Chalmers’ big Rinehart claim as swimmers break ranks on billionaire

Australian swimmers have broken ranks and posted gushing thank you messages to billionaire benefactor Gina Rinehart, with Kyle Chalmers claiming her funding has helped him continue his career in the pool.

Rinehart, the head of mining company Hancock Prospecting and believed to be Australia’s richest person, showered Aussie swimmers with bonus payments for their performances at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow last week.

Before the Games began she pledged to fork out financial rewards to swimmers who won medals or broke records. After a historic program in the pool, Rinehart announced more than $1.2 million in total payments would be made to the athletes.

Before the tournament began, Commonwealth Games Australia warned the swimmers not to thank Rinehart, given “Mrs Rinehart and her companies are not Australian team partners”.

Rinehart was pictured poolside during the Games and was snapped alongside the likes of Lani Pallister - who pocketed about $80,000 in bonuses from the billionaire - and the retiring Shayna Jack, although the swimmers were careful not to thank her during their official media interviews at the time.

Now, Chalmers and teammate Elijah Winnington have taken to Instagram to personally thank Rinehart and highlight her support, which does not extend to any Aussie athlete outside the pool.

“Some people change lives without ever stepping onto the podium or competing!” Chalmers wrote alongside several photos with Rinehart.

Read more

Aussie swimmers banned from talking about billionaire benefactor

“Mrs Rinehart is one of the true Australian greats. Not just because of what she’s been able to achieve, but because she continues to give back to Australia and Australian sport in such a meaningful way.

“At this year’s Commonwealth Games, she awarded $1,272,500 in medal incentive bonuses to Australian swimmers. That kind of support isn’t just generous, it sends a message that all of our hard work, sacrifice and the commitment required to compete at the highest level is VALUED.

“For me personally, it means I can keep chasing something I’ve dedicated my life to. As a husband, a father, and someone balancing the realities of life outside the pool, support like this makes an enormous difference. It gives me the opportunity to keep turning up every single day and seeing just how much I can continue to achieve.

“Mrs Rinehart, thank you for believing in Australian athletes and for investing in our dreams. Your impact reaches far beyond our medals. I’ll never take that support for granted.”

Dolphins team member Sam Short commented on Chalmers’ post, “she is the reason the team is in its best spot ever”.

Winnington followed with a post of his own on Tuesday morning.

“With the Commonwealth Games officially over I’d like to take this opportunity to especially thank our sports (sic) biggest supporter… Mrs Gina Rinehart and Hancock Prospecting,” he wrote.

“Her ongoing support is truly appreciated and I personally am extremely grateful. She has singlehandedly changed the lives of countless Australian swimmers over so many years. Thank you Mrs Rinehart.”

Rinehart previously helped fund Australian netball, but controversially pulled all her money out of the sport in 2022, when Indigenous player Donnell Wallam expressed reservations about Hancock Prospecting appearing on the Diamonds’ uniforms.

Wallam was joined by several then-current and former Diamonds players who questioned the Hancock Prospecting logo on their national kits, given Rinehart’s father, Lang Hancock, said in 1984 that indigenous Australians should be sterilised to “breed themselves out”.

Gina Rinehart has never publicly condemned her father’s comments.

Rinehart is also currently helping to bankroll the divisive Pauline Hanson’s One Nation political party. Hanson was disendorsed by the Liberal party in 1996 for comments on Indigenous Australians, and was recently found to have breached the racial discrimination act over a 2022 tweet about Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi.