Barnaby Joyce says netballers should be grateful for Rinehart sponsorship

Barnaby Joyce has joined in on criticising Australian netballers’ moral stance against accepting a $15m sponsorship deal from mining magnate Gina Rinehart.

Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce has joined in on slamming Netball Australia players over a decision to denounce a $15m sponsorship from mining magnate Gina Rinehart.

While many Australians have praised the players’ moral stance, Mr Joyce suggested the players are ungrateful and have left the company in a sticky situation.

“How about saying thank you rather than, I don’t want (the money)?” he told Sunrise on Monday.

“You’ve got $15 million of somebody else’s money that’s been given to you … Now the money is gone, guess what, we haven’t got the money to pay our players and to cover the financial situation that Netball Australia finds itself in.”

Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce has slammed Netball Australia players for protesting against Gina Rinehart’s sponsorship. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Andrew Taylor

Mr Joyce pointed to other women’s sporting associations who have put their hand up to take the money, including Australian Women’s Golf.

“We have people coming out such as Australian women’s golf saying ‘we will take the money’. There are a lot of other causes and returned servicemen and returned servicewomen and women’s sports who say ‘we will have the money’.

Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie also lashed out at “picky” Australian netballers, saying they have “cooked the golden egg” following the loss of a $15m sponsorship deal.

Billionaire Gina Rinehart’s mining company Hancock Prospecting pulled the plug on its offer to Netball Australia on Saturday, jeopardising the sport’s financial future.

“I am not really sure what other options she had, I would say that those girls are going to be doing a lot of sausage sizzles at Bunnings and a lot of chook raffles,” Senator Lambie told the Today show on Monday morning.

Jacqui Lambie says the players should have been ‘grateful they were getting the money’. Picture: Simon Sturzaker

“I think one should have been grateful they were getting the money. If they have backup and someone else is going to pick up that tab, that is good for them.

“I am not sure what Gina was supposed to do in the meantime, whether she was just supposed to sit there and be quiet, not say anything, take it. It was obviously starting to get quite political, so she has withdrawn it.”

Senator Lambie also said she had “no doubt that money would filter elsewhere into the community”.

Senator Lambie worried the $15 million sponsorship deal between Gina Rinehart and Netball Australia was becoming “too political”. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Addressing the players, she said losing the sponsorship was unfortunate but “if you want a sporting career out there, at times you are just going to have to suck it up, unless you find someone else to pick up that tab”.

After Netball Australia suffered losses of more than $7m during the Covid-19 pandemic, the deal, which offered $15m over four years, appeared to be a lifeline for the sport.

Billionaire Gina Rinehart’s mining company, Hancock Prospecting, pulled the plug on its sponsorship offering to Netball Australia on Saturday, jeopardising the sport’s financial future.

But the players’ association has since confirmed its support of Indigenous player Donnell Wallam, who had flagged the company’s record on Indigenous matters dating back 40 years to offensive comments by Ms Rinehart’s late father Lang Hancock.

“The comments that Rinehart’s father made back in ‘84 were horrendous, racist and horrific,” Senator Lambie said on Monday morning.

“But how far back should you take someone’s responsibility? Why should Gina Rinehart pay for the sins of her father from almost 40 years ago?”

Netball Australia chief executive Kelly Ryan said on Sunday the move was ‘reasonably concerning’ given NA’s financial position. Picture: Bradley Kanaris / Getty Images

Senator Lambie defended Ms Rinehart, revealing she “spent $300m on Indigenous programs in the past seven years”.

“I was at a function four weeks ago, she was on the same table, (she) flew an aboriginal woman and her mother in from the Pilbara for an awards night- this is what she does in private and no-one sees that,” Senator Lambie said about Ms Rinehart.

“She has a commitment to Indigenous people because many Indigenous people work for her.

“She should not have to pay for the sins of her father,” she said.

Senator Lambie lashed out at Netball Australia about the four months of support they would still receive from Ms Rinehart to find another sponsor, saying they “don’t deserve that after they have dropped the ball”.

Senator Lambie also appeared on Sky News on Monday morning, saying “if you’re big enough to walk away from a $15m sponsorship, you should be big enough to have a fill-in sponsor”.

“We’re going through rough times guys, if you want to think that you can pick and choose who’s going to sponsor you, you are not looking to have millions of dollars in sponsorship,” she said.

“I just think they really need to go back to the drawing board notes and be a little bit more flexible about this because if you’re going to involve your teammates in that, then you’re all going to wear the consequences.

“It was pretty disappointing how it played out, I only pray that they have a backup sponsor right now.”

A statement from Hancock Prospecting lashed the players’ response as “virtue signalling”.

“Hancock and its executive chairman Mrs Rinehart consider that it is unnecessary for sports organisations to be used as the vehicle for social or political causes,” the statement read.

“There are more targeted and genuine ways to progress social or political causes without virtue signalling or for self-publicity.”