Gina Rinehart sponsorship of Netball national team sparks anger from Sharni Norder

Australia’s former captain Sharni Norder has criticised Netball Australia’s choice to simply accept sponsorship for his or her Diamonds national team from mining billionaire Gina Rinehart.

Norder (nee Layton), who performed 46 occasions for Australia and skippered the team in 2017, referred to as on the governing physique to ‘do higher’ regardless of their precarious monetary place.

Earlier this yr the game’s money disaster was revealed, with the Covid-19 pandemic contributing to losses of greater than $7million over the previous two years.

Norder, who switched to AFLW in 2018, is a Sports Environment Alliance ambassador and stated netball should not affiliate itself with Rinehart, whom she referred to as a ‘local weather denier’.

Australia’s former captain Sharni Norder has criticised Netball Australia’s choice to simply accept sponsorship for his or her Diamonds national team from mining billionaire Gina Rinehart (pictured)

‘As a proud @SEA_theChange ambassador, it is unacceptable to place our model alongside an open local weather denier,’ Norder tweeted on Thursday.

‘We have put an excessive amount of into our sport to provide social license to an organization who’s (sic) profit-at-all-cost angle places our future in peril. Be higher’.

Rinehart’s firm, Hancock Prospecting, will assist the Diamonds till the tip of 2025, with the cash to go­ in the direction of the team’s excessive­ efficiency program.

It comes at a key time for the national team as they put together for the 2023 Netball World Cup in Cape Town and the Victoria 2026 Commonwealth Games.

Norder (pictured) (nee Layton), who performed 46 occasions for Australia and skippered the team in 2017, referred to as on the governing physique to ‘do higher’ regardless of their precarious monetary place

The athlete stated Netball Australia should not’ affiliate with what she describes Rinehart as a ‘local weather denier’

Netball Australia chief government Kelly Ryan stated the code was ‘extremely grateful’ for Rinehart’s assist.

‘This is a significant funding for our sport and is a big contribution in the direction of the continued success of the Diamonds,’ Ryan stated in a press release on Thursday.

‘We are extremely grateful to this main Australian personal firm, Hancock Prospecting, for its important assist and partnership.’

The Hancock Prospecting brand will function on the Diamonds’ uniforms once they tackle New Zealand within the Constellation Cup subsequent month.

Australia’s richest particular person, Rinehart has additionally invested within the elite degree of swimming, synchronised swimming, rowing and girls’s volleyball along with making a multi-million greenback dedication to the AOC.