Article by Ashley Nickel courtesy of Daily Mail Australia.
- Olympic swimmer Dawn Fraser, 85, supported Gina Rinehart in a radio interview
- She said Mrs Rinehart has done ‘a hell of a lot’ for Australian women in sport
- Fraser said Mrs Rinehart shouldn’t be responsible for her father’s comments
- She said the drama could see the billionaire pull sponsorship from other sports
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.
Rinehart’s company Hancock Prospecting, backed out of a lifeline sponsorship deal with Netball Australia after players criticised comments her late father Lang Hancock had made about Aboriginal Australians 38 years ago and pushed back from wearing the logo of her company on their singlets.
Fraser hit out at the players, and praised Rinehart for backing minor sports over the years.
‘I appreciate the fact that I’ve been associated with Mrs Rinehart. I really can’t understand the netballer that pulled the plug,’ Fraser told 4BC Drive.
‘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?’
Four-time gold medallist Fraser said she’s worried Mrs Rinehart will now be deterred from sponsoring other sports after vicious public backlash over comments her racist comments her father made in the 1980s.
‘I don’t think (the players have this story straight) and I don’t know the full story either, but I really cannot understand it, it’s bad for the sport, it’s bad for those girls she said no to,’ she said.
‘She might stop her sponsorship with other sports now and I’d hate to see that happen to be honest with you.’
Mrs Rinehart revoked her massive $15million sponsorship on Saturday after Indigenous Diamonds player Donnell Wallam said she was uncomfortable wearing the company’s logo after its founder, Mrs Rinehart’s father, made comments about Indigenous ‘sterilisation’ 38 years ago.
However, Fraser said Mrs Rinehart shouldn’t be blamed for her father’s views.
‘She’s not her father, I’d hate to be in her position and being slammed over the fact that my father did some things wrong,’ she said.
‘Netball Australia has really gone wrong on this attitude I just think it’s so bad for the sport.’
Mr Hancock’s racist remarks have made headlines this month after Indigenous Diamonds player Donnell Wallam raised concerns over wearing the Hancock Prospecting logo on her uniform, with her teammates backing the decision.
CEO of the Australian Netball Players Association Kathryn Williams said the Diamonds hadn’t wanted their only Indigenous player to be wearing a different uniform when she made her debut for the team.
Under increasing pressure, Wallam decided on Friday that she would wear the logo on her international debut, but by Saturday the deal was pulled from the table – leaving her ‘distressed’ and ‘devastated’ by the bombshell decision.
‘I don’t know what happened from the time Donnell said she would wear the logo as would the team to Hancock moving on,’ Ms Williams told the Today Show.
Hancock Prospecting axed the lucrative $15million partnership deal, claiming in a statement it ‘does not want to add to netball’s disunity problems’.
‘Contrary to media reports, Hancock Prospecting has not insisted that its name be worn by the Australian Diamonds in the current Constellation Cup series when overseas,’ the statement said.
‘Hancock and Roy Hill does not want to add to Netball’s disunity problems and accordingly Hancock has advised the governing body that it has withdrawn from its proposed partnership, effective immediately.’
The partnership between Hancock Prospecting and Netball Australia is reportedly worth $3.5million a year until the end of 2025.
It comes as a massive blow for the sporting organisation after it had struggled to find a big time sponsor prepared to pay the hefty sum.
It comes after Indigenous NRL legend Anthony Mundine urged Australia’s elite netballers to stick together in the face of the partnership controversy.
