The uncomfortable flip-side to Gina Rinehart hatred

There’s an uncomfortable truth behind the high-profile fallout between Australian netball and Gina Rinehart, according to some First Nations leaders.

There’s an uncomfortable truth behind the high-profile fallout between Australian netball and Gina Rinehart, according to some First Nations leaders.

Netball Australia was dealt a major financial blow after billionaire Rinehart’s mining company Hancock Prospecting pulled the plug on a $15 million sponsorship deal.

The crippling financial blow came after revelations Diamonds players had concerns about wearing a team uniform that included sponsorship branding from Mrs Rinehart’s company.

This was due to comments made by Rinehart’s father Lang Hancock, who infamously suggested in 1984 Indigenous Australians should be sterilised to “breed themselves out” in coming years.

Businesswoman Gina Rinehart has copped backlash for pulling millions in sponsorship for Netball Australia. Picture: Hancock Prospecting

While plenty, including the likes of Australian Boxing royalty Anthony Mundine, have slammed Mrs Rinehart’s actions, some First Nations leaders say her support for Australia’s Indigenous community more broadly has been invaluable.

Former chairman of the Coalition government’s Indigenous Advisory Council, Nyunggai Warren Mundine, tasked those “b**ching” about the fallout to put their money where their mouth is and fork out for Netball Australia by other means.

“[Lisa Wilkinson] and Peter [Ford] got a few bucks,” he tweeted, responding to the two journalists.

Nyunggai Warren Mundine said critics need to put their money where their mouth is. Picture: Tim Hunter.

Wilkinson recently took an on-air swipe at Mrs Rinehart, refuting claims from the miner that sport and politics can be separated.

“Donate it to Netball Australia,” Mr Mundine continued.

“In fact, all the people b**ching and complaining about Gina Rinehart here, put your money where your mouth/tweeter is.

“I reckon with all the whinging here; you could easily raise more than $15m. And even I can support that.”

Another to praise Mrs Rinehart for her contributions to Indigenous Australians was Clinton Wolf, managing director of National Indigenous Times and non-executive director of Madalah LTD, a not-for-profit that offers secondary and tertiary education scholarships for Indigenous children in Western Australia.

He argued that Mrs Rinehart had let her actions do the talking over the years.

In an op-ed published by the National Indigenous Times, Mr Wolf detailed in length how significant Mrs Rinehart’s funding was to Madalah and other Indigenous organisations.

“Madalah is chronically underfunded, due in part to the Western Australian Government continually refusing to provide any funding which is ironic given they have reaped a record $11 billion budget surplus in the last two years due in no small part to the mining industry,” he wrote.

Clinton Wolf went in to bat for Mrs Rinehart in a recent opinion piece in the National Indigenous Times.

“If it wasn’t for the Federal Government providing some funding as a result of decisions made by the former Federal Minister for Indigenous Affairs Nigel Scullion and current Minister Linda Burney, the future of Madalah and the exceptional service and support it delivers would have been bleak at best.

“It was because of these reasons, the Board of Madalah made an unprecedented and absolutely necessary decision to approach WA Industry about providing ongoing funding in a desperate bid to secure as many Indigenous scholarships for prospective students as it possibly could.

“The Madalah Board’s decision ended up being correct because when it comes to supporting Indigenous education In Western Australia, it is Industry that has stepped up to the plate to address the widening funding shortfall.”

Mr Wolf said Rinehart’s Roy Hill Community Foundation developed the Hanrine Futures Program, approaching Madalah to partner with them to secure scholarships.

“The Roy Hill Community Foundation quickly committed to a multi-year, multimillion-dollar funding arrangement to ensure that many Indigenous kids could now have the opportunity they so desperately needed.” he continued.

“The Roy Hill Community Foundation’s Hanrine Futures Program funded by the Hancock Group of companies will provide long-term scholarships as well as training, work experience and internships through to employment.”

“Did Madalah agonise over partnering with Mrs Rinehart and her companies? Absolutely not.”

“Madalah is proud to say that Mrs Gina Rinehart’s companies are among Madalah’s most important sponsors and supporters.”

Australian Diamonds player Donnell Wallam is the third Indigenous player to play on Australia’s national netball team.

Mr Wolf took umbrage with links being made between Gina Rinehart and her late father, Lang Hancock’s past comments about Indigenous people.

It is said Mr Hancock’s unsavoury comments from the 1980s about sterilising Aboriginal people was a driver behind Indigenous player Donnell Wallam’s hesitance to wear the company’s logo.

“Since when do we judge someone because of who their parents are or were or what they said?” Mr Wolf said.

“What people perceive about someone is often the exact opposite of who that person actually is.

“Madalah’s experience has been that Mrs Rinehart is a kind and generous person who genuinely cares about Madalah and its Indigenous students.

“Mrs Rinehart should be applauded for her generous sponsorship of Netball Australia, Madalah and a host of other very worthy causes that desperately need financial support, which she supports without fanfare.

“While others have criticised her from the sidelines, she does deeds with a good heart. Actions always speak louder than words.”

Senator Nampijinpa Jacinta Price is another Indigenous leader to support Mrs Rinehart’s move to pull funding. Picture: Monique Harmer

Indigenous Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price was another Indigenous leader to back Ms Rinehart’s decision, labelling Netball Australia’s response “utterly ridiculous”.

“It’s absolutely ridiculous that there’s this notion that it’s okay now days, to judge individuals on the basis of what their mother, father, uncle, aunty, somebody who their related too, did,” she told Sky News on Monday night.

“If that was the case, there would be a lot of people, Indigenous people included, that we would all look down upon because of someone else’s actions or behaviours.

“It’s utterly ridiculous that this ever occurred.”

Mr Price said Ms Rinehart’s contributions to Indigenous Australia “deserved respect”.

“She (Gina) has supported Indigenous Australians across a number of various ways … and she’s been extremely generous because she cares about the welfare of Indigenous Australians,” she said.

“To turn around and decide ‘oh hang on a second, no I don’t want to wear this because I am choosing to be upset by comments made by somebody else related however many years ago’ … it’s ridiculous.”

As for Ms Price’s thoughts on Netball Australia, she didn’t hold back.

“Unless you’ve got a cool few million in your back pocket to support your sporting code, your woke sense of self-importance should be your private opinion and your private opinion only,” she said on Facebook.

Mrs Rinehart’s venture Hancock Prospecting has a history of supporting initiatives for Indigenous Australians

“Sporting codes, corporates and society, in general, need to grow a spine and stop pandering to self-righteous individuals on the basis saying ‘No’ to their selfish demands just might attract accusations of racism or bigotry.”

The miner claims its contributions to Indigenous Australians total over $300m over a broad range of areas.

“Initiatives that promote the health and wellbeing of Indigenous Australians, fund services in remote and rural communities, encourage participation in education and art, are funded by Hancock and Roy Hill, and many other industry participants,” A company statement said.

“Mining is making a real difference to the people where we operate with Hancock and Roy Hill having contributed well in excess of $300M to Indigenous Australians in the form of royalty payments over the past seven years alone.

“Royalty payments represent only one part of our contribution to Indigenous Australians, with our wider engagement extending to providing jobs, training, business opportunities and supporting a wide range of health and cultural programs, which make a real difference.”

Hancock Prospecting has also sponsored NAIDOC since 2012, and supports the Indigenous Emerging Business Forum as part of its portfolio of philanthropy, as well as being a large employer of Indigenous Australians.