Bob Hawke’s daughter, Rosslyn Dillon, demanded $4.2 million from his widow, Blanche d’Alpuget, after her father died, but secured just $50,000 after legal fees, according to a bombshell biography.
News.com.au can reveal the deal over Bob Hawke’s will was brokered in secret by Labor powerbroker Graham Richardson’s wife, Amanda Richardson, and not Ms Dillon’s legal team at the time.
Mr Richardson, a long time friend of Ms Dillon known as “the Fixer” during his time as a Labor frontbencher and ALP powerbroker, was also involved in the secret negotiations.
Mrs Richardson, who was friends with both Mr Hawke’s daughter Rosslyn Dillon and Blanche d’Alpuget, stepped in to broker the deal as his widow was in hospital undergoing surgery for breast cancer.
Her intervention then triggered a legal battle over costs associated with Ms Dillon’s lawyers fees to run the challenge to the will, which was resolved in Mr Hawke’s daughter’s favour.
This substantially reduced the costs she was ultimately required to pay for the high-profile estate battle.
The Richardson family stepped in to help Ms Dillon to resolve the ugly legal battle because they believed “everyone needs someone in their corner in life”.
Mr Hawke’s estate was administered by veteran Labor lawyer Ian Roberson, who gave evidence at ICAC into Chinese donations to the ALP.
Ms d’Alpuget’s own costs are not known. But even after the legal costs were reduced, the substantial sum meant Ms Dillon received just $50,000 extra from the multimillion-dollar estate.
Stream your news live & on demand with Flash. From CNN International, Al Jazeera, Sky News, BBC World, CNBC & more. New to Flash? Try 1 month free. Offer ends 31 October, 2022 >
The former heroin addict, who previously revealed she was living off welfare despite the sale of her father’s home for $14 million, hit his estate in a legal claim after his death for a fairer share.
However, Mr Hawke’s widow reveals in the new book, Demons and Destiny by Troy Bramston, that she paid her stepdaughter just “$50,000 to stop it going to court because I knew … she would be torn to pieces.”
“The legal row between Rosslyn and Blanche was settled out of court on 21 May 2020, almost a year to the day since Bob’s death,’’ Bramston writes.
“Rosslyn asked for $4.2 million but settled for the $750,000 already provided for in the deed of agreement and an additional sum of just $150,000. ‘I paid Ros $50,000 to stop it going to court because I knew if it went to court, she would be torn to pieces and I wanted to save her from that,’ Blanche explained.
“I also paid $100,000 towards her very high legal costs. So, I paid out $150,000 to Ros.”
What is not revealed in the new biography is the secret intervention by Graham Richardson and his wife, Amanda to end the bad blood between Mr Hawke’s widow and daughter.
The former prime minister’s daughter also revealed as part of that estate claim that she had complained of being raped by a Labor MP in the 1980s and claimed her father told her not to go to the police.
Her sister, Sue Pieters-Hawke, confirmed she confided to her about the rape allegation at the time but rejected suggestions her father was not sympathetic suggesting he had dealt with the matter in other ways.
His widow said that the former prime minister believed he had provided for his children all their adult life.
But he did not provide for them in his final will and testament.
Instead, he set out a deed of agreement in 2009 to provide all of his children Susan, Stephen, Rosslyn and his stepson Louis to each receive $750,000 from the sale of the Northbridge property upon his death.
“He made a will on 11 April 2016, which gave Blanche ‘absolute discretion’ to distribute a range of personal items to his children and she would inherit the rest of the estate,’’ Bramston writes.
“After Bob’s death, Blanche wrote to Susan, Stephen, Rosslyn and Louis to inform them about the $750,000 payment. ‘I hope you agree that Bob and I have provided what we believe will allow you to feel confident and happy – and that you will be kind and loving to each other,’ she wrote. ‘Bob’s life was long. Ours may be much shorter – too short for any bitterness to spoil it.’
Ms d’Alpuget told his biographer that Mr Hawke felt ‘he had provided very well for them as children and in their adult life’.
“Bob and Blanche’s palatial Northbridge home was sold for $14.5 million on 22 March 2019,’’ he writes.
“They planned to downsize to an apartment in Sydney’s CBD overlooking Hyde Park, which was purchased for $3.63 million off the plan in 2015. Blanche moved there after Hawke’s death. Hawke’s entire estate was reportedly valued at $18 million – a figure disputed by Blanche.”
Ms Dillon’s original 25-page affidavit outlined her struggles with depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and agoraphobia.
She revealed that she was now reliant on welfare despite the fact her father sold the family home shortly before his death for $14 million.
But Ms Dillon raised concerns that the $750,000 lump sum is not enough to purchase a house in Sydney and would simply reduce her pension. She also asked for $30,000 from the estate to pay for dental implants.
“I have no teeth of my own in my mouth,” she said.
“I had them all removed around five years ago at a cost of $8,000. I do have dentures, however they are uncomfortable and cause me pain. I cannot afford to have them replaced.”
The list of claims, outlined in documents lodged with the NSW Supreme Court, reveals she survives on welfare, but the amount she receives is less than the weekly rent her son helps to pay for her one-bedroom flat.
“I receive the government support pension. It is my only income,” her affidavit stated.
More Coverage
She listed her own assets as just $21,000. The majority of that was $14,000 in Ansett superannuation from her work running a VIP lounge in Canberra in the 1980s. She also had $6000 in a bank account.
She described the small apartment where she lives in Sydney as in poor repair and cockroach-infested.
Ms Dillon had requested a sum of $2.5 million to purchase a home in Sydney’s eastern suburbs where she could welcome her sons and grandchildren.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7r7HWrGWcp51jrrZ7xaKlmqaTmnyuu82esGian5d6qa3WpJysZZSWwqi0056pZqqfqMCtxc1mm6KknKS7brPOrWSjraOpenZ8ymacsayilnqistOeqWZsnWKytMDArZxmnJWirq%2BwjqecsKtdqMGwvthomW9uYZiweITDamyca2GYrnF%2FxZxon3BmmIR4g8FrmXE%3D