Executive Chairman Mrs, Gina Rinehart and all at Hancock Prospecting wish all athletes representing our country all the very best. We look forward to hearing the Australian anthem played, as proud medal winners achieve their well deserved and forever memorable time on the podium.
Image courtesy of the Gold Coast Bulletin and the Townsville Bulletin.
Mining magnate Gina Rinehart is already one of Australia’s biggest Olympic fans and already contributes up to $10m annually to four Olympic sports: swimming, rowing, volleyball and artistic swimming. Wylie said off the back of Tokyo, there is an opportunity to capitalise on the generosity of the philanthropic community and individuals like Rinehart. “Gina Rinehart did a really important job with her sports at Tokyo, she’s shown the way and there’s a tremendous opportunity to tap into that,” Wylie said.
Gina Rinehart (executive chairwoman, Hancock Prospecting): In the cut-throat world of mining, she stands out for building a globally significant company. Rinehart took the risks necessary to turn her inheritance into the country’s most valuable private company. Her support for Australian athletes in the last few years clearly helped Australia to equal our most successful Olympics in Tokyo.
As Shadow Minister for Sport and Recreation, I would like to acknowledge the excellent performance of the Australian Olympic team at the Tokyo Olympics. Athletes not only exceeded all expectations but also gave the Australian sport-loving public a great morale boost during these difficult times.
As the Olympics come to a close and on the cusp of the Paralympics, I would like to thank Gina Rinehart and the Hancock Prospecting Group for their ongoing support of our Olympic team and of sport in general.
Some of Australia’s most accomplished swimmers also have the benefit of private sponsorship. Gina Rinehart, Australia’s richest person and the executive chairman of Hancock Prospecting, is behind a quarterly grant of up to $8,000 for Olympic hopefuls. The financial support “allows them to focus on their training and performance and not be distracted by financial pressures that most athletes face,” Swimming Australia states. The same program also provides an incentive pool of $170,000 for medalists and top-eight finishers. Australia’s top rowers have also benefited from Rinehart’s sponsorship. The Australian reports the mining magnate has underwritten a $525-a-week wage for the nation’s top 50 rowers in both the men’s and women’s competitions. That support has been “profound” and “game changing,”
But Ms Rinehart warned that in the lead-up to Brisbane hosting the world’s biggest sporting event in 2032, governments needed to cut red tape to ensure teams and facilities were ready in time. “I hope our governments now take the bit between their teeth and realise 10 years time is a relatively short time to prepare Queensland for the Olympics, and grasp this opportunity to ensure Queensland shines,” she said. “To do this we must cut government tape to welcome significant investment and businesses, improve airports, improve marinas, build exciting new tourist facilities and accommodation, to really show Queensland and Australia as a must-repeat visit destination.”
The hot stock of 2020 – the Gina Rinehart-backed lithium explorer Vulcan Energy Resources – says it is pursuing a dual-listing with plans to list on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in response to demand for European investors.
Now that Brisbane has secured the 2032 Olympics, the federal government will be under pressure to ramp up funding for sport to try to overhaul the 58-medal haul at Sydney in 2000. There will be commercial benefits for some of our gold medallists. Yet, as we reported on Saturday, 11 of Australia’s gold medallists received financial support from the nation’s richest person, iron ore magnate Gina Rinehart. A prosperous economy and a strong civil society are critical to Australia’s success across all walks of life.
Little old Australia. Punching above its weight. Population, a mere 25 million. Cut off from the world by Covid-19. Fighting just to get to the Olympics. Winning a record-equalling 17 gold medals. Little old Australia. What an eclectic group of winners. The swimmers. A BMX bandit. Canoeists. Sailors. Rowers.
