Make Qld Great: Mining magnate’s right hand man linked to Qld’s record $34m sale

The right hand man to Australia’s richest person has been linked to a record-breaking $34 million Queensland sale during the pandemic property boom.

The off-market sale of the Webb Rd address was exclusively revealed by The Courier Mail in June 2021, with billionaire Gina Rinehart rumoured to be connected to the sale at the time.

For months – nearly two years in fact – publicly-available property records remained in the names of the previous owners Margie and Murray Charlton, who weren’t even considering selling when the unbelievable offer was made to purchase.

But it can now be revealed that the ownership details have finally been updated, with the property now listed in the name of Make Queensland Great Pty Ltd.

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That company is linked to a residential address in Western Australia, which is listed under the name of Janine Wade.

Mrs Wade is the wife of Hancock Prospecting business development general manager Dan Wade, often referred to as Gina Rinehart’s right-hand man.

Mr Wade’s name has also been linked to the same Western Australia address.

Mr Wade has sold three Queensland properties in the past three years – a Noosa Heads house for $20 million in August 2020, a Noosa Heads house for $23.25 million in December last year and most recently a palatial Brisbane riverfront home for an undisclosed price in February this year.

When the Hawthorne estate was listed in February, Mr Wade said that work commitments elsewhere had prompted the property sell-off in both Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast.

“Although I love being in Queensland, my working life dictates I can’t be there as much as

I’d like to be,” he said.

That Hawthorne house was just two doors down from Ms Rinehart’s Brisbane estate.

In February, media reported that Mr Wade had added to his directorship duties to set up his own corporate entity, Make Queensland Great.

Make Queensland Great is a Hancock Prospecting campaign to “encourage investment and cut government tape” ahead of the Sunshine State hosting the Olympics in 2032.

“Gina Rinehart and Hancock Prospecting are proud to have been supporting Australian athletes to represent our country for many years, including as on of the two longest and continuous major supporters of Swimming Queensland,” a blurb on Hancock Prospecting’s website says.

“Now it’s time for Queensland to go for gold.”

The campaign calls for improvements to infrastructure, resorts, tourism, sporting and entertainment facilities, and to address staff shortages and Australia’s pension system.

In November last year, Ms Rinehart was spotted in the crowd at Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential announcement.

Trump’s campaign slogan is “Make America Great Again”.

Ms Rinehart is known for making property deals under a veil of secrecy, with properties often changing hands under various names and ventures.

Worth an estimated $34.41 billion, Ms Rinehart recently bought a 14-storey office building in Brisbane’s CBD for over $100 million and a vast cattle property in the Western Downs region.

She owns various properties under BV Investments Pty Ltd, including three other properties in Sunshine Beach.

All three were purchased within a month, and included a dated house on Arakoon Crescent for $21.5 million and a vacant block on Park Crescent for $11.2 million, both purchased on the same day, and a two-bedroom beach house on Park Crescent for $9.75 million a month later.

The iron ore magnate also owns one of Brisbane’s most prestigious estates in Hawthorne, with various other properties listed under another company name, Wingfield Avenue Pty Ltd.

Ms Rinehart was recently named Western Australian of the Year 2023, and used her acceptance speech to reveal she had a facial melanoma removed just hours before the event.

“I should probably remind you all, please do the sun cream, do the hats and do the check-ups, please, which I didn’t do,” she said.

PropTrack data shows that the median house price in Sunshine Beach is now $2.65 million, down from $3.525 million a year ago.

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