Hancock Prospecting founder Lang Hancock, a staunch Liberal Party supporter, was hoping for a Labor win in Western Australia to help further his iron ore mining operations.
The WA Supreme Court has heard correspondence between Mr Hancock and infamous former premier Brian Burke shortly after Mr Burke’s 1983 election win on the second day of a civil trial against Hancock Prospecting.
Parties including Mr Hancock’s business partner’s company Wright Prospecting, DFD Rhodes, and the children of Hancock’s executive chairwoman Gina Rinehart have all been dragged into the massive legal matter filed more than a decade ago that finally went to trial on Monday.
The parties are fighting over the split of royalties from six iron ore mining tenements in WA’s Pilbara region, collectively known as Hope Downs, as a slew of lawyers try to prove the existence of tenuous agreements made with Lang Hancock in the 1970s and ’80s.
Lawyer for Wright Prospecting Julie Taylor SC on Tuesday resumed presenting evidence to Justice Jennifer Smith that involved letters between Mr Hancock, his business partner Peter Wright and then WA premiers and mining ministers.
Despite being a notable Liberal Party supporter, Mr Hancock wanted to see a change in state government in the early 1980s because he felt a Labor government would be more sympathetic in terms of mining approvals, documents read aloud in court showed.
“We feel your government and Hanwright have a common goal,” Mr Lang wrote to Mr Burke in January 1983, one month before Labor’s state election win over Liberal incumbent Ray O’Connor.
Ms Taylor argued that by referring to “Hanwright”, a portmanteau of Hancock and Wright Prospecting, the two companies were working in partnership.
Some of the Hope Downs tenements were taken back by the state government, only to be bought back by Mr Hancock in 1989.
The ongoing civil matter revolves around the royalties from iron ore operations at Hope Downs, with lawyers for Wright arguing agreements with Hancock Prospecting mean the royalties should be split evenly.
Also trying to stake a claim is DFD Rhodes, another prospecting company who claims their founder Don Rhodes was promised 1.25 per cent of the royalty share by Mr Hancock.
And complicating the matter are the eldest children of Ms Rinehart, John Hancock and Bianca Rinehart, who are continuing a bitter dispute with their mother for control of the Hancock family trust, which profits off Hope Downs operations.
Angela Bennett, the billionaire daughter of Peter Wright, is also being represented but, like Ms Rinehart, is unlikely to appear in person during the proceedings, which are expected to run to November at the earliest.
Mr Wright died in 1985, and Mr Hancock died in 1992.
Mr Burke became a controversial figure in WA politics after a royal commission was held into a series of public-private partnerships from Mr Burke’s time as premier, the dealings ultimately losing about $600m in public funds.
Mr Burke resigned as premier in 1987, with the WA Inc. scandal coming to light during the 1991 royal commission.
In 1994, he was found guilty of four counts of fraud and spent seven months in prison before being released on parole.
Ms Rinehart is Australia’s richest woman, with an estimated net worth of about $34bn.
The Hope Downs tenements, which are half-owned by Rio Tinto, bring in millions of dollars in mining royalties every year.
The trial continues.