CITIZEN RINEHART: Australia’s government said that fears the country’s richest person, Gina Rinehart will use her growing stake in a major newspaper publisher to push her own agenda. Rinehart is a mining magnate whom Forbes magazine estimated in March was worth $18 billion.
TAX TO GRIND: Rinehart is a vocal critic of a government plan to impose a 30 percent tax on the burgeoning profits of iron ore and coal miners. She is also opposed to a 23 Australian dollar ($23) tax that Australia’s worst industrial polluters will have to pay for every metric ton of carbon dioxide they emit.
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THE SOAP BOX: Fairfax newspapers reported that Rinehart, Fairfax’s largest shareholder, wants three seats on its board of directors, including the deputy chairman’s role plus the right to make significant editorial decisions. If true, the demands are in conflict with traditional Fairfax board protocol that directors not interfere with editorial decisions and a charter of editorial independence that has been honored since 1992.
