Aussie netball's deal raises concerns
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SYDNEY - Australia's cash-strapped national netball body said on Tuesday that it would stick with a multimillion-dollar sponsorship deal despite concerns raised by an Aboriginal player.
Hancock Prospecting, a mining company led by Australia's richest person Gina Rinehart, announced in 2022 an A$15 million (S$13.4 million) sponsorship with Netball Australia, which has suffered losses of A$7 million over the last two years.
But the deal has reportedly caused turmoil inside the Australian Diamonds national team, with Aboriginal goal shooter Donnell Wallam, 28, raising concerns about the company's treatment of Indigenous communities.
Rinehart's father, the late Lang Hancock who founded the mining company, had in 1984 suggested dumping chemicals in water sources to sterilise Aboriginal populations which caused trouble.
The uncapped Wallam is not in the Constellation Cup squad, but is on track to be the third Aboriginal netballer to represent Australia.
She was reluctant to wear the sponsor's logo and her stance has reportedly been widely backed by other players.
The Diamonds then appeared in two recent Constellation Cup games in New Zealand without Hancock's logo on their jerseys, prompting talk that the players had staged a boycott.
They lost both matches.
Former Australia captain Sharni Norder told RSN Radio on Monday that a lack of communication with the players to get them on board with the deal was to blame for the "messy" situation.
She claimed that the players had been prepared to wear the jerseys with the new sponsor for the Constellation Cup series, but the "dresses they got provided with didn't have the sponsor on it".
On Tuesday, Netball Australia said that it was aware of "cultural sensitivities raised by a Diamonds squad member".
It said in a statement that Hancock Prospecting met with the Diamonds' leadership group the day after the concerns were raised to "extend its support and commitment" and to "share experiences, understand perspectives and support these cultural sensitivities through the partnership".
Captain Liz Watson said all parties "wanted to make it work".
Volleyball Australia, also sponsored by Hancock Prospecting, last week said the controversy was surprising - instead praising Rinehart for her philanthropic spirit.
AFP