After Gina Rinehart’s business Hancock Prospects withdrew its $15 million sponsorship of Netball Australia, Origin Energy will support the organization.
According to Origin CEO Frank Calabria, the gas and power provider will remain as the Australian Diamonds’ naming rights partner.
Just to be clear, Calabria stated, “We will continue to support the national team, and we’ll do it all the way down to the grassroots level.”
“We’re thrilled with our partnership with Netball Australia,” they said.
It follows Mrs. Rinehart’s accusations that Netball Australia had engaged in virtue signaling after several of its athletes criticized her sponsorship agreement due to insensitive remarks made by her late father.
The Diamonds national netball team voiced their displeasure about Lang Hancock’s insensitive remarks regarding Indigenous people in 1984.
Native American athlete Donnell Wallam allegedly requested permission to wear the sponsor’s emblem on the team shirt, and her teammates supported her choice.
The $15 million deal was expected to save Netball Australia, which had lost $7 million over the previous two years due to rising Super Netball expenditures.
The Project co-host Wilkinson publicly backed Wallam on Sunday, saying, “The notion that sport, politics, and concerns of social justice can be fully divorced is just naive.”
She then cited other instances in history when athletes had spoken up.
She replied, “You remember the Australian teams who refused to visit South Africa during the apartheid period.”
You may even recall that big tobacco once supported the National Rugby League. It had the Winfield Cup name.
On Saturday, Hancock Prospecting released a stinging statement against Netball Australia.
Hancock Prospecting issued a statement saying, “Hancock and its executive chairperson Mrs. Rinehart think that it is inappropriate for sports organizations to be utilized as the vehicle for social or political issues.”
“First and foremost, because sport is at its best when it is centered on good and fair competition, with committed players aiming for perfection to fulfill their sports ambitions and to best represent our nation.
The second reason is that there are more focused and sincere methods to advance social or political concerns without engaging in virtue signaling or self-promotion.
Hancock Prospecting emphasized that it had not required the branding to be displayed on the sports jerseys and claimed to have supported Indigenous communities.
For instance, Hancock’s Roy Hill Community Foundation in West Australia actively engages with nearby Indigenous communities to help their genuine needs, according to the statement.
Thirdly, there are more effective ways to create positive change.
For instance, Hancock’s all-encompassing support for genuine initiatives like Hanrine Futures, which offers Indigenous students a meaningful route through school and into the workforce with a job guarantee at the conclusion of their training, if they so choose, is one example.
Aboriginal leader Nyunggai Warren Mundine and Nationals MP Matt Canavan both backed Mrs. Rinehart in her decision to terminate the sponsorship agreement.
Good for Gina for quitting netball, tweeted Mr. Canavan.
If they weren’t sporting her insignia, why would she support them? Gina is a beloved national figure who donates generously to a variety of deserving charities.
“I’m sure she’ll find other, more appreciative Aussies to assist,” she said.
No surprise the netball association went bankrupt, Mr. Mundine said.