BarnabyB slams netball players

Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce has joined in on slamming Netball Australia players over a decision to denounce a $15m sponsorship from mining magnate Gina Rinehart.

While many Australians have praised the players’ moral stance, Mr Joyce suggested the players are ungrateful and have left the company in a sticky situation.

“How about saying thank you rather than, I don’t want (the money)?” he told Sunrise on Monday.

“You’ve got $15 million of somebody else’s money that’s been given to you … Now the money is gone, guess what, we haven’t got the money to pay our players and to cover the financial situation that Netball Australia finds itself in.”

Mr Joyce pointed to other women’s sporting associations who have put their hand up to take the money, including Australian Women’s Golf.

“We have people coming out such as Australian women’s golf saying ‘ we will take the money’. There are a lot of other causes and returned servicemen and returned servicewomen and women’s sports who say ‘we will have the money’.

Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie also lashed out at “picky” Australian netballers, saying they have “cooked the golden egg” following the loss of a $15m sponsorship deal.

Billionaire Gina Rinehart’s mining company Hancock Prospecting pulled the plug on its offer to Netball Australia on Saturday, jeopardising the sport’s financial future.

“I am not really sure what other options she had, I would say that those girls are going to be doing a lot of sausage sizzles at Bunnings and a lot of chook raffles,” Senator Lambie told the Today show on Monday morning. “I think one should have been grateful they were getting the money. If they have backup and someone else is going to pick up that tab, that is good for them.