Revealed: ABC's private email to Gina Rinehart about its 'regret' after it aired graphic assault fantasy about Australia's richest woman

By MAISY RAE - NEWS REPORTER and CAITLIN POWELL - NEWS REPORTER Published: 07:21, 12 August 2026 | Updated: 07:23, 12 August 2026 The ABC Ombudsman's office sent Gina Rinehart an email saying 'we regret that this content did not meet your expectations' - in reference to a segment that described graphically assaulting Australia's richest person with a stick. The ABC's filmmaking competition, Race Around the World, sparked outrage on July 12 when it broadcast a movie by aspiring filmmaker Kate McGuinness that described assaulting Mrs Rinehart in order to 'make one big sausage roll'.  Ms McGuiness's four-minute movie was entered into a competition that follows six aspiring filmmakers as they travel around the world to complete 10 short films in 10 countries in 100 days.  The segment led Mrs Rinehart's company to threaten legal action and formally complain to the ABC Ombudsman.  The Ombudsman ultimately found the broadcast did not breach its editorial standards, leading managing director Hugh Marks to apologise, remove the film from the program and pledge to change the standards. 'Ultimately, we felt the treatment of Mrs Rinehart was not fair,' he said.  The Ombudsman only formally informed Mrs Rinehart and her company of the result of its investigation in an email on Tuesday, in a response slammed by sources close to the matter as 'just unacceptable'.  The email, obtained exclusively by the Daily Mail, said the ABC regretted the content 'did not meet' Mrs Rinehart's 'expectations'.  'While the Ombudsman found no breach of the Editorial Policies, the ABC has separately acknowledged that the episode fell short of community expectations,' the email reads.  'As a result, the episode has been edited on ABC platforms and the relevant material has been removed.' The ABC Ombudsman's office has sent Gina Rinehart an email saying 'we regret that this content did not meet your expectations' after the broadcaster aired a graphic clip about her A film by Kate McGuinness graphically described assaulting the mining magnate with a stick to 'make one big sausage roll' The Ombudsman found  the segment did not breach the broadcaster's editorial standards (pictured ABC managing director Hugh Marks) The ABC's email went further, directing Ms Rinehart to pursue her complaint with the Australian Communications and Media Authority if she was 'dissatisfied' with their response. A source close to the matter told the Daily Mail:  'The so-called Ombudsman... just isn’t taking the graphic hate-filled nature of the segment - or the calls to violence and murder - seriously enough,' the source said. 'Their basic copy-paste response to so many Australians is just unacceptable.  'It’s not surprising though given they only find the ABC does something wrong about four per cent of the time, according to their own figures. 'I bet if this happened to a lady on the Left, like Penny Wong, their response would be totally different!  'It seems sorry is the hardest word!' It comes days after a spokesperson for Mrs Rinehart's company Hancock Prospecting warned the company is waiting to see the 'long overdue changes to the ABC's editorial standards' after the broadcaster's 'belated' apology. 'Such editorial standards need to stop sexual violence and torture until death episodes being shown or depicted in any form against any woman on the ABC, including under the pretence of satire or art or any other cloak,' the spokesperson said. The segment was created by aspiring filmmaker Kate McGuinness (pictured) 'Satire needs to be funny, what the ABC approved to be aired for 25 days, in its violent torture until death content, was not. 'The content shown on the ABC normalised violent torture against a woman till death, and dehumanised an Australian, such that she was worthless and ok to be sexually tortured, should not be and must not be acceptable in our country.' The Daily Mail has contacted the ABC about the Ombudsman's email. An ABC spokesperson previously told us: 'The ABC will amend its guidance as it applies to violence to ensure the guidance adequately reflects community expectations soon. 'The review will be led by Editorial Policies. Any changes to the guidance will be approved by the ABC Board.'