Article by Max Aitchinson courtesy of the Daily Mail.
Gina Rinehart gave away $100,000 tax-free raffle prizes to dozens of her staff at recent company parties – as an insider lifts the lid on her lavish 70th birthday bash.
The billionaire’s roughly 4,000 employees across her private company’s mining, energy and agricultural divisions, are all in with a chance of winning ‘life-changing’ sums of money at the firm’s black-tie events.
It’s understood that across the recent Christmas parties and Mrs Rinehart’s birthday bash in February, about 70 staff received a tax-free $100,000 prize – equivalent to $7million.
‘It’s like a station hand who works in rural Queensland who wins 100 grand after tax, like a crazy, life-changing thing to happen,’ one company insider revealed to Daily Mail Australia.
‘It really gets to the spirit of the way that she treats her employees as well, really trying to look after everyone, not just the very senior guys who are in head office in Perth.’
Last year, Hancock Prospecting posted a $5billion annual profit, cementing Mrs Rinehart as Australia’s richest person with an estimated net worth of $37billion.
The mining mogul celebrated with about 400 of her long-standing staff members by throwing a lavish black tie event last Thursday on the banks of the Swan River in Perth, featuring a horse show and performances by Guy Sebastian.
‘The guest list was primarily made up of employees. It wasn’t this wealthy politically-connected event,’ one attendee said.
That said, Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas was the MC for the occasion and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton flew in from Canberra to be there.
Guests were treated to a horse show with riders carrying the Australian and company flags along the red carpet.
The riders carried whips and were dressed in iconic coat-maker Driza-Bone, which Mrs Rinehart bought last year.
‘It was a huge, big sit down thing with loads of entertainment,’ the attendee added.
‘The horse riders came in at the beginning wearing their Rossi boots and carrying both the Australian flag and the company flags.
‘After their grand entrance, Guy Sebastian sang the national anthem and he came back a little bit later to sing another set.
‘It was actually an event to celebrate long service staff members combined with a birthday celebration for Mrs R and a lot of the other senior execs who have February birthdays.’
Many employees wore Rossi boots underneath their ballgowns and tuxes in a nod to Mrs Rinehart’s purchase of the company in December.
Staff in the Pilbara and elsewhere across Australia were able to beam in to the event.
So too were Mrs Rinehart’s ‘Cambodian daughters’ who shared an inspirational message.
Mrs Rinehart rescued nine Cambodian girls from poverty in 2009 and has paid for their education.
Buses left the venue around 10.30pm but it is understood senior executives partied on elsewhere.
One staff member described it as ‘the best night of my life’.
The attendee said Mrs Rinehart likes to reward loyalty and takes the opportunity to mix with her employees at the parties.
‘She’ll stand there and talk to people for hours afterwards, like a receptionist from Roy Hill or a truck driver or a diesel fitter, anyone who wants to come and talk to her,’ the attendee said.
