Half of Gina Rinehart’s wealth may go to charity; Fair Work scraps Grill’d wage agreement: Midday Roundup

Half of mining magnate Gina Rinehart’s wealth may go to charity if a settlement with her children over access to the family’s fortune goes ahead.

John Hancock told The Australian he and his mother have decided the money should go to an Australian charity with a focus on northern Australia.

“I have endeavoured for years to come to a global settlement, ­including succession issues and how things including a charitable foundation will look in the future,” Hancock said.

“Some of these ideas have ­already been acted upon — such as her agricultural investments and her recently established Georgina Hope Foundation (which is supporting swimming in Australia).”

Fair Work scraps Grill’d wage agreement

A low-paying wage agreement at Grill’d Camberwell will be scrapped within 60 days following a Fair Work Commission ruling.

The commission ruled in favour of the workers yesterday and the decision will mean pay rates at the Camberwell franchise will increase from current wages, which range between $9.50 and $17.50.

The ruling follows worker Kahlani Pyrah’s unfair dismissal case against the employer for sacking her for questioning the rate of pay.

Pyrah’s lawyers told the commission the ruling was an “enormous win” for the workers.

The new workplace agreement will be replaced with award entitlements unless a better paying deal is struck with workers sooner.

Lawyers for the business told the commission Grill’d will start renegotiating pay and conditions and hoped to reach a new deal before the end of September.

Shares up on open

Aussie shares are trading slightly higher today, shrugging off a weak performance from Wall Street.

Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, said the local market will today hinge on resources stocks rather than international markets.

“With relatively neutral leads from offshore equity markets overnight, the direction of the ASX 200 index today is likely to be influenced by resource stocks,” Spooner said.

“Major mining and energy stocks have enjoyed a good recovery over the past couple of days on the back of relief that commodity prices have stopped falling. However, the commodity price rally stalled last night leaving open the question of whether strong buying support for resource stocks can be sustained today.”

The S&P/ASX200 benchmark was up 0.31%, rising 17.5 points to 5687 points at 11.49am AEST. On Thursday, the Dow Jones closed down 0.03%, falling 5.41 points to 17,745.98.