Gina Rinehart pulls out of buying $50m Great Keppel Island

We’ve all dreamed of owning our own private island, but for some reason, no one wants to snap up this slice of paradise.

We’ve all dreamed of owning our own private island, but for some reason, no one wants to snap up this slice of paradise.

Gina Rinehart has pulled out of buying a resort on Queensland’s idyllic Great Keppel Island for a rumoured $50million.

According to The Australian, GKI Investments, which is owned by billionaire mining magnate Ms Rinehart, pulled out without citing a specific reason.

Great Keppel Island, off the coast of Queensland

Gina Rinehart has pulled out of buying a resort on the island. Picture: Richard Walker

However, industry insiders say a number of factors may have lead to Australia’s richest woman backing out of buying the resort, which has been on and off the market for more than 10 years.

“It’s a truly stunning part of the world but extensive island developments have not worked,” one source told News Corp.

“They also have a bad record with cyclones and all the other stuff. Let’s face it, there’s only ever going to be one Hamilton Island and no one has the fortitude to try and do another.”

“We hope to be able to make it better than it has ever been, with a world class year round beach club, sandy bars, shopping and more experiences circling around a marina modelled after successful marinas like Puerto Banus,” she said. ”We envision a year round swimmable beach club and an underwater bar being able to bring the benefits of overseas tourism to Australia.”

In January, Ms Rinehart sold off nearly four million hectares of land, with several cattle stations across Western Australia and South Australia going to new owners.