Singer-songwriter Vanessa Amorosi has emphatically denied she ever agreed to hand over full ownership of a Narre Warren home to her mother.
The property is central to the 42-year-old’s legal case against her mother Joyleen Robinson, which has gone to trial in the Victorian Supreme Court.
Amorosi claims the $650,000 used to purchase the home in 2001 came from a trust account set up to receive all of her earnings as a singer-songwriter.
She is seeking full ownership of the property, which currently has her and her mother listed as joint-owners.
But Mrs Robinson claims Amorosi agreed to hand over full ownership of the Narre Warren home if her mother paid her $650,000 when she asked.
During her evidence, Mrs Robinson could not remember the date the agreement was made although her lawyer previously stated it was in February 2001.
“I’m not good with dates,” she told the court.
She maintained the agreement was made during a conversation in the kitchen of their former family home.
“She paid for the whole amount of the property and when she needed money, I would sell my McKenzie Lane property and give the money to her,” Mrs Robinson said.
She told the court she handed over $710,000 to Amorosi in 2014 for the loan she took out on her American home.
Mrs Robinson maintained she fulfilled her end of the agreement so the Narre Warren property should be in her name alone.
During cross-examination, Amorosi repeatedly denied any agreement was made.
Earlier on Friday, Mrs Robinson’s barrister Daniel Harrison suggested to Amorosi she did not have a good memory and the agreement did take place.
He also put to her that she bought the Narre Warren home for her mother and she never considered it her own property.
Amorosi denied that assertion, saying it was the first home she bought for herself and she always thought of it as hers.
“My mum wanted that property from day one, no matter what,” Amorosi told the court.
“She made it very clear it was her dream property.”
Mr Harrison also suggested Amorosi had launched the legal proceedings because she was in a difficult financial situation, which Amorosi denied.
The barrister told Justice Steven Moore that Amorosi’s recollections were unreliable, not from malice but simply because she had a poor memory.
Mr Harrison said it ultimately came down to two people with very different accounts of what did or didn’t happen.
Justice Moore should see that Mrs Robinson’s recollection was the only sensible one, Mr Harrison said.
Amorosi’s former manager Mark Holden was among the people in court supporting the 42-year-old on Friday, while her siblings and step-father were there for Mrs Robinson
Mrs Robinson’s evidence is set to continue, with Amorosi’s barrister Philip Solomon to cross-examine her.
