The appointment of Simon Trott to lead Australia’s biggest iron ore producer, Rio Tinto, has drawn out plenty of nationalist fervour from the cheap seats – including from billionaire Gina Rinehart.

Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King had also been waving the patriotic flag from the wings since May’s announcement of the controversial departure of Rio’s previous boss, Jakob Stausholm.

Rio’s new boss, Simon Trott.Credit: Matt Jelonek/Rio Tinto

King made no secret of her preference for Trott, or Kellie Parker, a fellow Australian Rio executive and its most senior female, to plant the Australian flag on the multinational miner.

It feels like Trott won the “popular vote” to take on the role of running the $150 billion resources giant with 60,000 employees worldwide.

Trott’s heritage, having grown up on a West Australian wheat farm whose service town, Wickepin, was home to only 400, is enough of a corporate fairytale to stir any boy-made-good sentiments.

He is also something of a Rio lifer, having joined the company in 2000 and worked his way up through the ranks of various divisions before returning to Western Australia as the iron ore chief a few years ago.

The........

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