CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
In case you’d forgotten the hysterical protection racket that surrounded Scott Morrison at the last federal election, the Australian media appears to remain firmly in the pocket of our nation’s tax-dodging multinational fossil fuel cartels and their bought politicians.
This has become clearer than ever this week, as the Australian Netball side won a world cup – and still made less headlines than they did in October last year when they politely turned down the genocidal blood money that had been sponsoring them.
Australian newspapers and TV networks have made it glaringly obvious that they have no interest in promoting or celebrating the sport of netball unless it provides a platform for them to also applaud the philanthropy of multibillionaire mining baron Gina Rinehart.
If you only get your news from the 80% of the Australian media landscape that belongs to either Peter Costello or Rupert Murdoch, then you would not know that less than 24 hours ago, our mighty Diamonds thrashed England 61-45 to take back the silverware with their largest World Cup final victory in 28 years.
They also did this without the support of any major sponsors with the political clout to convince any journalists to cover it.
In fact, the most traction the Diamonds have gotten has come from the social media tributes posted by the Matildas athletes who were wishing them well on their concurrent world cup journeys.
Netball Australia has been shadow-banned by the Australian media and political elites since they dared to turn down a multi-million dollar sponsorship from Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting – after very clear concerns were raised by their players who took issue with the whoring from their own board members, and every other sporting body in the country.
For nearly a decade, the mining billionaire heiress has financially supported international Australian sporting teams and the Olympians, which is probably the closest thing we’ll ever get to her paying tax.
However after nearly a decade of record-breaking natural disasters and Rinehart’s refusal to acknowledge or distance herself from the very well publicised racist rhetoric that the company’s namesake and her own father was known to spout – The Australian Netballers were the first to say no in support of Indigenous teammates – and go and do it on their own.
Up the mighty Diamonds.
