The big bad wolf at the door of Fairfax is huffing and puffing. But will she blow the house in?

There’s plenty of reasons cited for denying Gina Rinehart access to the boardroom of the beleaguered media enterprise: she’s shown a disregard for journalistic independence (true); she’s too right-wing (allegedly); she enjoys the work of Andrew Bolt (many do); she doesn’t have any media experience (nor does the chairman).

But there’s one really good reason she should be invited in: she couldn’t do any worse.

Rinehart — who Fairfax journalists declare is the world’s richest women — is pretty canny at making a buck. She’s made the single largest investment in a media company from outside the sphere we’ve seen in this country in some time. She owns about 15% of a company worth next to nothing on the stock market. Is there any legitimate justification for denying her a vote?

The multibillionaire might not have any real idea how to save Fairfax. But if she really does blow the house down and launch a takeover the results could be much worse.