Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting demanded four-time gold medallist Dawn Fraser be sounded out to become Swimming Australia president and wanted to direct how its sponsorship money was spent before a bitter fallout with the Olympic sport’s peak body. The mining company, which will sponsor the Australian Olympic Committee at the upcoming Paris Games, also stipulated that only tea and coffee should be served at board meetings, while Fraser would enjoy perks such as free international and domestic business-class flights, with an economy plus-one, and a $2500 per diem allowance when travelling. Providing financial support in swimming, rowing, volleyball and artistic swimming, the 70-year-old magnate has ploughed up to $80 million into Olympic sports and athletes since the 2012 Games in London, and $50 million into swimming alone.
Those she has sponsored have publicly attributed some of their success to her, saying her generosity had allowed them to keep competing when they otherwise may not have been able to afford it. Now an investigation by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age has laid bare the extent to which Rinehart has sought to wield control over Australia’s showpiece Olympic sport and attempted to use Hancock’s backing of the country’s high-profile swimmers to protect its public image. Rinehart’s funding delivers her both influence and access over Australia’s world-beating swim team.
Her clout was highlighted last week when this masthead revealed that a g.
