Bad for sports
TONY Abbott recently remarked that sports and politics do not mix. He was wrong, but he is right.
The ex-PM made the comment in reference to the NRL programming American rapper Macklemore as pre-game entertainment for their grand final.
Abbott heard Macklemore was performing his hit song Same Love. Abbott jumped in boots and all. He ignored the fact that Macklemore is an artist (not a politician) and threw himself against the tide of public opinion and declared that sports and politics do not make for good bedfellows. But he ended up scoring an own goal. Millions tuned in to see the song and then junked the game.
Abbott made the mistake of trying to isolate the artist as the politics. He ignored the lyrics and hoped his antics would create a surge of support for “No” in the same sex marriage survey.
He also conveniently avoided the fact that he (like so many other politicians in sports-mad Australia) has been the special guest at hundreds of sports events throughout his career.
He has benefited from the hospitality and no doubt provided favours in return. He is not alone in his willingness to RSVP in the affirmative.
The list of politicians who have tried to jump up on to the bandwagon is endless. John Howard and Robert Menzies never missed a day at the cricket, Bob Hawke showed up at anything with a trophy, even Paul Keating tried to pretend he supported Collingwood.
This year Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten gave speeches at the North Melbourne Grand Final Breakfast. And despite the threat of nuclear war, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop found her way to the AFL Grand Final (again) this year.
It is the politicians who cannot stop themselves from using sports and sporting personalities as cheap boogie boards that might drag them just a little closer to the shoreline of a few extra votes.
But Australia is not alone when it comes to cracking the codes.
This week in Indiana the Vice President of the US, Mike Spence, took his wife to the football. The VP stood for the national anthem and then staged a “walk out” of the stadium.
His protest was a calculated political action to undermine the players who are taking “a knee”.
These players are protesting what they call “systematic discrimination” but the White House is casting these men as unpatriotic and un-American.
The VP is playing to the base. He is demonising a few sportspeople in order to gain some lousy percentage points of opinion approval. It’s not sport. It is politics.
The President actually tweeted that he had instructed his VP to walk out if he felt there was any disrespect to the flag or the national anthem.
This exercise of public condem- nation of a minority is an unhealthy example of the abuse of power.
In a democracy our political leaders have the power to bring healing and social change, that’s what they are being paid for.
They should not be using their pulpit to bully and cajole or ride into favour because they wear the right coloured jersey.
The decision to program Mack- lemore was not political. It was an entertainment choice. This is why Abbott was wrong. Sport and entertainment are celebrations of humanity. They bring people together. Politics is more divisive than a hit on iTunes. It is far more socially dangerous than a touch down or a try conversion. Locally, Geelong is preparing for our first council election in 18 months. The last council was sacked for incompetence and a toxic culture. Some who sat through that period have decided to run again. One of these is Bruce Harwood. Last week Harwood told the Geelong Advertiser that he had not been watching local politics since the dismissal. He has enjoyed his time away from the spotlight, but feels it is the right time to make another run for Gheringhap St. The Addy also reported that Harwood has the support of his son-in-law; Brownlow medallist and Carji Greaves medallist Patrick Dangerfield. He is not the only council candidate to be spotlighting his family. Pat Murnane is also standing in the Kardinia ward. His letterbox literature features a picture of him and his wife and four kids. None of them is a high-profile midfielder, so they won’t have the same access to media in this town. Sport and politics are very different animals. They should be housed in separate stables. Ross Mueller is a freelance writer and playwright.