Gina Rinehart walks away from family court battle; Dwelling approvals slip in August: Midday Roundup

Mining billionaire Gina Rinehart has reportedly stepped away from the long-running feud with her children, which was due to go to trial next week.

Rinehart’s lawyer has told the New South Wales Supreme Court she wants to go to mediation to appoint a new trustee, according to Fairfax.

Her children, John Hancock and Bianca Rinehart, have been locked in the court battle since 2011, trying to remove their mother as the head of the trust.

It is not clear yet whether or not this will end the legal dispute, with the children’s lawyer saying issues still remained as to whether or not their mother’s actions came about from “her own misconduct”, as quoted by The Age.

Dwelling approvals slip in August

In August the number of dwelling units in Australia fell 4.7% in seasonally adjusted terms, despite the trend estimate increasing by 0.1%.

The decline is on the back of a 10.2% jump in dwelling unit approvals in July.

In the private sector, housing approvals slipped 1.4%, seasonally adjusted.

In Victoria, the trend estimate for the total number of dwelling unit approvals has fallen for 13 consecutive months, as in August it slipped a further 1.7%.

New South Wales dwelling unit approvals have been comparatively on the rise, showing steady growth for the past 19 months, and in August the trend estimate increased 1.1%.

Shares slightly higher on soft Wall Street leads

The Australian sharemarket has opened slightly higher this morning following a positive lead from the United States, where investors are still enduring the government shutdown as Congress remains in gridlock.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 10.8 points or 0.2% to 5217.6 at 11.45 AEST, while in the United States the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 62 points or 0.4% go 15,191.7.

The Australian dollar fell to US93 cents.