Speech by Mrs Gina Rinehart AO 2026 – Swimming Patron’s Awards Night Gala
Speech by Mrs Gina Rinehart AO
2026 Swimming Patron’s Awards Night Gala
Thursday, 8 October
Brisbane
Good evening swimmers, and everyone,
It is wonderful to be surrounded by so many of Australia’s outstanding swimmers and Para swimmers, together with your families, coaches, friends and volunteers.
Tonight is about recognising you, your achievements, and the years of effort and dedication behind every race. Although I am here as your Patron, after more than three decades supporting swimmers, firstly in West Australia, then Queensland, now nationally too, I hope you know that I am also one of your most loyal supporters.
Now tonight ladies I know is also about the dress! May I add you look fantastic! Hope you like mine, bought especially for you, thought it had a young look, well, I do try!
Firstly, to our outstanding Dolphins and Para Dolphins who represented Australia at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, my warmest, congratulations – viewers around Australia kept awake to watch your races!
Seventy-six medals, 37 gold,16 silver and 23 bronze, made this the greatest Commonwealth Games performance ever achieved by an Australian swim team. Indeed, any competing team.
From our experienced champions to the 15 swimmers making their international debuts, every member of the team contributed. Some won medals, some broke records, some achieved personal bests, and some played vital roles in heats and relays. Each of you wore the green and gold with pride
Every swimmer contributed, whether by winning a medal, setting a record, helping a relay reach the final, or encouraging a teammate when it mattered most, because great teams succeed through unity, loyalty, high morale and genuine care for one another.
Then, with barely any time to catch your breath after Glasgow, many of our Dolphins travelled to California, for the Pan Pacific Championships, where Australia completed its most successful Pan Pacs competition with 35 medals, 15 gold, 11 silver and nine bronze, against some of the strongest swimmers in the world, two years before the Los Angeles Olympic Games.
To every Dolphin who competed at the Pan Pacs, my very warmest congratulations.
As our swimmers, their families and coaches well know, achievements like these do not happen just because of a medal reward. Behind every medal are years of thousands of early mornings, endless laps, gym training, sometimes medical setbacks, difficult recoveries, disappointments that had to be overcome, together with the self-discipline to keep putting in the effort, when no one is watching and when it would be much easier not to.
That is why tonight we also very warmly thank the parents and families who have made countless sacrifices, the coaches who have challenged, encouraged and believed, and the doctors, physios, and volunteers whose assistance is often unseen, but whose contribution is essential.
At a time when young Australians are too often shown on TV screens, ranting, with unbrushed, unwashed hair and clothes, or who believe what they want should be instant without hard work or sacrifice, you provide much more inspiring leadership, because you live and demonstrate that worthwhile achievement comes from hard work, self-discipline, resilience, sacrifice, teamwork and accepting responsibility for becoming the very best you can be. These are fantastic qualities for your future.
The country you represent so well, was built by incredible pioneers prepared to work hard, rise to challenges and to keep going when the path was tough, trying to make a better future for their children. Over the centuries, we have many we can be proud of, of course our veterans, also those in the country who feed not only us with high-quality produce, but who feed and clothe the world. Those of you with families in the country, know many are struggling, and profit lines, if there are profits, are extra thin, as government charges keep rising.
Indeed, many are struggling in our country now, that’s what misguided or bad economic management brings, difficulties for many, stress for many, especially those on restricted incomes like pensions, that our government restricts from being able to work if they chose as much as they may want, record business failures, cost of living crisis, and lower standards of living. I don’t know if you know, how important your achievements on the international stage are, to so many Australians especially in these times, helping to lift spirits when they can watch you on tv, and see you do Australians proud.
You inspire our country, and you remind us how very uplifting it is to see our flag raised and hear our national anthem played, while you are proudly standing on the podium.
Following the Commonwealth Games, we were delighted to recognise Australia’s medal-winning swimmers and Para swimmers with $1,272,500 in performance bonuses, to help to say “thank you” for your efforts and achievements, for the pride you bring our country, and for the wonderful example you set for Australians. In particular but not only, younger Australians.
Well, we have the fight of our lives coming up in 6 years, the Brisbane Olympics, an opportunity on home ground that many Olympians never get. An opportunity to make Australians proud, and to inspire Aussies across our country.
For those of you who are young , training hard and aiming towards making your first Australian team, hoping to receive your first Australian uniform, please keep training and learning, never become complacent and never lose that motivation to improve, because the opportunity before this generation of young Australian swimmers to swim in an Olympics held in our own country , is rare and truly enormous.
I will now invite forward the athletes who were awarded medal bonuses at the Commonwealth Games. As Jeff Winnington calls your names, please quickly come to the stage to collect your Kidman sturt desert pea neck chiefs, also I’m told, called twillies!
Alex Perkins
Alex Saffy (para)
Beau Matthews (para)
Ben Armbruster
Benjamin Goedemans
Brendon Smith
Brittany Castelluzzo
Cam McEvoy
Col Pearse (para)
Edward Sommerville
Elijah Winnington
Ella Ramsay
Emily Beecroft (para)
Flynn Southam
Gemma Sellick (para)
Hannah Casey
Hannah Fredericks
Harrison Turner
Harrison Vig (para)
Henry Allan
Inez Miller
Iona Anderson
Isaac Cooper
Jack Ireland (para)
Jamie Jack
Jasmine Greenwood (para)
Jenna Forrester
Jenna Jones (para)
Jessica Cole
Kai Taylor
Kirralee Hayes (para)
Kyle Chalmers
Lakeisha Patterson (para)
Lani Pallister
Lizzy Dekkers
Matt Galea
Matt Temple
Meg Harris
Mollie O’Callaghan
Molly Walker
Sam Short
Sam Williamson
Sienna Toohey
Tim Hodge (para)
Victoria Belando Nicholson (para)
William Petric
Zac Stubblety-Cook
Let give another round of applause for our fantastic swimmers!
Thanks Jeff.
It is now my pleasure to present the Patron awards for 2026. This year we have 3 awards to present, one for an Olympic swimmer and 2 for the Paralympic program. We will start with our Paralympic awards.
The winner of one of the Paralympic Patron Awards for 2026 again represented Australia with great distinction, successfully defending his Commonwealth title with gold in the men’s 100 metres backstroke S9, before adding bronze in the 100 metres breaststroke SB9, completing another outstanding Games campaign. The winner of the first paralympic patrons award is, Tim Hodge.
The winner of the other Paralympic Patron Award for 2026 had an outstanding Games, claiming gold in the women’s 100 metres freestyle S13 and bronze in the 50 metres freestyle S13, completing a superb two-medal campaign and representing Australia with great distinction. The winner of the second paralympic Patron’s awards for 2026 is, Jenna Jones.
Now for our swimmers Patron Award.
The winner of the patron award for 2026 achieved an outstanding Commonwealth Games campaign, winning gold in the 400, 800 and 1500 metres freestyle, together with gold in the 4×200 metres freestyle relay and silver in the 200 metres freestyle. She also produced magnificent achievements at the 2026 Pan Pacific Championships, winning gold in the 200m, 400m and 800m freestyle and the 4×200m freestyle relay, as well as silver in the 1500m freestyle, truly magnificent performances.
The winner of the patron’s award, 2026, is Lani Pallister.
Having now had the great pleasure of presenting these awards and our patron’s trophies, may I once again offer my warmest congratulations to every recipient, and with thanks again to the families, coaches, teammates, and volunteers who have helped make these achievements possible. I hope you all leave tonight feeling enormously proud of what you have achieved, inspired by the swimmers around you, and even more determined to continue representing yourselves, your team, and our country with distinction. Please enjoy the rest of your evening.
