SYDNEY, Australia — Stars from two of
Australia’s favorite sporting codes are pushing back against lucrative energy
and mining sponsorship deals, with cricket captain Pat Cummins leading the
charge on Tuesday.
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Cummins, whose role as test captain makes him one of
Australia’s most
prominent public figures, told local media he would no longer appear in adverts
for sponsor Alinta Energy.
The 29-year-old fast bowler is a vocal proponent of action on climate
change, an urgent issue in fire, drought, and flood-prone Australia.
Cricket Australia on Tuesday abruptly announced its four-year-old
sponsorship deal with Alinta would end in 2023, citing a change in the firm’s
“brand strategy”.
Cricket administrators denied the parting had anything to do with
Cummins, despite reports of changing-room disquiet.
The player said the relationship with sponsors was “a balance”.
“We’ve seen certain players make decisions based on certain religions or
certain foods, they won’t partner with specific partners,” Cummins said.
Australia’s economy is heavily dependent on coal, gas, and mineral
exports and the companies involved are among the country’s more profitable.
Energy and mining firms channel a small percentage of their earnings into
sports from cricket to rugby and netball, sparking a clash of cultures with
increasingly environmentally and culturally conscious players.
Pro-fossil fuel media commentator Chris Kelly accused Cummins of “having
a whinge” and carrying out an “idiotic” protest.
Cultural sensitivities
This week, Australia’s netball team objected to wearing jerseys with a
multimillion-dollar mining sponsor on them after concerns raised by an
Aboriginal player.
Hancock
Prospecting, a mining company led by Australia’s richest person Gina Rinehart,
this year announced an Aus$15 million (US$9 million) sponsorship with Netball
Australia, which has booked losses of $7 million over the past two years.
But the
sponsorship has reportedly caused turmoil inside the Australian Diamonds
national team, with Aboriginal squad member Donnell Wallam raising concerns
about the company’s treatment of Indigenous communities. Her stance has
reportedly been widely backed by other players.
Lang Hancock,
founder of Hancock Prospecting and Rinehart’s father, suggested in 1984 dumping
chemicals in water sources to sterilize Aboriginal populations that caused
trouble.
Netball Australia
said it was aware of “cultural sensitivities raised by a Diamonds squad member”
but said it would retain the deal with Hancock.
“Netball Australia
and Hancock Prospecting have been working tirelessly to acknowledge and
recognize the sensitivities, to further understand the concerns of that squad
member and to provide avenues for support,” the national body said in a
statement.
Netball Australia
chair Wendy Archer denied reports that the team had boycotted uniforms with the
Hancock Prospecting logo during recent games in New Zealand.
Volleyball
Australia, also sponsored by Hancock Prospecting, last week said the
controversy was surprising — instead praising Rinehart for her philanthropic
spirit.
“Mrs Rinehart’s
selfless commitment to women’s sport deserves the accolades of our great sporting
nation,” it said.
Former Wallabies
captain-turned-senator David Pocock has voiced his objection to Santos energy’s
sponsorship of the national rugby team he once led.
“I was always proud to
represent my country. As a rugby player, that’s what you dream of. It’s been
difficult to watch a partnership emerge with Santos,” Pocock recently told
local media. “I really think fossil-fuel sponsorship is the new cigarette
sponsorship, where they are advertising a product that we now know is
destroying our home planet and our futures.”
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