An Aboriginal woman who believes she is Gina Rinehart’s niece is making a public appeal for Australia’s richest person to take a DNA test to establish their potential family connection. Naydene Robinson, whose mother Sella Robinson claimed to have been fathered by Lang Hancock at Mulga Downs station in the 1930s, hopes to resolve decades-old questions about her family’s links to the mining dynasty.
The request comes as part of ongoing revelations about Lang Hancock’s alleged relationships with Indigenous women at the remote Pilbara station, where Sella’s mother worked as a musterer and domestic laborer. Robinson’s appeal represents more than just a quest for recognition—it’s a call for acknowledgment of a complex colonial history that intertwines Australia’s mining wealth with the experiences of Aboriginal families affected by government removal policies.
A Family Connection Spanning Generations
Robinson’s mother, Sella Robinson, was born in 1932 and claimed throughout her life that Lang Hancock was her father. Sella worked alongside her mother at Mulga Downs station, where the Hancock family built their pastoral empire before discovering the iron ore deposits that would make them Australia’s wealthiest mining dynasty. The station, located in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, has been central to the Hancock family’s operations for nearly a century, with Lang Hancock taking over management from his father George in 1935.
Robinson describes her request as coming from a place of “sincere respect,” seeking what she calls an “amicable settlement” that would recognize her mother as Hancock’s child and therefore Rinehart’s half-sister. She emphasizes that the family doesn’t want to be regarded as “charity cases” but rather seeks acknowledgment of their rightful place in the Hancock family history.
Government Documents Reveal Hancock’s Intervention
Previously unreported government documents obtained from Western Australian state archives have shed new light on the claims. These documents show that in 1940, when Sella Robinson and another girl, Minnit Doris, were forcibly removed from Mulga Downs station under government policies that created the Stolen Generations, Lang Hancock wrote a “furious” letter to authorities demanding their return.
In his October 1940 correspondence to the Western Australian minister for the north-west, Hancock described how “the local police officer and Inspector ran down and captured two half-caste children who were decently clothed and fed, and cruelly took them from their mothers.” He even suggested swapping the children for other “starving mites,” demonstrating his determination to have them returned to the station.
The girls were ultimately taken to Moore River Native Settlement, one of Western Australia’s largest Aboriginal missions, where children from across the state were held in poor conditions. Robinson points to Hancock’s intervention as evidence of a special relationship, wondering what might have happened if her mother had been allowed to remain at Mulga Downs and potentially inherit property rights.
Calls for Land Return and Recognition
Beyond seeking family recognition, Robinson is advocating for Mulga Downs Station to be returned to the Banjima people, who hold native title over the area but face restrictions in accessing the vast property covering nearly 400,000 hectares. She describes this as fulfilling her mother’s wishes and acknowledging that “it is rightfully Banjima country” with connections spanning at least 60,000 years.
A Hancock Prospecting spokesperson responded that the company has agreements with the Banjima people and has already given sections of Mulga Downs to Indigenous communities, including land for the Youngaleena community. The spokesperson emphasized the company’s commitment to working collaboratively with traditional owners while noting that most of the station now houses mining tenements and related infrastructure.
Historical Context of Exploitation
The documents also reveal broader government concerns about alleged sexual relationships between white station workers and Aboriginal women at Mulga Downs during the early 20th century. Under the state’s Native Administration Act, such relationships were illegal, yet correspondence suggests they were common.
University of Newcastle Professor Victoria Haskins, who has extensively researched Aboriginal women in domestic service, describes the era as “a real sexual frontier” where Aboriginal women had “no power to say no” due to extreme power imbalances. This historical context adds weight to Robinson’s calls for truth-telling and reconciliation.
Robinson frames her request as part of Australia’s broader need to confront its colonial history: “We all should have an obligation to revisit our history, and accept our past for what it is, to focus on reconciliation.” Whether Rinehart will respond to the DNA test request remains to be seen, but Robinson says she will respect whatever decision is made while continuing to honor her mother’s memory and wishes.