Sporting clubs in the City of Fremantle could soon be impacted by the growing push to ban advertising and sponsorships from oil and gas companies.
On Wednesday night the city’s councillors, representing one of Perth’s ‘greener’ local governments, voted in support of a motion to investigate ways to restrict fossil fuel advertising on council owned or managed land.
Woodside sponsorship is often seen displayed at Fremantle Oval during AFL matches.Credit:Getty
The motion says the city should not accept sponsorships from companies whose main business is the extraction or sale of coal, oil and gas, and likened this advertising to tobacco advertising in the past.
“Air pollution from burning fossil fuels takes 8.7 million lives prematurely each year – more than tobacco,” it says.
It includes consideration of any implications the decision could have for sporting and community organisations who currently use council managed property or sporting venues.
At a subcommittee meeting last week Fremantle Mayor Hannah Fitzhardinge said her daughter had questioned why Woodside was a sponsor on her Nippers jersey and that she felt “uncomfortable” with it.
“We need to have those conversations. I think as a local government, we won’t be able to control what happens on all of our beaches in all of our facilities, but we can lead the way,” she said.
“We can encourage other people to join us, and we can show that there are other ways of achieving outcomes that don’t involve taking sponsorship from companies who were deeply uncomfortable with.”
Speaking to Radio 6PR, local Fremantle mum Tahlia Stolarski said she made a submission to council in favour of the motion and said she had blacked out her daughters Woodside logo on her Nippers uniform.
“Woodside are contributing to the climate crisis, which is becoming more and more apparent in our everyday lives,” she said.
“I think the fact that they’re allowed to put their name on our kids at five years old, who are the ones that are going to be dealing with what they do now is pretty outrageous.”
Fremantle’s Chief Executive Officer will now investigate ways for the City to control or restrict advertising and acceptance of sponsorships and will report back at a later date, before any official decision is made.
The decision would be in line with a climate emergency position statement, supported in May 2019 and adopted in March 2021, which stated the City would “continue to demonstrate corporate responsibility and leadership in its operations, and its promotion of low carbon living.”
The move comes after a group of high-profile Fremantle Dockers supporters called on the club to ditch their Woodside sponsorship.
Perth Festival also recently cut ties with Chevron, after 18 years of partnership, and the Diamond’s netball team took a stand against Gina Rinehart’s sponsorship of their team last week, resulting in the funding being withdrawn.
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