Opinion: Humans do sh*tty things, but putting 2022 lens on old comments serves no one

The sponsorship scandal that’s engulfed Netball Australia could have been avoided if the players flipped the narrative and resisted putting a 2022 lens on comments made nearly 40 years ago.

The sponsorship scandal that’s left Netball Australia on the brink of financial disaster could have been avoided if the players flipped the narrative and resisted putting a 2022 lens on comments made nearly 40 years ago.

Opinion has been divided since mining magnate Gina Rinehart withdrew $15m of funding from Netball Australia following pushback from players to wearing the logo of her mining company Hancock Prospecting.

Indigenous player Donnell Wallam was right to be offended after 1984 comments surfaced which were made by Rinehart’s father - Lang Hancock – where he infamously suggested Indigenous Australians should be sterilised to “breed themselves out” in coming years.

She was rightly upset.

I know I felt sick to my stomach hearing that someone could suggest such a thing about fellow human beings.

Was it absolutely appalling, disgusting, reprehensible and outrageous? Absolutely.

Lang Hancock suggests sterilisation as a solution to the 'Aboriginal problem' in a 1984 TV interview. Source: YouTube

Should Gina Rinehart address the comments and state her position? Totally.

But she shouldn’t be held accountable for her father’s sins.

These comments were said in a different time.

That doesn’t make it right. But the context is important.

Let’s face it, the human race can be sh*t.

We say sh*tty things, and we do even worse sh*tty things. And back in the day, we did really sh*tty things.

I remember standing in the Colosseum in Italy wondering why on earth this killing field was an iconic tourist attraction.

It sent many species to the brink of extinction and was a literal torture arena.

I can’t for a second understand how that was entertainment and I’m glad a slaughter of that scale is no longer accepted as entertainment (there’s obviously still bull fighting, cock fighting and the entire meat industry … but that’s a discussion for another day)

Aussie Diamonds player Donnell Wallam was rightly upset about the comments, but she could flip the narrative.

And in more recent times, think about those outrageous sexist ads from the 50s where the only place for a woman was in the kitchen. Can you imagine the backlash if a company rolled out that in 2022?

Lord, there’s even things I said, did or accepted over my lifetime that I look back and wonder ‘what the hell was I thinking?’

I’m sure if we truthfully look at our actions, we’d all say that.

The point is, we evolve. And the hope is we do better.

So the 2022 reaction to Mr Hancock’s comments are a good thing.

It shows we’re evolving for the better. We’re treating fellow human beings with the respect they deserve.

I’m no sport psychologist, but if I was talking to Wallam, I’d suggest she flip the narrative.

Quietly say ‘stuff you’ to Lang Hancock and use his money to serve herself. Prove him wrong from his grave.

It’s a beautiful irony that Hancock’s daughter could now help fund Wallam’s dreams of netball super stardom, giving her sporting organisation the financial support it desperately needs.

Rinehart is not the same person as her father and unlikely holds his same views.

So take the money, use it, thrive on it.

Gina Rinehart should not be held accountable for her father’s comments nearly 40 years ago.

We need to stop dredging up sh*tty things said and done in the past and then putting a 2022 lens on it. It serves no one.

We should acknowledge it and learn from it. But it doesn’t have the context for a more enlightened time we live in.

If someone does something wrong in 2022 - by all means cancel them.

But this divisiveness caused by dredging up decades-old actions serves nothing but creating more unrest and division.

The Australian Diamonds rallied around their teammate but it’s at a cost to their sport. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

Our goal should be to grow and evolve in unity - not forgetting the past … but acknowledging what happened back then should not be a reality of today.

The people in today’s world do not hold the same values as those from the past.

And for the record, I understand there’s still racist pricks out there.

But the majority of white Australians do not hold those views, so it’s time we all accepted each other for who we are today, not what was done in the past.