Olympic gold medalist and Australian businesswoman, Dawn Fraser, threw her support behind Gina Rinehart after her company, Hancock Prospecting, decided to withdraw its sponsorship deal with the struggling national sport organization, NA.
The company’s decision to withdraw its sponsorship deal came after a dispute between the players of the national team, the Diamonds, and the organization’s management.
One of the players, Donnell Wallam, criticized the company’s record on Indigenous issues, which dates back to the late Lang Hancock’s comments 40 years ago.
Gina Rinehart, the daughter of Hancock Prospecting’s founder, Lang, made the controversial comments about Indigenous Australians in the 1980s. She suggested that they should be sterilized in order to “breed themselves out.”
The controversy has divided Australians. Many of them support the players’ stance, while others agree with her criticism of the country’s talented athletes.
Fraser, who is a four-time Olympic gold medalist, criticized the players for their stance against Hancock.
She noted that Rinehart has done a lot for Australian sport, and she couldn’t understand why the national team’s players would suddenly pull out of their sponsorship deal.
Rinehart has been criticized for not distancing herself from her father’s controversial statements about Indigenous Australians
. She has also been criticized for her support for various female athletes, such as the Australian synchronized swimming team. Andrew Gaze, a prominent Australian basketball player, criticized Rinehart.