Netball: Australian players' dispute unlikely to affect NZ tour

The Australian Players Association is confident it will resolve its issues with Netball Australia and the planned tour of New Zealand next month will go ahead.

The association, which represents all Australia's top players, has yet to sign a new collective contract with Netball Australia after the previous one expired on August 31.

Netball Australia president Noeleen Dix said the association gave it a list of demands just two days before the Australian squad was announced on Sunday.

Dix said the contracts were prepared in June but the association waited until last week to respond, giving Netball Australia little chance to negotiate and try to establish a contract before the Australian team went into their first camp on Friday.

The association disputes that, saying that Netball Australia didn't put forward a "proper" offer. As a result, the camp has been called off, as the players were not willing to turn up to work without a contract. Apart from that, 10 of the 16 players had been involved in the previous weekend's Commonwealth Bank Trophy grand final.

The key issue is money, with players wanting compensation for the time they have to spend away from their jobs in netball camps and on tours, a system which has been in place in New Zealand for some time.

The Australian players are asking for A$200 ($237) a day but are willing to negotiate. It is unclear if and how much they get paid now.

The players would also like more notice of when camps will take place and of their travel arrangements so they can warn their employers. At the moment they say they are only getting a day or two's notice. They would also like assurances that training equipment will be provided.

Dix said the demands were not unrealistic. "They are things we attempt to deliver anyway," she said. "The biggest issue for us is the financial payments to them. We will be given Government funding to go towards assisting our athletes but that commences in 2007.

"What we had budgeted for and what they are asking for are two different things."

Dix said Netball Australia would meet the association early next week and she was "hopeful" of a resolution. Players Association director Bill Shorten, who is also national secretary of the Australian Workers Union, said he didn't see why the New Zealand tour wouldn't go ahead.

Netball New Zealand chief executive Shelley McMeeken said she had spoken to Dix and would monitor the situation. She said Netball NZ had an "alternative approach" if the series did fall over but would not say whether it involved another international side.