CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
In an awkward turn of events for all of the talkback hosts and right-wing columnists that demanded the nation vote NO to division, it seems that the media saturation of a cruel and bigoted campaign against Indigenous self-determination has actually resulted in the textbook definition of division.
The first professional sporting code in Australia to field an openly gay athlete, as well as the first Indigenous representative side, while also having a devout Muslim as the highest point scorer for two decades – is this week under fire from the Australian media for allowing their footballers the democratic right to boycott the national anthem on cultural grounds.
The powerbrokers of Australia’s right-wing propagandist media companies are this week generating as much outrage as they can, in an effort to once again appeal to the worst qualities of Australia, as they continue to lose touch with an increasingly multicultural game made up of players who would much sooner support their Indigenous teammates than sing a national anthem before a football match in some sort of Americanised display of faux-patriotism.
Rugby league icon Johnathan Thurston and Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga have also defended their players for not singing the Australian anthem, with JT likening their decision to Australia’s democratic decision to vote No to an Indigenous Voice.
The issue was brought to light by a News Corp report the day after the Kangaroos pumped Samoa in the Pacific Championships opener in Townsville.
The conservative media outrage has been accelerated by a former Australian Test captain, who played rugby league when the White Australia policy was still in place, publicly lambasting the current after watching the game on Saturday.
It is not clear what the shock jocks, and their grey army of reactionary followers, actually thought would fucken happen after the entire nation was worked up into a hysterical frenzy that resulted in a unsuccessful national vote on the worth of Aboriginal people.
After last weekend it seems that there is now a distinct difference between pride in the jersey and the pride in the nation, especially within a working class playing group that is over 60% Indigenous or Islander.
As was highlighted by the Tribal Tribune, how are our footballers expected to sing the national anthem without a voice.
