Vanessa Amorosi breaks down in tears as she accuses her mother of turning her family against her and swindling her fortune

Vanessa Amorosi has accused her estranged mother of manipulating her into handing over her fortune before turning her own family against her.

The Australian singer entered the witness box on Thursday in a Supreme Court trial in Melbourne to describe how her mother Joylene Robinson allegedly mismanaged her finances.

Amorosi, 42, filed the claim in the Supreme Court of Victoria in 2021, alleging “negligent conduct”.

Singer Vanessa Amorosi (pictured) has filed a claim in the Supreme Court of Victoria against her mother Joylene Robinson, claiming she lived solely on her career earnings

The court heard the singer believes her mother exploited her wealth at the height of her popularity when she was a teenager.

Amorosi said in court that she was actually brainwashed into believing that her mother was the only person she could trust to manage the millions of dollars she made after becoming a star in 2000.

‘It happened since (I) was young. No one was to be trusted. Like it’s something that’s simple… it’s not your buddy, it’s not your best friend, it’s not your management, it’s not your stepfather. “At the end of the day, the person you have to trust is your mom,” Amorosi said through tears.

“She’s here because she really loves me and she doesn’t need anything else but me to be her daughter.” And so as time went on, I made more money and became more successful, everyone became enemies.

“The boys were the enemy, the husband was the enemy.” She was supposed to be the only one there with the right intentions and I believed that.’

Amorosi, who flew to Australia from her home in Los Angeles to attend the trial, became suspicious of her mother’s handling of her wealth in 2014 when she hired forensic accountants to begin investigating her mother’s handling of her wealth.

Mrs Robinson (pictured outside the Supreme Court on Tuesday) is accused of kidnapping her daughter

Seven years later, she hired lawyers, filing a 213-paragraph lawsuit in the Supreme Court.

Mediation between the parties has reduced that claim significantly, but there remains a dispute over two properties that Amorosi claims her mother is not entitled to.

One of those houses is the Narre Warren North cottage which was recently raided by police.

The other is Amorosi’s home in the US, which is owned by a family company that also owes $650,000 to Westpac Bank.

Amorosi’s lawyer, Philip Solimon, KC, told the court that the singer wanted control of her assets and debt.

In Amorosi’s original statement of claim, she alleged that her mother took advantage of her finances in September 1999 when she was 17 and had just had a big vacation.

But in a counterclaim in which she denied defrauding her, Ms Robinson alleged the singer had breached an agreement they had made over Nar Warren North’s home.

The court heard that Amorosi earned just under $1 million in 2001 after he exploded onto the screens during the 2000 Olympics.

But by the end of 2014, she was evicted from her properties in the United States after seemingly running out of cash.

Amorosi Cottage in Narre Warren North used to be her studio

Amorosi said in court when she questioned her mother about where all her money had gone, she was accused of spending it all herself.

“I couldn’t get answers to what was really going on and why I was losing my house… she said I had spent everything.” She said I spent all the money and I should come home and work. I should go back to touring,” she said.

Amorosi said that when she asked her mother to show her where all her money had gone, she turned it into a “stand-off.”

“Asking my mom that question made my siblings angry, so a family war started,” she said.

Amorosi said she was refused entry to her home when she returned to Australia in 2015 while pregnant.

“I was questioning my mother all the time, so that made everyone quite angry and that was it.” It was very clear to me that I was not welcome to return home,’ she said.

Opening the trial, Mr. Solimon said his client had been ‘tremendously’ successful over the past 25 years.

In 1999, when she was still a teenager, Amorosi’s mum arranged for her to see managers before advising her that her income should be protected by a number of funds.

A company called Vanjoi was created, which received Amorosi’s royalties and paid her expenses at the height of her fame.

The court heard that Amorosi’s career peaked in 2000 and several years after when she released a string of hit singles.

Mr Solimon said Amorosi was entitled to most of the Boundary Road property and the trust holding her California home.

Vanessa Amorosi has built an impressive musical career around the world since 1999.

Mrs Robinson and her husband Peter, whom Amorosi treats as his father, continue to live in the Mackenzie Lane property, in Nar Warren North, which the couple bought in 1997.

Mr. Solimon said the Boundary Road property, which was purchased in 2001, is currently owned equally by Amorosa and her mother, but argued that she should own it outright.

The cottage was originally used for the singer to write and practice her music before it fell into disrepair.

The property was purchased based on the more than $3 million Amorosi made in Vanjoi in the early 2000s, Solimon said.

Amorosi denied ever gifting the property to her mother, who she said always referred to as her “dream home.”

“There was never any discussion that I would give her a house.” She had a house. We all lived in it… but I knew that Boundary Road was her dream home and it was 20 acres and it was a house that she loved so we all moved there as a family and we had many conversations over the years when I’ve bought things about getting an agreement where we could do an exchange … but never this agreement to give me $650,000 in exchange 20 years later,” she said.

In November 1999, Vanessa Amorosi released the hit track Absolutely Everybody, which catapulted her to instant musical stardom.

The court heard that Amorosi’s mum was entrusted with organizing and protecting her daughter’s finances for her benefit.

“These were set-up structures – Vanessa was told, clearly, for her benefit at a time in her career when she was extremely successful; and the bride and if different structures had been put in place, or if those who were supposed to protect her had done so fairly, there would not have been a controversy 22 years later,” Mr Solimon said.

A senior lawyer said Amorosi wanted the Boundary Road property and her stepfather removed as trustee controlling her US assets.

“At the relevant time, Vanessa was between 18 and 20 years of age.” “She was entitled to form the view that her mother was doing what she said, thereby protecting her interests,” Mr. Solimon said.

Amorosi endured hours in the witness box, fighting back tears as she recalled her abusive father and her love for her stepfather, Peter.

The singer experienced major success in 1999 with the release of her debut single, ‘Have a Look’, which reached gold status in Australia.

The following year, she achieved international success with her debut studio album, The Power.

Amorosi performed at the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.

Her performance of ‘Heroes Live Forever’ at the opening ceremony won international acclaim.

But her song ‘Absolutely Everybody’ became the unofficial anthem of the games and became a huge hit in Australia and many European countries, including Britain and Germany.

Her combined album and single sales have exceeded two million worldwide.