Vanessa Amorosi’s mother makes heartbreaking plea to the pop star as new front in bitter family feud emerges after the singer won court fight over her fortune

An Aussie pop star’s estranged mother holds onto the hope that she and her daughter will be ‘one big happy family’ again on the eve of their long and ongoing dispute returning to court.

Joyleen Robinson and her daughter Vanessa Amorosi have spent the last three years locked in a bitter legal dispute over two properties.

Ms Amorosi, 43, launched legal action in 2021 to sue her mother for full ownership of two houses – one in Narre Warren in Melbourne and the other in California – bought as a result of her success, which was held in a trust that listed both the women as owners.

The pop singer secured a huge legal victory last month when a judge ruled in her favour that she should be the sole owner of the properties, finding that a supposed ‘kitchen agreement’ about ownership never happened.

As the case prepares to return to court on Wednesday, Ms Robinson revealed that she hoped the saga will reunite the family and that she’ll finally meet her young grandson.

This is despite the fact she now faces eviction from the Narre Warren home and having not spoken to her daughter in more than a decade.

‘I still hope something good will come from this. The outcome I would like is for everyone to be happy and be one big family,’ Ms Robinson told the Herald Sun.

Ms Amorosi’s son Killian, 8, has never met his maternal grandmother.

‘I would love 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,’ Ms Robinson said.

‘I’m just hoping we can work something out that’s good for all of us.’

She added that the family used to do ‘everything together’ but changed when Ms Amorosi moved to LA to pursue an international music career.

Ms Robinson said she would never do ‘anything to defame’ or ‘bag out’ her daughter, who has now taken possession of her home.

Ms Amorosi was ordered by the court to pay her mother more than $850,000 for the Boundary Road property in Narre Warren that now has a valuation of $2 million. 

The amount covered the original purchase price of $650,000 and another $219,486 in interest.

However, plans for Ms Robinson to hand over control of the two properties have been delayed as the lawyers continue to negotiate the terms and decide who will be responsible for paying the court costs.

Ms Robinson said she had ‘no idea’ where the lawyers were in regards to reaching a agreement.

She added that ‘my kids are the most important thing in my life’ and that she was ‘very sorry’ about the drama that has played out in court and made headlines.

On August 8, Supreme Court Justice Steven Moore gave both parties a fortnight to work together to draft orders that would affect his judgment in a ‘manageable’ way.

But when the case returned to the Victorian Supreme Court last week, Ms Amorosi’s barrister Joel Fetter said that ‘discussions have broken out’ but no agreement had been reached.

He told the court both parties were requesting another week to see if they could ‘come to an agreement’.

Justice Moore agreed to the proposal but warned that he will make the orders if they cannot ‘get to grips’ on the property handover, with the case due to return to court next Wednesday.

‘If they can’t agree on those arrangements, my task is to make orders to give effect to the judgment,’ he said.

‘I encourage parties in their constructive dialogue to come to grips with a manageable arrangement.’

The properties under dispute were a semirural eight-hectare Narre Warren property in Melbourne’s southeast, and Ms Amorosi’s current residence in California.

Ms Amorosi claimed the $650,000 used to purchase the Narre Warren home in 2001 came from a trust set up to receive all of her earnings as a singer-songwriter.

However, Ms Robinson alleged Ms Amorosi agreed to hand over full ownership of the Narre Warren home if she paid $650,000 when asked.

She maintained the agreement 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 on her American home, maintaining she fulfilled her end of the housing pact.

But Ms Amorosi told the court she should have full ownership as there was never any agreement in place.

The singer also sought to be the sole owner of her current Californian residence, which was bought through a trust account set up by her mother.

Earlier this month, Justice Moore ruled that the supposed ‘kitchen’ agreement never happened and the Narre Warren property should be under Ms Amorosi’s name alone.

He also found that Ms Amorosi should be the sole owner of her Californian home.

However, Justice Moore did agree that Ms Robinson should receive restitution from Ms Amorosi for the contribution she made to her property in 2014.

In the judgement delivered on the songwriter’s 43rd birthday, he ordered Ms Amorosi pay her mother $650,000 plus $219,486.33 in interest.

Ms Amorosi did not attend court on Thursday for Justice Moore’s judgment as she was still in the US.

Ms Robinson was also not in attendance, although some of her family members watched on in court.

The legal battle first started in March 2021 when Ms Amorosi launched Supreme Court proceedings against Mrs Robinson.

During a five-day trial in October, Ms Amorosi and her mother both gave evidence, with the performer taking breaks to wipe away tears and compose herself.

At the judge-only trial, the court was told the mother and daughter fell out in 2015.

Ms Amorosi said things came to a head when she was forced to sell a home near Los Angeles when she was told she couldn’t meet the repayments.

‘I knew I was going to lose the property. There was a lot of turmoil going on and I couldn’t get the answers of why,’ she told the court.

‘I asked her (Ms Robinson) to show me where the money had gone… (She said) I spent it all and that I should come home and get to work.’

Ms Amorosi claimed she believed her mother had taken control over her finances as a teenager and had been ‘very generous’ with the millions of dollars she earnt in the early 2000s.

But Ms Robinson told the court she always acted in her daughter’s interest and was following the advice of an accountant Ms Amorosi’s manager had recommended.

‘My daughter and I were best friends, there were never any worries about money… I loved her and still love her – that’s the heartbreaking part,’ she said.

Ms Amorosi soared to fame at the age of 18 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 and performed at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.

Her track Absolutely Everybody became an unofficial anthem of the Games and went on to be a major hit in Australia and Europe, including the UK and Germany.

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