Olivia Mead breaks her silence on battle for mining family fortune

SHE was the forgotten daughter of a mining magnate. Now she’s claimed a slice of the family fortune, and broken her silence.

SHE’S the softly spoken, media-shy mining heiress who’s just come out of an epic court battle over the family fortune. And now she has opened up about the tough-loving, hard taskmaster father she had to prove herself to in order to eventually take her share in his riches.

We’re not talking about Gina Rinehart’s legal battles — but the story is eerily similar.

Pilbara teenager Olivia Mead was awarded $25 million when the West Australian Supreme Court ruled her father, mining magnate Michael Wright, did not make adequate provision for her in his will.

Michael is the son of Peter Wright, who formed Hancock Prospecting and Wright Prospecting with iron ore magnate Lang Hancock in the 1950s. Together, they made their millions.

Michael Wright, Olivia Mead’s late father. Picture: Colin Murty

When Peter died in 1985, a $900 million fortune was left to Michael and another daughter. Michael also snagged another $1 billion from Ms Rinehart after she was forced to give up a share in another Pilbara mine their fathers ran together.

And although the billionaire businessman lived comfortably and provided well for his three eldest children until his death in 2012, a fourth “secret” daughter went without.

“There were a lot of times I thought he could help us out a bit,” Olivia tells Seven’s Sunday Night. Olivia’s mother said he paid the “bare minimum”, in terms of child support. “He paid exactly what he had to pay for.”

But earlier this year, Ms Mead entered into a gruelling court battle that saw the teenager pitted against the Wright family.

Her successful argument for a greater share in her father’s estate saw her claim a $25 million inheritance.

Now the forgotten mining heiress has broken her silence about her court battle and complicated childhood in an interview with Seven’s Sunday Night.

“He was very intimidating,” she says of her late father.

And when asked about whether her dad was there for her, the unforgiving teenager is firm.

“No, he wasn’t there for me.

“He wasn’t the best father. I think it was hard for him to interact with someone so young and it was never the typical affectionate daughter father type thing,” she says.

“He wasn’t there for me.”

Sitting down with journalist Steve Pennells, Ms Mead opened up about her difficulties going through a public court case, and going up against an extraordinarily wealthy family.

The media focused on her “list” of demands for her inheritance that included a diamond-encrusted bass guitar worth $250,000, a house almost five times the Perth average price, $10,000 a year to spend on fashion accessories, and a $US1.2 million limited edition, crystal-studded Kuhn Bosendorfer grand piano. The judge said in his ruling that some of the items were “clearly fanciful.”

“They were making her out to be a gold digger, or a spoilt child,” said Olivia’s mother, “She was spoilt with time, but not with possessions,” she said.

"It was a list with no limits" Olivia was criticised for her 'list of demands' - but says it was far from the truth http://t.co/o2xrty2Brd

— sunday night (@sundaynighton7) July 12, 2015

"They were making her out to be a gold digger or a spoilt child." Media coverage of the case was harsh #OliviaMead http://t.co/8QD37WT2z4

— sunday night (@sundaynighton7) July 12, 2015

Olivia breaks her silence months after the battle for her inheritance, but the war is not yet won for Ms Mead who tells of her continued fight the Wright family for her fortune, and for respect.

“For everyone to think that your dad was ashamed to have you ...” she says.

Ms Mead had lived a relatively normal life, studying public relations at a Perth university and working in a supermarket before taking on the Wright family over the support she was denied.

She had a modest upbringing, living with her mother Elizabeth Anne Mead with limited support from her father Michael Wright.

His relationship with Ms Mead’s mother followed three divorces. After they split, he played no significant role in either of the women’s lives.

Olivia’s mother Elizabeth has also been interviewed.

In February this year, West Australian Supreme Court Master Craig Sanderson found Ms Mead was “in no sense … spoiled by her father”.

He had paid her school fees and given her some pocket money, but never gave his daughter extravagant gifts or bought a home her and her mum to live in as they moved from rental home to rental home.

After he died in 2012, Wright’s family’s worth was estimated by Business Review Weekly at $1.53 billion.

In his will, Ms Mead was assigned a bequest of only $3 million with onerous conditions. If she was convicted of drink-driving or marijuana possession, she could be excluded as a beneficiary, Master Sanderson pointed out as he delivered his ruling on the case.

He said the “most egregious of all the provisions” was the “extraordinary proposition” that Ms Mead would be excluded if she “converted to Buddhism, or perhaps Islam”.

Even if she complied with all of the provisions she wouldn’t see a cent until she turned 30.

Olivia Mead’s battle against he Wright family played out publicly in court.

“For a long time I thought that maybe he didn’t love me,” says Olivia when asked how she felt about the details of her will.

“He was a strange man. To be honest I can’t tell you why he would do that.”

Olivia’s mother however believe it all comes down to control.

“He loved the fact that he could control everything. He’d say it was character building. He fully expected Olivia to fight for anything she was going to get.”

After arguing that her father did not make adequate provision for her in his will, the West Australian Supreme Court agreed with her, awarding her a lump-sum payment of $25 million, believed to be the biggest court-ordered payout from an estate in Australian history.

But the decision was far from final with an appeal lodged by lawyers for Wright’s estate. She’s been paid $3 million, but it’s up to WA’s Court of Appeal whether the remaining $22 million will be handed over.

In handing down his ruling, Master Sanderson said it was not about “fairness”, nor was it about compensating Ms Mead for Wright’s “limitations as a father”.

When asked how she celebrated her win, Olivia said it was nothing special.

“We went to the pub after. We had a glass of the cheapest champagne there was — it was flat. We had lunch, we went and picked up my niece from school. That’s how you celebrate it. With a flat glass of champagne,” she tells Sunday Night.