With billions of dollars in her name, Gina Rinehart, Australia and the world's richest woman, attracts media attention whether she likes it or not. In 2012, she again hogged the limelight because of her court battles with her three estranged adult children, her views on wealth, corporate skirmishes and her oodles of money.

To date, the lawsuit over who will control the foundation set up by her father, Lang Hancock, continues to drag and have exposed a lot of dark secrets of the family that make her appear like a monster mother.

However, last year, her infamous family court cases attracted less attention compared to her suggestion on what Aussies should do to improve their financial standing..

Although what she said - that Aussies workers should drink and smoke less to improve their financial standing has a grain of truth to it - many Aussies pointed out that even if they follow her advice to the letter, they could not amass as much wealth as she has.

The remarks earned her another title - Queen of Mean - that some memes even criticised her physical appearance to get even.

One meme compared her to a French royalty who was beheaded for her politically incorrect utterances about the poor.

People became more critical of her when Business Review Weekly declared in mid-2012 the mining tycoon as the world's richest woman, which led to the creation of these two memes.

One meme saw her as a rich, little poor girl

Another controversial remark of Ms Rinehart over the high wages that Australian miners earn compared to their counterparts in Africa merited this meme.

However, Ms Rinehart discovered in the past few months that she could not buy her way to Fairfax Media's board. While the financially challenged media company had to downsize due to less preference for print media and declining advertising revenues, the company's board rejected her attempt to gain a board seat because of perceptions that she would use her power to influence editorial policies, particularly on issues she feels strongly about such as the mining tax.

The latest news is that Ms Rinehart has joined forces with new investors such as advertising executive John Singleton, investment banker Mark Carnegie and former Consolidated Press Holdings Chief Executive Officer Trevor Kennedy in pushing for strategic changes at Fairfax.

Ms Rinehart, in wanting to gain a greater say in Fairfax management, insisted that changes are needed to turn around the company. If numbers alone are Ms Rinehart's arguments, she stands to win the debate because Fairfax reported a $2.6 billion loss in the 2012 financial year, while Ms Rinehart has a net worth of A$29.17 billion.

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