Statement on Australia Day

When the Brisbane Bullets play the Sydney Kings at Nissan Arena on Australia Day, Tuesday January 26th, the NBL will be thinking of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and we stand with them on a day that we know brings about pain.

NBL Owner and Executive Chairman Larry Kestelman and NBL Commissioner Jeremy Loeliger said: “As we reflect on our past as a nation and work to build a stronger future for all Australians, we as a league continue to reflect how we can best utilise our position as a global sport that brings all peoples together. As a sport and a league, we are committed to unite our varied and vast communities.”

The Co-Chair of the NBL’s Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) Working Group Leanne Brooke said: “We at the NBL are committed to increasing awareness and understanding about our shared history and increasing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander recruitment, retention and professional development in the league.

“On 26 January, and all days, we stand with the Australian Indigenous communities as we pay our respects to past and present families who have been affected by the wrongs of the past.

“By working together we can move forward. We must acknowledge the past in this country. As the Brisbane Regional Dialogue noted in the Uluru Statement: In order for meaningful change to happen, Australian society generally needs to "work on itself" and to know the truth of its own history.

“As a NBL Community, we continue our commitment to work on ourselves in the spirit of reconciliation.”