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March 20, 2026 — 6:00am
In this week’s On Background, Gina Rinehart’s estranged son takes aim at one of her media confidants, the Rajasthan Royals score a century and then some for Lachlan Murdoch, and KIIS FM could go in-house to replace Kyle Sandilands and Jackie “O” Henderson.
Battle of the high seas
One year ago, News Corp columnist Rita Panahi used her Sky News platform to label Gina Rinehart’s estranged son, John Hancock, a “man-child” and “spoiled brat with a chronic case of entitlement”.
He did not respond. But on Wednesday, Hancock, who lives overseas to give his family some distance from his Australian legal entanglements, found a golden opportunity.
This masthead had reported on Panahi’s 50th birthday party on a $25,000-a-day boat floating off the Florida coast, which one guest said was hosted by Rinehart.
“This ‘journalist’ calling me a ‘spoiled brat’ appears to have celebrated her 50th onboard a boat funded by Gina, complete with a ‘present table’, and wearing the hat after months of singing from Gina’s PR flacks’ songbook,” Hancock told On Background.
“In contrast, I pay for my own boat and parties with money I’ve earned – not Gina’s, the origins of which are currently before the courts.
“Australians have a great radar for irony – here it writes itself.”
Hancock is no impartial player in this saga. He and one of his sisters are engaged in a bitter legal dispute with their mother over the Hope Margaret Hancock Trust, established by Rinehart’s father, Lang Hancock. The origins of the dispute date back two decades, and a decision on that matter is expected within weeks.
And in a reference to One Nation leader Pauline Hanson’s extensive use of Rinehart’s private plane, Hancock questioned whether it was just the boat party that appeared to have been gifted to the Sky News host.
“Did Gina also pay for the flights? Was it on the company jet? And what further personal comments are expected in return?” he asked.
News Corp’s standards of business conduct state no employee should accept gifts or hospitality unless they have a business purpose and are “clearly appropriate in the context of a reasonable business relationship”.
Staff should also “refuse or return any gift, even a minor one, which appears to be given for the purpose of or with an expectation of reward or influence”.
Panahi, News Corp, Sky, Sky CEO Paul Whittaker, Herald Sun editor Sam Weir and representatives for Rinehart were all approached for comment. None responded.
The attention has not stopped Panahi pronouncing on propriety in the media. On Thursday, she was taking aim at the “pile-on” by reporters and commentators who covered the Hawthorn racism saga in 2022, saying they had “abandoned any pretence of fairness” and should “feel eternal shame”.
Uh huh, but aren’t there some questions for Panahi on ethics a bit closer to home?
Royal flush
Lachlan Murdoch needs all the liquidity he can get at the moment after committing $US3.3 billion ($5 billion) to paying out his siblings in return for total control of the Murdoch family empire last year.
And while he can’t keep selling off his shares in News and Fox Corp at the risk of further weakening his control over other shareholders, he does have a few other bits and pieces to flog.
Lucky for him, he’s in line for a pretty hefty, well-timed windfall, with a sale of the IPL’s Rajasthan Royals in the region of $1.8 billion, according to reports in India.
Murdoch took an 11.7 per cent stake in the Royals in 2008 for $US7.8 million as part of a consortium which bought the team for $US67 million. It was one of Murdoch’s first investments when he struck out on his own, and he upped his stake to 13 per cent in the intervening years.
Should the Royals’ sale go through to a consortium involving a local billionaire, buyout group KKR and Singapore’s state investment fund Temasek as reported, it would be a return for Murdoch in the region of $238 million, or close to 2000 per cent. Fair play to Murdoch the younger.
Breakfast heartbreak
The rumour mill is abuzz with claims about who will replace Kyle Sandilands and Jackie Henderson on KIIS FM.
The hot tip, apparently, is to not look too far. It could well be the station’s drive slot duo, Will McMahon and Woody Whitelaw (of the adventurously named show Will & Woody), as the company looks to save pennies before shifting back to city-specific shows.
ARN sources told On Background this week not to expect any big swings from the company while it waits for Sandilands to sue, and then for the matter to play out in court. That could take years!
After getting rid of other shows on the KIIS network already to pay for the recently departed duo, ARN has a clean slate. Though perhaps it is not so clean. Mike E, a current fill-in host, infamously wore a nappy and urinated live on air in 2021. So far, so Sandilands.
Anyway, ARN need not worry because it has the ever-trusty Christian O’Connell to settle the ship, launching his much more brand-safe show into the company’s GOLD network in Sydney this year.
Alas, there too things haven’t gone to plan. The Sydney show’s first radio ratings survey numbers, out on Thursday, have gone the way of Sandilands and Henderson in Melbourne. In other words, not well.
The Christian O’Connell Show dropped from a very respectable 9.7 per cent share at breakfast to 6.1 per cent in just one survey. Keep in mind it’s early days and one survey isn’t the be all and end all. But it ain’t a good start.
O’Connell’s contract only runs until the end of 2029, so maybe there won’t be any need for “serious misconduct” allegations this time.
Stars and strikes
It’s coming down to the wire in the ABC’s enterprise bargaining process. The two unions representing staff – the MEAA and CPSU – have both notified the ABC of staff intentions to walk off the job next Wednesday for 24 hours as they push for a better pay offer.
But the ABC already has one on the table, with voting open until Sunday at 2pm. The previous offer failed by only a narrow margin, and this one comes with a $1000 bonus on top.
The word around the traps is that ABC managing director Hugh Marks has been flagging the constrained environment for public service bodies as justification for a 10 per cent pay rise over three years, whereas the unions are clamouring for more in a time of high inflation.
If that walkout happens, the ABC will be without hundreds of journalists and radio presenters at a time when the news cycle won’t wait for 24 hours. We’ll wait until Monday to see how the vote lands.
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