Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart hits back at novelist Tim Winton's 'lonely oligarch' jibe

Australian mining billionaire Gina Rinehart has hit back at novelist Tim Winton after the author of "Cloudstreet" described her as a "lonely oligarch" and took aim at her growing influence over the country's politics.

Winton, one of Australia's most celebrated writers, turns on Rinehart in "Songs from the Firefront," a new collection of personal essays about climate change, rage and social upheaval. He writes that she "does not value or understand: the natural world, tenderness, mercy, fellow feeling."

Asked in an interview to promote the book whether criticizing Rinehart made him nervous, Winton said: "I think everybody's nervous and careful in speaking about that person." He said Rinehart and her late father, Lang Hancock, had shaped Australian politics, media and communications for decades and generated "fear and awe."

"It's the political ambition," Winton said of what worries him most. He said Rinehart was using her wealth to steer the country in a direction that serves her own interests.

Hancock responds

A spokesperson for Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd., Rinehart's private mining company, rejected his criticism and accused him of promoting socialism.

"Tim needs to better understand, the socialist style causes he espouses, which are the very opposite of caring," the spokesperson said. If Winton cared about struggling Australians, the spokesperson added, he would back Rinehart's approach.

The company said Rinehart and her businesses had paid A$25 billion ($17.2 billion) in taxes over the past decade, money that funds hospitals, police and defense. The spokesperson said the two would probably always disagree about the most important job of government, which Hancock described as defending the country and its citizens.

Rinehart's political ties have drawn growing attention this year. In June, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson said she consulted Rinehart on policy and considered her a friend. In July, it emerged that Rinehart had paid for Hanson's flights from London to Sicily and arranged for her to attend high-end fashion shows.

Two West Australians

Winton, who has published books for more than 40 years, is best known for "Cloudstreet," his 1991 novel about two working-class families in postwar Perth. It was recently voted Australia's favourite book in a national poll and has been adapted for the stage, opera and television. His 2024 novel "Juice" imagines much of Australia made uninhabitable by extreme heat.

Rinehart, 72, took control of Hancock Prospecting after her father's death in 1992, when the company was heavily indebted, and turned it into one of the world's largest private iron ore producers through the Roy Hill mine and its Hope Downs joint venture with Rio Tinto Group. Forbes ranks her as Australia's richest person.

Figures were converted at A$1.45 to the dollar.