Key Points
- Magda Szubanski played "Gina Minehart" on sketch show Open Slather in 2015.
- The sketch has resurfaced after Gina Rinehart's company axed their sponsorship deal with Netball Australia.
A comedy sketch about billionaire mining magnate Gina Rinehart has resurfaced after her company Hancock Prospecting pulled out of a $15 million sponsorship for Netball Australia.
Australian Diamonds players expressed concerns about the partnership because of the company's track record with Indigenous people, prompting Hancock Prospecting to axe the deal on 22 October.
A skit featuring actor Magda Szubanski as "Gina Minehart" stroking a piece of iron ore was then reposted to Twitter as people debated the news.
"What's mine is mine, what's yours is also mine. What's in the mine is mine, and what's not in the mine is also mine," Szubanski said in the sketch.
The clip was from a 2015 sketch series Open Slather, which aired on Foxtel's now-defunct Comedy Channel.
"That was brilliant. Thanks Magda, this has aged perfectly," one person commented.
"More relevant than ever given the withdrawal of sponsorship to netball and Sharon’s love of the game. If you need, if you need … nah," another person wrote, referencing Szubanski's character of Sharon Strzelecki on Kath and Kim.
Szubanski frequently portrayed "Minehart" in skits such as a highly-redacted 60 Minutes interview or haggling at a charity shop.
Why Hancock Prospecting axed its Netball Australia sponsorship
The mining company's $15 million sponsorship commitment, which was to continue for four years, had attracted media attention and public scrutiny after players reportedly expressed concern over wearing the Hancock logo on their uniforms.
Diamonds player and Noongar woman Donnell Wallam was reportedly uncomfortable with historic racist comments made by the company's former owner, Ms Rinehart's father Lang Hancock.
In 1984, Mr Hancock proposed the sterilisation of Aboriginal people through the poisoning of waterways as a "solution" to the "Aboriginal problem".
There were also reports of environmental concerns, a split within the playing group, and communication issues between Netball Australia and the Players' Association.
However, a statement from the members of the Australian team denied there was a split within the group and denied the protest over environmental concerns.
Netball Australia (NA) captain Liz Watson continued to publicly support the deal.
On Saturday afternoon, Hancock Prospecting announced it was withdrawing from the proposed sponsorship.
The Diamonds team celebrate their victory over the New Zealand Silver Ferns at the Constellation Cup on 23 October. Credit: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images
"Hancock, and similarly Roy Hill, embarked on these proposed partnerships in good faith and on the basis of representations and its resulting understanding that Netball Australia and the sport's key stakeholder groups including the Australian Diamonds, were united in their support of one of West Australia's preeminent mining companies becoming their principal sponsor," the statement said.
In the second statement, Hancock implied media scrutiny had been part of the reason for scrapping the sponsorship offer.
"The reality is that sponsorship is integral to sports organisations — for full-time professionals right through to young children at the grassroots level who rely on the corporations investing the funds that enable all sports to not only survive, but thrive."
"Sadly, recent media does not help encourage sporting sponsorships."
