Article by Zak Kirkup courtesy of the National Indigenous Times.
Throughout all the furore surrounding the withdrawal of Hancock Prospecting’s sponsorship from Netball Australia, the biggest question I have is why is Gina Rinehart being blamed for comments made by her father?
In interviews made by those who are sympathetic to the position taken by Indigenous player Donnell Wallam, I’ve been amazed by the blatant and offensive discrimination taken towards Ms Rinehart and the companies she leads.
In our country, are we not all judged by who we are, versus who our family were? Why is that allowance not being made to Ms Rinehart?
Instead, in judgements that go beyond the Old Testament, Ms Rinehart and Hancock Prospecting have been singled out by one player, for comments made in a completely different era, and the complicity astounds me.
There is no doubt in my mind that the actions of Lang Hancock are not reflective of conduct we expect in this day and age. No one is saying otherwise.
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.
Taken to its full extension, there would be few brands in the world any of us could use because of their unsavoury past.
Stop driving your Volkswagen or wearing Adidas because they were both used by the Nazis.
Don’t eat your Kit Kat because Nestle has a pretty terrible ethical history and put down your L’Oreal because it was invented by a fascist sympathiser.
The sadder irony will be if any government steps in to support Netball Australia, because they would have committed far more grievous sins than anything uttered by Lang Hancock during the 80s.
In Western Australia, Ms Rinehart’s companies employ more Aboriginal people and support more remote communities than a sporting organisation which has lost more than $7m in the past two years.
Hancock Prospecting, Roy Hill and the Rinehart family does far more to support Indigenous people than Netball Australia ever will be able to.
Ms Rinehart doesn’t need anyone to rush to her defence.
She is a successful business person in her own right, and has undoubtedly had to deal with far more difficult issues than this.
The concern I have is this cacophony of righteous individuals want to directly blame her for something she had no role in and more than that, ignores the exceptional job she’s been party of to support and empower Indigenous communities.
I admire Ms Wallam for standing up for what she believes in.
For the same reason, I admire Ms Rinehart.
What all of us should reject though is the notion that Ms Rinehart or her companies should be to blame for something which happened decades ago.
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.
Zak Kirkup is of Yamatji heritage and is the former leader of the Liberal Party in Western Australia
