to read them all, but Padma will waste no time reading the book she's found in the cooking section: Cooking with Mushrooms".
