A pastoral lease , sometimes called a pastoral run , is an arrangement used in both Australia and New Zealand where government-owned Crown land is leased out to graziers for the purpose of livestock grazing on rangelands .
31-472: 22°06′04″S 118°28′12″E / 22.101°S 118.47°E / -22.101; 118.47 ( Mulga Downs ) Mulga Downs Station is a pastoral lease that once operated as a sheep station but is currently operating as a cattle station in Western Australia . It is located 96 km (60 mi) north east of Tom Price and 167 km (104 mi) south west of Marble Bar in
62-503: A stay on court action, and that the family be directed into mediation. In December 2011, three justices of the NSW Court of Appeal lifted the suppression orders on the case. However, a stay was granted until 3 February 2012 and extended by the High Court of Australia until 9 March 2012. Rinehart's application for suppression was supported by Ginia Rinehart (Gina Rinehart's daughter), but
93-410: A 25% stake in the property. Hancock promptly sold his share of Ashburton Downs Station, which he had inherited from his father, and focused his energy into improving Mulga Downs further. Lang Hancock , George's son, took over management of the property in 1935 at the age of 26 following the retirement of his father. He later discovered and started mining asbestos at Wittenoom Gorge and then discovered
124-524: A 50% share of profits generated at the Hope Downs mine , operated by Rio Tinto. Hope Downs production levels of 30 million tonnes (33 × 10 ^ short tons) per year and at 2011 prices (around US$ 140 per tonne) generated over A$ 2 billion in revenue, and about A$ 700 million in net cash. In addition, the company received a 1.25% royalty from iron ore sales by Hamersley Iron (a Rio Tinto subsidiary) which delivered approximately A$ 170 million
155-576: A half of the IPA's total revenue in those years. These payments were not disclosed in IPA annual reports, and Rinehart's daughter Bianca Hope Hayward submitted in court that the Hancock Prospecting payments were credited to Rinehart in an individual capacity. Gina Rinehart was made a life member of the IPA in November 2016. Perhaps the most well known controversy in the history of the company centres around
186-562: A year. Hancock Prospecting exploration activities are done under the Jacaranda Alliance, a joint venture between Hancock, Minerals Australia Pty Ltd, and several former executives of Rio Tinto. Exploration and evaluation work on uranium, molybdenum, lead, zinc, gold, diamonds and petroleum deposits are conducted in Australia, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and South East Asia. As of 2016 , Hancock Prospecting diversified its interests into
217-612: Is owned by Rinehart (76.6%) and the Hope Margaret Hancock Trust (23.4%). The company was founded in 1955 by Rinehart's father, the late Lang Hancock . Hancock Prospecting holds the mineral rights to some of the largest Crown land leases in the Pilbara region of Western Australia . Gina Rinehart has disputed accusations that she is an heiress. Through Rinehart's spokesperson and chief financial officer at Hancock Prospecting, Jay Newby, Rinehart has claimed that upon assuming
248-399: Is situated within the boundaries of the station. The Lockyer brothers owned the property in 1891, and transferred 3,000 sheep, 300 cattle and 300 horses from another of their properties, Cooya Pooya , to Mulga Downs for fattening the same year. Following the death of George Lockyer in 1893, the property was advertised in 1894. At this time it consisted of 830,000 acres (335,889 ha) and
279-828: The Department of Environment seeking approval to construct a 5,000,000 t (4,921,033-long-ton) iron ore operation from a 2.5 km (2 mi) long pit located about 3.5 km (2 mi) from the homestead. Pastoral lease In the Australian states and territories , leases constitute a land apportionment system created in the mid-19th century to facilitate the orderly division and sale of land to European colonists. Legislation ensured that certain Aboriginal rights were embodied in pastoral leases. However, according to historian Henry Reynolds , several colonial leaders ran roughshod over these rights, including Sir John Downer (when
310-512: The Northern Territory was governed by the colonial government of South Australia ); Sir John Forrest in the colony of Western Australia ; and Sir Samuel Griffith in Queensland . Pastoral leases exist in both Australian commonwealth law and state jurisdictions. They do not give all the rights that attach to freehold land: there are usually conditions which include a time period and
341-593: The Pilbara region. The property currently occupies an area of 385,000 ha (951,356 acres), including parts of the Fortescue River floodplain and the Chichester Range ; the homestead is situated near the northern boundary of the property about 50 km (31 mi) north of the ghost town of Wittenoom . Almost the entire area is covered by granted mining tenements or applications that are pending. The Cloud Break mine , operated by Fortescue Metals Group ,
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#1732898585662372-592: The Union Bank of Australia for £6,000. It was then put up for auction in 1898, advertised as embracing nearly 1,000,000 acres (404,686 ha) with 100 mi (161 km) double frontage to the Fortescue River. At the time only 150,000 acres (60,703 ha) were stocked with 18,000 sheep and 300 horses. Frank Wittenoom acquired Mulga Downs in the early 1900s. Wittenoom was in partnership with S.L. Burges and they suffered many problems with dingos through 1908, to
403-600: The iron ore deposits in the Hamersley Range . The station was isolated by floodwaters in 1947 when the station manager's son became ill. Lang Hancock rescued the boy in his plane, a Moth Minor , after the Royal Flying Doctor Service plane was thought to be too heavy to land safely. The property was still carrying sheep and producing wool in 1954, but later switched to cattle. In 1967 Mulga Downs encompassed an area of 750,000 acres (303,514 ha) and
434-548: The 1960s, where Hanwright secured 2.5 percent share in all iron ore sold from its Pilbara discoveries. The Hancock Group of Companies holds numerous iron ore leases in the Pilbara. The leases cover an area of 500 square kilometres (190 sq mi) predominantly in the Central Pilbara region and contain mineable reserves of Brockman and Marra Mamba ore of over 850 million tonnes (940 × 10 ^ short tons). Leases in
465-492: The Eastern Pilbara region contain mineable reserves of Marra Mamba ore of over 2 billion tonnes (2.2 × 10 ^ short tons), and over 500 million tonnes (550 × 10 ^ short tons) of ferruginous manganese in their Nicholas Downs Project , which is a joint venture with mining services company Mineral Resources . In 2011, the company was estimated to earn about A$ 870 million in revenue per year; based on
496-552: The cattle industry, acquiring 67% of S. Kidman & Co . In 2023, descendants of Peter Wright, via Wright Prospecting, commenced civil legal action against Hancock Prospecting in the WA Supreme Court . Wright Prospecting claimed that the agreement between Hancock and Wright included a division of certain Hanwright assets, assigning some to Wright Prospecting and others to Hancock Prospecting. Wright Prospecting sought its half of
527-402: The deal and the impact of the comments, pertaining to a genocide , by "poisoning" and "sterilising" Indigenous Australians to "solve the problem"; as well as concerns about the company's environmental record. In 1988 Lang Hancock established the Hope Margaret Hancock Trust, nominating Rinehart as trustee , with his four grandchildren named as beneficiaries . The Trust owns a quarter of
558-434: The lease has: Hancock Prospecting Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd is an Australian -owned mining and agricultural business run by Executive Chairwoman Gina Rinehart and CEO Garry Korte. At various stages of its trading history, the company has been known as Hancock Prospecting Ltd, Hancock Resources Ltd, Hanwright Pty Ltd, Hancock & Wright Ltd, and Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd
589-526: The leaseholder and the affected native title group. Australian jurisdictions have land management legislation that affects the administration of pastoral leases. As of November 2023 the legislation and management arrangements are as follows: The statutory provisions of pastoral leases are covered by the New Zealand Crown Pastoral Land Act 1998 and the Land Act 1948 . The holder of
620-419: The leases falls mainly to state and territory governments. Leases within state jurisdictions have variations as to applicability from state to state. Under Commonwealth of Australia law, applicable only in the Northern Territory , they are agreements that allow for the use of Crown land by farmers. Native title can co-exist with pastoral leases, and Indigenous land use agreements may be made between
651-635: The parties, the Court granted an interim non-publication order in September 2011. In making the interim order, Justice Paul Brereton stated: "This is not the first occasion of discord in the family, which has immense wealth, no small part of which resides in the trust. In the past, the affairs of the family, including such discord, has attracted considerable publicity in the media." Then, in a judgement handed down on 7 October 2011, Justice Brereton stated that he intended to dismiss an application by Rinehart, that there be
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#1732898585662682-523: The partnership's 2.5 percent in royalties — or 1.25 percent of all profits made, likely worth several hundred million dollars. Wright Prospecting also argued that Hope Downs 4, 5 and 6 was a shared Hanwright asset — worth billions of dollars. Hancock Prospecting significantly funds the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA), paying the IPA $ 2.3 million in financial year 2016 and $ 2.2 million in financial year 2017, which represents one-third to
713-404: The point where it was thought the station had been abandoned. They switched from sheep to cattle in 1909 then switched back again in 1910, stocking the property with 2,700 sheep in 1911 and adding more fencing and wells. The property was in decline from 1902 to 1915 when Wittenoom employed George Hancock as the manager. Hancock turned the fortunes of Mulga Downs around and Wittenoom rewarded him with
744-410: The racist views of founder Lang Hancock towards Indigenous Australians . Hancock is quoted as saying, In a 1984 television interview, Hancock suggested forcing unemployed indigenous Australians − specifically "the ones that are no good to themselves and who can't accept things, the half-castes" − to collect their welfare cheques from a central location. And when they had gravitated there, I would dope
775-548: The role of the Executive Chairwoman, she took over a company that was in a perilous financial position with significant debt and major assets mortgages and under threat of seizure. The history of Hancock Prospecting dates from the late 1930s when Hancock and Peter Wright , a former schoolmate, formed a partnership, named Hanwright. One of the partnership's early ventures was an asbestos mine at Wittenoom , Western Australia. Hanwright and Rio Tinto reached agreement in
806-474: The shares in Hancock Prospecting. In 2011 Rinehart's daughter, Hope Rinehart Welker, commenced a commercial action in the New South Wales Supreme Court for reasons understood to be related to the conduct of the trustee. The action sought to remove Rinehart as sole trustee. Her brother, John , and sister, Bianca, were later revealed as parties to the dispute. In an agreement reached between
837-450: The type of activity permitted. According to Austrade , such leases cover about 44% of mainland Australia (3,380,000 km (1,310,000 sq mi)), mostly in arid and semi-arid regions and the tropical savannahs . They usually allow people to use the land for grazing traditional livestock, but more recently have been also used for non-traditional livestock (such as kangaroos or camels ), tourism and other activities. Management of
868-488: The water up so that they were sterile and would breed themselves out in the future, and that would solve the problem." Executive Chairwonan of Hancock Prospecting, Gina Rinehart, caused controversy in 2022, when she failed to apologise for or denounce comments made by her late father in the 1984 television interview. Hancock Prospecting subsequently withdrew an A$ 15 million sponsorship from Netball Australia after Indigenous netballer Donnell Wallam voiced concerns about
899-407: Was carrying a flock of 3,200 sheep, 300 cattle and 230 horses. Improvements listed included having 30 wells, 70 mi (113 km) of fencing, and three secure sheep paddocks with numerous huts and sheds. The country was described as "first class mulga saltbush, cotton and blue bush, heavily grassed with weeping, silver plain, flinders and other grasses". In 1894 Burges and Sons sold Mulga Downs to
930-511: Was opposed by Hope, John and Bianca. A subsequent application by Rinehart for a non-publication order on the grounds of fear of personal and family safety was dismissed by the NSW Supreme Court on 2 February 2012. In March 2012, when the suppression order was lifted, it was revealed that Rinehart had delayed the vesting date of the trust, which had prompted the court action by her three older children. Rinehart stood down as trustee during
961-429: Was still owned by Lang Hancock and his sister. In 2006 large bushfires burnt across the Pilbara for over a week with over 150,000 ha (370,658 acres) of bushland and rangeland in and around the station being consumed. Approximately 6,500 head of branded cattle and 1,200 feral cattle were grazing the property in 2009, which had an annual turn-off of 3,500 head. In 2013 Hancock Prospecting lodged documents with