Vanessa Amorosi’s estranged mother has pleaded to meet her young grandson and for her and her daughter to be “one big happy family” again, on the eve of their long and ongoing dispute heading to court.
Joyleen Robinson and her pop star daughter have been embroiled in a bitter legal dispute over two properties for the past three years.
Ms Amorosi, 43, filed a lawsuit in 2021 suing her mother for full ownership of two homes – one in Narre Warren in Melbourne and the other in California – that she had bought as a result of her success. The homes were held in a trust that listed both women as owners.
The pop singer won a major legal victory last month when a judge ruled in her favor that she should be the sole owner of the properties, saying there was never an informal agreement about ownership.
Now that the case is back in court on Wednesday, Mrs Robinson said she hoped the story would reunite the family and allow her to finally meet Amorosi’s eight-year-old son Killian.
This is despite the fact that she now faces eviction from Narre Warren’s home and has not spoken to her daughter in over ten years.
“I still hope that something good will come out of this. The outcome I want is for everyone to be happy and one big family,” said Mrs Robinson told the Herald Sun.
‘I would like to have contact with my daughter and my grandson, I haven’t even met him yet, it’s a bit sad but it’s life.
“I just hope we can come up with something that’s good for all of us.”
She added that the family used to do “everything together,” but that changed when Ms Amorosi moved to LA to pursue an international music career.
Mrs Robinson said she would never do anything to ‘discredit’ or ‘expose’ her daughter, who has now taken possession of her home.
Madam Amorosi was ordered by the court to pay her mother more than $850,000 for the Boundary Road property in Narre Warren, which is now worth $2 million.
The amount covered the original purchase price of $650,000 and an additional $219,486 in interest.
However, plans to hand over control of the two properties to Mrs Robinson have been delayed as lawyers continue to negotiate terms and decide who should pay legal costs.
Ms Robinson said she had “no idea” where the lawyers were in terms of reaching an agreement.
She added that “my children are the most important thing in my life” and that she was “deeply sorry” that a tragedy had unfolded in the courtroom and made headlines.
Ms Amorosi, known for her hit Absolutely Everybody, won a major legal victory this month when a judge ruled in her favour that she should be the sole owner of the two properties
On August 8, Supreme Court Justice Steven Moore gave both sides two weeks to work together to draft orders that would affect his judgment in a “manageable” manner.
But when the case was brought back to the Supreme Court of Victoria last week, Amorosi’s lawyer Joel Fetter said “discussions had been held” but no agreement had yet been reached.
He told the court that both sides asked for an additional week to see if they could “come to an agreement”.
Judge Moore agreed to the motion, but warned that he would grant the orders if they did not “get control” of the transfer of the property, and the case would return to court next Wednesday.
“If they cannot agree on the terms, it is my job to order the execution of the sentence,” he said.
‘I encourage parties to reach a manageable arrangement through constructive dialogue.’
The 43-year-old Australian pop star launched a lawsuit in 2021 to sue her mother Joyleen Robinson (pictured) for full ownership of two homes she bought as a result of her success.
The disputed properties were an eight-hectare semi-rural estate at Narre Warren in Melbourne’s south-east and Ms Amorosi’s current home in California.
Ms Amorosi claimed that the $650,000 used to purchase the Narre Warren home in 2001 came from a trust set up to receive all her earnings as a singer-songwriter.
However, Mrs Robinson claimed that Mrs Amorosi had agreed to transfer full ownership of the house in Narre Warren if she paid $650,000 when asked.
She claimed the appointment was made in February 2001 during a conversation in the kitchen of their former family home.
Ms Robinson said she handed over $710,000 to Ms Amorosi in 2014 for the loan she took out for her US home, claiming she had fulfilled her obligations under the housing pact.
However, Mrs Amorosi told the court that she had full ownership rights as no agreement had ever been made.
The properties in dispute are a semi-rural Narre Warren property in Melbourne’s south-east (pictured on Google Maps) and Ms Amorosi’s current home in California.
The singer also attempted to become the sole owner of her current California home, which she purchased through an escrow account opened by her mother.
Earlier this month, Judge Moore ruled that the alleged ‘kitchen deal’ never took place and that the Narre Warren property should be registered in Mrs Amorosi’s name alone.
He also ruled that Ms. Amorosi should be the sole owner of her California home.
However, Judge Moore agreed that Ms Robinson should receive damages from Ms Amorosi for the contribution she made to her property in 2014.
In the verdict, delivered on the songwriter’s 43rd birthday, he ordered Ms. Amorosi to pay her mother $650,000 plus $219,486.33 in interest.
Ms Amorosi did not attend the hearing for Judge Moore’s ruling on Thursday as she was still in the US.
Mrs. Robinson herself was also not present, although some of her family members were present in the courtroom.
The legal battle began in March 2021, when Ms Amorosi initiated High Court proceedings against Ms Robinson.
During a five-day trial in October, Ms. Amorosi and her mother testified, with the actress taking breaks to wipe away tears and compose herself.
During the trial, which was attended by only a judge, the court was told that the mother and daughter had had an argument in 2015.
Ms Amorosi said the situation came to a head when she was forced to sell her home near Los Angeles after being told she could not afford the repayments.
“I knew I was going to lose the property. There was a lot of anxiety and I couldn’t get an answer as to why,” she told the court.
‘I asked her (Mrs Robinson) to show me where the money had gone… (She said) I had spent it all and that I should come home and go to work.’
Ms Amorosi claimed she believed her mother had taken control of her finances as a teenager and had been “very generous” with the millions of dollars she earned in the early 2000s.
Ms Amorosi rose to fame at the age of 18 in 1999 with the release of her debut single Have a Look, which achieved gold status in Australia
But Mrs Robinson told the court she always acted in her daughter’s best interests and followed the advice of an accountant recommended by Mrs Amorosi’s manager.
“My daughter and I were best friends, we never had to worry about money… I loved her and still love her – that’s the heartbreaking thing,” she said.
Ms Amorosi rose to fame at the age of 18 in 1999 with the release of her debut single Have a Look, which achieved gold status in Australia.
The following year, she achieved international success with her debut album, The Power, and performed at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Her song Absolutely Everybody became the unofficial anthem of the Games and became a huge hit in Australia and Europe, including the UK and Germany.
She has sold more than two million albums and singles worldwide.
