Share and Follow
The dispute between Netball Australia and some of its star players over a $15million sponsorship deal has stemmed from the shocking claims made by Gina Rinehart’s father decades ago.
Initially, the fallout was said to be about the players’ environmental concerns over being sponsored by mining company Hancock Prospecting, owned by billionaire Ms Rinehart.
The partnership between Hancock Prospecting and Netball Australia is reportedly worth $3.5million a year until the end of 2025.
Australia’s national team – the Diamonds – appeared in two Constellation Cup games in New Zealand without the Hancock logo on their uniforms. NA denied there was a uniform boycott.
But there is a deeper story behind the apparent tension, going back almost four decades to what Ms Rinehart’s father Lang Hancock said about ‘the Aboriginal problem’.
In a 1984 television interview, Mr Hancock made a shocking statement about Indigenous Australians, which has become an issue for the Diamonds, particularly Aboriginal squad member Donnell Wallam.
Donnell Wallam (pictured) is an Aboriginal woman and a member of the Diamonds Australian netball squad
‘The ones that are no good to themselves and can’t accept things, the half-castes -and this is where most of the trouble comes,’ Mr Hancock said in the 1984 documentary film Couldn’t Be Fairer.
‘I would dope the water up so that they were sterile and would breed themselves out in future and that would solve the problem.’
Mr Hancock died in 1992 at the age of 82, and said Indigenous Australians who had been ‘assimilated’ should be left alone.
‘Those that have been assimilated into, you know, earning good living or earning wages amongst the civilised areas,’ he said.
‘Those that have been accepted into society and they have accepted society and can handle society, I’d leave them well alone.’
Former Diamonds captain Sharni Norder told the current squad that Hancock Prospecting ‘is a company that doesn’t suit Netball Australia’s values’, Fox Sport reported.
Ms Rinehart previously said climate change is not a man-made phenomenon.
‘We’ve always stood up for social justice, we’ve always been anti-gambling, no smoking … and there were, and are, other avenues to source sponsorship,’ said Ms Norder, who is a Sports Environment Alliance ambassador.
She also addressed Mr Hancock’s comments.
Gina Rinehart (right) is pictured with her father Lang Hancock, who started the company Hancock Prospecting. His comments from an 1984 interview have angered members of the Diamonds team
‘Lang Hancock’s past and what he said in regard to Indigenous people is just not suitable for Australian sport.
‘Netball Australia has always tried to be inclusive … we now have Donnell (Wallam) in the team.
‘This is not a respectful way to act and even if Donnell wasn’t in the team, we must do better.’
Read Related Also: Inter Miami book playoff spot as Gonzalo Higuain strikes twice to extend his final ever season
In a statement, Hancock Prospecting said it is ‘aware that there has been some recent enquiries raised regarding Hancock’s relationships with traditional owners’.
‘Hancock has positive agreements with all the native title holders in the areas we operate in, providing very significant royalty payments to the traditional owners in all our mining areas, well in excess of $300million in the last seven years alone,’ it said.
‘We work very closely with the communities on providing training, jobs, business development and contracting opportunities as well as heritage, health and education initiatives.’
Donnell Wallam is pictured playing for the Queensland Firebirds against the Adelaide Thunderbirds on May 18, 2022, in Adelaide
Netball Australia’s chairwoman Marina Go stepped down on Monday and Diamonds players are set to meet with Hancock Prospecting over the sponsorship issue in the coming days.
On Tuesday Netball Australia released a statement saying it had become ‘aware of cultural sensitivities raised by a Diamonds squad member in respect of the Hancock sponsorship uniform logo placement’.
‘Netball Australia and Hancock Prospecting have been working tirelessly to acknowledge and recognise the sensitivities, to further understand the concerns of that squad member and to provide avenues for support.’
The organisation also said it ‘did not require the Hancock Prospecting dress to be worn during the Constellation Cup due to additional obligations placed on Netball Australia by the Australian Netball Players Association.’
Netball Australia denied claims players had boycotted the uniform.
The Australian Diamonds sing the anthem during the Constellation Cup netball match between New Zealand and Australia at Spark Arena on October 12, 2022 in Auckland, New Zealand. They did not wear the Hancock Prospecting logo on their outfits
Mr Hancock once said that ‘Nothing should be sacred from mining whether it’s your ground, my ground, the blackfellow’s ground or anybody else’s’.
‘So the question of Aboriginal land rights and things of this nature shouldn’t exist.’
Despite her father’s views, Ms Rinehart has contributed to charitable work in Indigenous communities.
Clinton Wolf, managing director of the National Indigenous Times publication, wrote on Monday that the negativity towards the Netball Australia sponsorship was ‘hypocritical’.
Mr Wolf is a non-executive director of Indigenous children’s charity Madalah.
He said Ms Rinehart had come through with a ‘multi-year, multimillion-dollar funding arrangement’ for the charity after refusal from the Western Australian government.
‘Madalah is proud to say that Mrs Gina Rinehart’s companies are among Madalah’s most important sponsors and supporters,’ he wrote.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted both Netball Australia and Hancock Prospecting seeking further comment for this story.
Billionaire miner Gina Rinehart (left) is pictured with her father Lang Hancock in the 1980s
