In Netball Australia’s case, Gina Rinehart had every right to call an end to her $15 million gift. There are others who will respect her company’s brand, its bankrolling of the nation, job creation, and its extraordinary effort to fund the global dreams of our nation’s best young athletes including Olympic swimmers and rowers.

“I thought the statement from Roy Hill (majority owned by Hancock) was excellent, in the sense that they clearly articulated what they’re doing in the Indigenous welfare space. No one from Western Australia and certainly nobody who knows even a little bit about the company would have been surprised by that. When you dive into these issues, you need to have considered, sober conversations. As stakeholders agitate, companies may wonder whether they should sit out the game. Story by Helen Trinca

“Corporate sponsorship is really important for sport. And it is a time when we should be encouraging more corporate sponsorship and more government funding of sports, particularly Olympics sports, given that we have the Olympics in Australia in Brisbane in 10 years time,” he said. “As a rower and a chairman of Rowing Australia, our athletes really benefit from the support of the Australian Sports Commission (and) the support of Hancock Prospecting for example. “Often a lot of our Olympic rowers, similar to other Olympic sports, earn less than the minimum wage and so they are deeply grateful for the corporate support we get, and long should it continue.”

Our ancestors fought and won huge battles so Indigenous athletes had the same opportunities as everyone else – not so they would still be shackled by the racism of history.

Artistic Swimming Western Australia (ASWA) is extremely honoured and proud to have Mrs Gina Rinehart AO as our Patron. Mrs Rinehart and the support of the Hancock Prospecting Group has played an integral role over the past eight years in nurturing and developing our sport, transforming it into one that has, and continues to develop Western Australia’s artistic swimmers into accomplished women and world class athletes.

23 October 2022.

27 October, 2022.

OLYMPIC swimming legend Dawn Fraser has thrown her support behind mining magnate Gina Rinehart amid the sponsorship scandal that’s left Netball Australia on the brink of financial disaster. Fraser, a four-time gold medallist and one of the country’s most celebrated athletes, also said she feared that Australia’s richest person would now stop sponsoring sport.

Yet because of historic comments made by her father, Ms Rinehart was discriminated against in this most public and objectifying way possible. That reductionist, reflexive reaction is shameful, and degrades the contribution any of us make in the here and now if we are forever going to be judged by those who came before us. If we start going down that path, where we can’t have sophisticated and nuanced conversations, then we’ll be left with a shell of our society and the financial losses of Netball Australia will look pale in comparison.

“Mrs G (Rinehart) has done a hell of a lot for not only swimming, but she’s looked after beach volleyball, she’s looked after women’s rowing and women’s synchronised swimming. ”I mean heavens above – what are these women doing.”

Olympic swimmer Dawn Fraser has thrown her support behind Gina Rinehart after its players took issue with her sponsorship deal over offensive comments made by her late father. Fraser hit out at the players, and praised Rinehart for backing minor sports over the years.