Olivia Mead, daughter of mining heir Michael Wright no 'gold digger'

Olivia Mead, daughter of Michael Wright, the late mining magnate. Photo / News Corp

The late Australian mining heir Michael Wright bestowed very little on his youngest daughter, who is not a "gold digger" and deserves far more from his colossal fortune.

That was the upshot of a West Australian Supreme Court judgement that was largely delivered in print form yesterday and made for page-turning reading.

Not only was the amount Olivia Jacqueline Mead awarded breathtaking, so too were the insights the judgement gave into what life was like living on the fringe of WA's second-biggest mining dynasty.

The 19-year-old, the product of Mr Wright's relationship with Elizabeth Anne Mead after he divorced three earlier wives, is now set to receive $25 million in a lump sum.

That's a big improvement from waiting until she's 30 to get up to $3 million.

Notably, her two half-sisters Leonie Baldock and Alexandra Burt could each expect an income of $24 million a year "without touching" the $400 million they were both bequeathed if they invested it and got a reasonable rate of return of around 6.5 per cent, Master Craig Sanderson said.

Contrasting with the 'poor little rich girl' headlines the case has spawned, Master Sanderson also noted Ms Mead was "in no sense ... spoilt by her father".

"During her childhood the deceased provided little to the plaintiff or her mother in material support," he said.

"He did pay childcare as he was obliged to do under the relevant legislation.

"He paid for school fees for a private college and he provided the plaintiff with some pocket money. But really that was the extent of his largesse.

"Any gifts he gave the plaintiff were of nominal value.

"The deceased never purchased a home in which the plaintiff and her mother could live despite the fact they moved a number of times from one rented premises to another."

Master Sanderson said Ms Mead did not impress him as "a gold digger or in some way a narcissistic greedy individual" - despite some of the extraordinary items she was asked by lawyers and actuaries to list for her claim, specifying her likely expenditure for the rest of her life.

"That was a big task for a 19-year-old girl," Master Sanderson said.

Having a keen interest in music, she called for a diamond-encrusted Ritter Royal Flora Aurum bass guitar worth $250,000, which features a nut carved from 10,000-year-old mammoth ivory and a fingerboard decorated with a floral inlay pattern in 24-carat gold.

Each leaf is decorated with a black diamond set in platinum.

"No one needs a guitar of that value - particularly a 19-year-old girl who is not now and never will be a professional musician and who has not had guitar lessons for some years," Master Sanderson said.

"Faced with a question about what guitar she might like she let her imagination run wild.
"A 19-year-old boy in the same position would probably, when asked about a car, have nominated a Ferrari or a Lamborghini."

The judgement also indicated Mr Wright had avoided paying millions of dollars in "effectively, gift duty" by structuring his will the way he had.

He passed his assets tax-free to his nominated beneficiaries, including Ms Mead, which meant he accepted his statutory duty to her.

This enabled his youngest daughter to make a claim against his estate, which she could not have launched had he distributed his estate before his death.

- AAP