Heaven’s game opts for a hellish Yes push for Voice
The referendum for an Indigenous Voice offers Australians perhaps the greatest single opportunity in the entire history of this great nation to declare our freedom.
Specifically, it presents a priceless chance for us to stand up and tell sporting administrators across the land to bugger off all at once.
These occasions come about only every so often with individual sports, but typically do not involve great passion. The closest thing to genuine “bugger off” moments would be the sullen, grudging recognition given to administrative types at grand final celebrations or awards nights.
You know the sort of thing: “And here to present the prize for once again avoiding sending the whole code into receivership is Josephine Cashmere-Silk, Rugby Australia’s junior financial controller, diversity outreach consultant and reserve loosehead prop.”
Obligatory yet painfully unenthusiastic applause follows.
But now, thanks to just about every sporting code in the country deciding that they’re political organisations with a particular interest in constitutional reform, Australians can join together in huge numbers and bellow as one at these sanctimonious clowns: “No!”
This would be as much a verdict against the Voice’s divisive and undemocratic ambitions as it would be against professional sport’s everworsening toxic wokeness.
It would be a far bigger “No!” than the magnificent republican rejection of 1999, which basically amounted to a smack across the chops for Malcolm Turnbull, the media and various surly individuals (Paul Keating, Thomas Keneally, people named Sean) whose bloodlines showed tragic historical evidence of potato deprivation.
Back in 1999, sports organisations believed that their main roles were to do with sport. In fact, “believed” is overstating it. They didn’t even seek involvement in other sports, much less politics. But turn up in 2023 to discuss an Indigenous Voice to parliament and you’ll be welcomed inside by the NRL, the AFL, Rugby Australia, Cricket Australia and, for all I know, the NSW Snowboarding Alliance or Triple Jump Federation.
Rugby Australia last week leapt on board the Voice bandwagon, issuing a pro-Yes statement of truly Turnbullian tosh.
“The proposed referendum on the Voice to parliament is too important a contest to watch in silence,” Rugby Australia – a group formed to promote rugby in Australia, by the way – declared. “Whatever pollies and pundits say, what it comes down to is a principle ordinary Australians already apply every day, in every aspect of their lives,” the statement continued. “A level playing field.”
Adding an extra wing of parliament, be it advisory or (more likely) otherwise, doesn’t provide a level playing field. Rather, it tilts the playing field in favour of the team with the most players.
Given the probable composition of the Voice, we’d end up with another batch of Senate-quality lefties who’d combine with their upper and lowerhouse mates to block anything sensible or productive.
If we’re ever going to achieve true union as a nation,” the statement went on, “we must take every opportunity we have to close the gap that still separates so many of us.”
Credit where it’s due. By losing so much money, Rugby Australia has impressively reduced its financial advantage over Australia’s poorest and most desperate people.
But we’re not going to bridge that gap overall with another mega-dollar, Canberra-based Indigenous entity. And that’s all the Voice is. It’s shaping to be an embiggened, parliamentary-powered ATSIC.
Still, if the Voice does get up, let’s establish in law a simple way to check its progress. For one month every year the Voice and its staff should be based in central Wilcannia, NSW.
Improvement would be measured by any falls in the number of Voicers each year who flee the place.