Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Digging up and burning fossil fuels is destroying our climate and our environment. A recent report from Swinburne University is the first to quantify the number and value of coal, gas and oil sponsorships in Australian sport. It's not a small number. They spend $14 million to $18 million each year sponsoring 24 high-profile leagues and sports in Australia. Santos, Alinta, BHP and Woodside are all major sponsors. So why do they do it? Because, as the climate crisis intensifies, more and more people are aware that it is greedy, morally bankrupt fossil fuel companies that are fuelling this crisis. More people than ever can see the connection between the greed of fossil fuel corporations and the disastrous climate emergencies we see here and around the world. These fossil fuel corporations know that their social licence is fast evaporating, so they are scrambling to greenwash their environmental reputations by throwing money at high-profile, much-loved sporting leagues and teams.

I came here from Pakistan, passionate about netball, cricket and soccer, and that passion has only grown while I've been here. Fossil fuel companies know that people here love sport. They know that when sports embrace their sponsorship and when athletes wear their names and their logos, it helps to normalise their existence and sanitise their reputation because of the community's love for sport. It is a tactic that's straight out of the playbook of other big, cashed-up, unscrupulous industries, such as the tobacco and gambling industries. Years of sponsorship of sporting teams, arts festivals and other community events position companies as good corporate citizens and locks in dependence on corporate goodwill. We must not accept that. We must not allow dirty, polluting fossil fuel companies to use sport to try and prolong their sorry existence while killing the planet.

Just as we know fossil fuel sponsorship of sport needs to be banned, fossil fuel sponsorship of politicians also needs to be banned. Both Labor and the coalition are on a unity ticket when it comes to accepting dirty donations from fossil fuel companies. As a result, this place is crawling with fossil fuel lobbyists, and, sadly, big events in this place, like the Midwinter Ball, are sponsored by fossil fuel companies. It's no wonder that neither major party will call for an end to coal and gas, despite the overwhelming evidence that this is what we must do as a matter of climate science and as a matter of global justice.

It takes courage to take a stand against powerful fossil fuel corporations. The major parties don't have that courage, but athletes, activists and sovereign owners do. I want to pay tribute to the brave athletes, especially in netball, cricket and the AFL, who are speaking up and refusing fossil fuel sponsorships. In particular I stand in solidarity with Diamonds player and Noongar woman Donnell Wallam for her immense courage, and say kudos to her team for backing her. They are speaking out about their values. They are reflecting the values of their communities and their fans. This is the type of courage that gives me hope for the future.