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As racist comments made by mining magnate Lang Hancock, Gina Rinehart’s late father, become the focus of a sporting scandal, another aspect of the story has been forgotten – the matter of his alleged illegitimate Indigenous daughter.

Hancock’s 38-year-old remarks about Aboriginal people needing to be ‘sterilised’  saw Diamonds players take issue with a $15million sponsorship deal offered by Rinehart to debt-ridden Netball Australia.

In the increasingly politicised world of sport, the deal was blown up after netballers raised concerns about wearing his company’s name on their uniform, with Mrs Rinehart accused players of ‘virtue-signalling’ and rescinding the offer. 

But behind closed doors, the family’s history is even more turbulent. 

For years until her death in 2020, Indigenous elder Hilda Kickett fought to be recognised as Mr Hancock’s illegitimate daughter after he had a relationship with her mother, who worked on his station in outback WA.

And Mrs Kickett was not alone. In 2012, she claimed she had met seven other of Mr Hancock’s secret love children. 

While Mrs Rinehart has never addressed the claims, the accusations of Hancock’s extramarital offspring have plagued Australia’s richest woman and her descendants for three decades. 

Lang Hancock, pictured with his second wife Rose Porteous, gave an infamous TV interview where he proposed sterilising Indigenous people who would not accept white 'civilisation'

Lang Hancock, pictured with his second wife Rose Porteous, gave an infamous TV interview where he proposed sterilising Indigenous people who would not accept white ‘civilisation’

Hilda Kickett (pictured) claimed she was the love child of Lang Hancock and his family's Indigenous cook

Hilda Kickett (pictured) claimed she was the love child of Lang Hancock and his family’s Indigenous cook 

In the 1940s, Mrs Kickett’s mother Kathleen gave birth to her on Hancock’s outback property, Mulga Downs Station, in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, where she was employed as a cook. 

Mrs Kickett claimed her mother told her Mr Hancock, who was aged 39 around the time of her birth, was her biological dad. 

She was later removed from her family as part of the Stolen Generation and raised in a Perth orphanage. 

However, Mrs Kickett – who long maintained that Mr Hancock recognised her as a daughter although she was not listed in his will – said he went out of his way to ensure she was looked after during those dark times. 

‘I had nothing but the best. I had shoes, I would get three or four, or sometimes 10 pairs of shoes. But I used to share it out to all the girls because they had nothing,’ she told News Corp in 2012. 

Mr Hancock went on to have one child, Mrs Rinehart, in 1958, with his second wife Hope. 

Mrs Kickett said one of her fondest memories with her father was spending a week at his home on Swan River, playing with her two-year-old half sister, who was ten years her junior. 

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‘We used to play on the river. He used to flick water. Gina was in this big blessed pram, I used to get her out and put her in the water, just put her to soak,’ she said. 

Rose Porteous, Mr Hancock’s third wife and widow at the time of his death in 1992, accepted Mrs Kickett as his child, telling media in 2009 her husband had admitted she was his daughter. 

Lang Hancock pictured with his daughter Gina Rinehart. Ms Rinehart was his only child from his three marriages

Lang Hancock pictured with his daughter Gina Rinehart. Ms Rinehart was his only child from his three marriages 

Mrs Kickett claimed she spent time on Mr Hancock's property as a child with her 'half-sister' Gina Rinehart (pictured)

Mrs Kickett claimed she spent time on Mr Hancock’s property as a child with her ‘half-sister’ Gina Rinehart (pictured)

Pictured: a mailbox at the Mulga Downs Station in outback WA, where Mrs Kickett was born

Pictured: a mailbox at the Mulga Downs Station in outback WA, where Mrs Kickett was born 

The station is located in the Pilbara region, in Western Australia's northwest

The station is located in the Pilbara region, in Western Australia’s northwest 

However, to the wider public, Mr Hancock displayed a callous attitude towards Aboriginal people – once referring to those who were part Indigenous as ‘no good half castes’. 

In another instance, in a now-infamous 1984 interview deal he proposed dealing with unemployed Aboriginal people by ‘(doping) the water up so that they were sterile and would breed themselves out in the future’.

He also completely dismissed land claims by Indigenous people, saying: ‘The question of Aboriginal land rights and things of this nature shouldn’t exist.’ 

Despite the cruel comments, Mrs Kickett jumped to Mr Hancock’s defence, saying he showed a softer side behind closed doors, citing how he used to send her gifts. 

‘People took him the wrong way in a lot of things,’ she told the Daily Telegraph in 2012.

Mrs Kickett, who later lived in Geraldton, also claimed many of Mr Hancock’s part Aboriginal grandchildren – offspring of seven of his other suspected love children – benefited from his companies, as they worked in his mines in the state’s northwest. 

She also boasted about the generosity of Mrs Rinehart’s children – nephew John, 36, nieces Bianca, 33, Hope, 26, and Ginia, 25 – who she said called her ‘aunty’.

Hilda Kickett (pictured) gave a series of interviews in the three decades leading up to her death in 2020, maintaining she was Mr Hancock's love child

Hilda Kickett (pictured) gave a series of interviews in the three decades leading up to her death in 2020, maintaining she was Mr Hancock’s love child 

Ms Robinson's daughter Naydene (pictured) detailed her mother's claim in an interview in 2014

Ms Robinson’s daughter Naydene (pictured) detailed her mother’s claim in an interview in 2014 

Mrs Rinehart accused Netball Australia of 'virtue signalling' and pulled the plug on her massive $15million sponsorship on Saturday

Donnell Wallam was then reportedly prepared to wear the logo on the jersey when she made her debut for the national netball team during their match against England

Mrs Rinehart accused Netball Australia of ‘virtue signalling’ as she announced the partnership had been axed 

‘The thing is, who they are – they’re privileged to be who they are and they should never move away from that. But they are so down to earth. They’ve been out there, they know what it is all about,’ she said. 

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In July 2012, she claimed to have DNA evidence linking her to the Hancock family, but declined to provide documentation.  

Days later, John Hancock disputed that the family had tendered a DNA test, saying he had only met her twice and called a few other senior Aboriginal women ‘aunty’ as a form of endearment. 

‘My mother and others who I’ve spoken with who knew Lang well were of the view that Hilda is not Lang’s daughter,’ he told A Current Affair in July 2012.

‘I made the offer of a DNA test but I’ve never given one, nor did I hear anything back from Hilda.’

While Mrs Kickett never presented DNA to support her claims, others close to Mr Hancock said the pair had uncanny similarities.

Ms Porteous, who had once been close to Mrs Kickett before losing touch in the early 2000s, said she bore a striking resemblance to her husband.

‘If you put glasses on her [like Hancock used to wear], which I did when she came to my home, and I couldn’t believe it,’ she told the West Australian in 2009. 

‘I said, ”Sorry, but you are not very pretty, because my husband was not a pretty man”.

Donnell Wallam (pictured) raised concerns about wearing a dress with the Hancock Prospecting logo due to the founder's previous racist comments

Donnell Wallam (pictured) raised concerns about wearing a dress with the Hancock Prospecting logo due to the founder’s previous racist comments

The offensive comment that sparked Netball Australia fallout 

In a 1984 television interview, Mr Hancock made a shocking statement about Indigenous Australians.

‘The ones that are no good to themselves and can’t accept things, the half-castes -and this is where most of the trouble comes,’ Mr Hancock said in the 1984 documentary film Couldn’t Be Fairer.

‘I would dope the water up so that they were sterile and would breed themselves out in future and that would solve the problem.’

Mr Hancock died in 1992 at the age of 82, and said Indigenous Australians who had been ‘assimilated’ should be left alone.

‘Those that have been assimilated into, you know, earning good living or earning wages amongst the civilised areas,’ he said. 

‘Those that have been accepted into society and they have accepted society and can handle society, I’d leave them well alone.’

 

‘It is just very sad.’

Alongside Mrs Kickett, Stella Robinson was another of Mr Hancock’s alleged love children who was vocal with her claims. 

Ms Robinson came forward in 1992 – just weeks after Mrs Kickett – alleging Mr Hancock impregnated her mother Gurtie, another worker on the Hancock’s station, when he was just 22. 

Born in 1932, Ms Robinson, who was also part of the Stolen Generation, believed she was Mr Hancock’s first child after being told so by relatives later in life. 

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‘I remember Lang as a young man and George [his dad] and his wife. We used to live and camp on the station in a back shed,’ she told a newspaper in 1992. 

‘I [wish] I could have gone in and had a talk to him when he was alive. He could have refused me, but he was my father and he is dead now and I never even went near him.’ 

Like Mrs Kickett’s initial claim just weeks prior, Ms Robinson’s allegation was rejected at the time by the Hancock family lawyer Alan Camp. 

Her claims resurfaced again in 2014 when her daughter Naydene reiterated the allegations in an interview with anthropologist Dr Bill Day. 

The Australia Diamonds pose for a photo in the UK as they attended the Birmingham Commonwealth games earlier this year

The Australia Diamonds pose for a photo in the UK as they attended the Birmingham Commonwealth games earlier this year 

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Hancock Prospecting for comment. 

Mr Hancock was thrust into the spotlight this month after the mining company bearing his name tore up a sponsorship deal for Netball Australia after Indigenous player Donnell Wallam raised concerns about wearing the logo.

Hancock Prospecting’s $15million partnership, signed just four weeks earlier, was set to be a major boost to the organisation, which posted a $4.4million debt in 2021.

Wallam expressed hesitations about wearing the logo on her dress in her debut game for the Australia Diamonds in the England Series this week due to the company founder’s racist comments in 1984. 

Despite agreeing to go ahead with wearing the logo, Hancock Prospecting shockingly pulled the plug on the deal on Saturday in a statement slamming sportspeople for ‘virtue signalling’. 

Rinehart majority-owned mining business Roy Hill concurrently announced it was also scrapping a recently signed contract to sponsor WA Netball, with both deals set to last until 2025. 

The mining companies have offered to continue sponsoring the organisations for four months while new partnerships are arranged. 

Who is netball’s Donnell Wallam? 

Donnell Wallam is the third Indigenous netball player to represent Australia. 

Wallam is a proud Noongar woman from Korijekup (Harvey) in Western Australia’s south west.

She began her career overseas after landing a two year contract with All Leeds Rhinos in the UK Netball Superleague.

Wallam later returned to Australia where she was contracted to play for the Queensland Firebirds. 

She made her debut with the Diamonds national netball team last week.

Her debut has been overshadowed by revelations she asked to be exempt from wearing the logo of Gina Rinehart’s mining company Hancock Prospecting.  

 

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