Bianca Rinehart accuses mother Gina of withholding information in bitter court battle; The Iconic puts drone delivery on the radar: Midday Roundup

Bianca Rinehart, daughter of Australia’s richest woman Gina Rinehart, has accused her mother of withholding information in court, amidst their ongoing legal dispute in the Federal Court over the family’s finances, according to Fairfax..

Bianca Rinehart yesterday told the court emails of hers now in the possession of Gina Rinehart’s legal teams were hacked and deleted, suggesting her mother took the documents.

“Recently all my emails have been deleted, which I didn’t do, and it’s not difficult to imagine who might have [and] in whose interests that would have been,” Rinehart said.

Bianca Rinehart claimed Hancock Prospecting had a policy of “withholding or providing sanitised information” to her and her brother, John Hancock.

“It’s very hard to get absolute versions of the truth out of the company,” Bianca Rinehart said.

According to the ABC, when Bianca Rinehart was asked if she was aware the allegation of deceptive conduct she made against her mother for allegedly withholding information was a very serious one, she quickly replied: “Yes, and I stand by it”.

The Iconic puts drone delivery on the radar

Fashion marketplace The Iconic could be delivering parcels to its customers via drones within two years, according to chief executive Patrick Schmidt.

Schmidt told Fairfax drone delivery is “something we are thinking about” as a way to maintain the company’s reputation as “pioneers or fast and flexible delivery”.

But Schmidt said The Iconic would obviously have to wait for drone delivery to be approved in Australia first.

“Delivery via drone is not yet regulated, so it probably depends on the legislators on whether that would be possible … but in the technology space, things happen fast, so you never know.”

Founded in 2011, The Iconic has become a regular inclusion in SmartCompany’s annual list of Australia’s top online retailers. The retailer turned over $31 million in 2013 and has amassed an impressive 500,000 Facebook fans and more than 80,000 followers on Instagram.

Shares down on open

Aussie shares have traded lower this morning, dropping below the 6000 index level.

Tristan K’Nell, head of trading at Quay Equities, said in a statement “a choppy Wall Street lead” was enough to keep the market subdued.

“The market could also be taking a breather after a couple of days of outperformance and also heading into the beginning of the [US] Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting, kicking off tonight,” K’Nell said.

The S&P/ASX 200 benchmark was down 19.3 points to 5963.4 points at 11.55am AEST. On Monday, the Dow Jones closed 42.17 points lower, down 0.23% to 18038 points.