Sam Newman has stepped up calls to “boo” Welcome to Country and launched an extraordinary attack on Aboriginal legend Adam Goodes.
Newman said Tony Jones from 3AWon Melbourne radio on Thursday, It was the AFL’s fault. Fans had booed Goodes in ugly scenes that the star footballer said ended his career prematurely.
The 77-year-old insisted Goodes was not booed because of his skin color and suggested no Indigenous AFL player had ever been booed because of their race.
During the interview, Jones pointedly asked Newman, “Are you racist?”
Newman stammered in response: “Now…what…No, no, please…”
Sam Newman doubled down on his speech calling on Australians to boo Welcome to Country
Jones clarified: “I think there are people listening to this right now with an open mind who would like me to ask that question.”
Newman said: “Please… now tell me what you think a racist is besides saying to me.
“Who have I vilified? I don’t think you know what racism is. Racism is all about hatred and that is if you desecrate, decry or degrade someone, think you are superior to them or try to dominate them. It’s the most overloaded word in the English lexicon right now… tell me why everything I’ve said and done is nonsense for the sake of racism.
However, in 2015, Goodes had been booed for weeks every time he went near the ball before the jeers reached the next level when he performed the now infamous “throwing spear” gesture on a young fan.
Adam Goodes says 14-year-old girl should be removed from MCG over comments she made about him (above)
Adam Goodes was booed by fans weeks before making the now famous ‘throwing spear’ move
“Adam Goodes was booed because he pretended to throw a spear at the Carlton cheer team after the Swans beat them by 10 goals at half-time and he wondered why people… “People were getting booed on the football field, not because of their skin color, but because of the things they do,” Newman said.
“I know it, everyone knows it. Then the AFL jumped into this… and said “please don’t boo Adam Goodes”. It’s like a red rag to a bull.
Newman called on Australians to boo the traditional ceremony (pictured) not only during the Grand Final, but every time it takes place.
Sam Newman has major gripe with AFL over inclusion of welcome to country ceremony before matches
Newman also insisted he was not trying to incite violence against First Nations people after urging Australians to boo Welcome to Country in the AFL grand final.
“We like going to the football and watching the game without being told to vote for the gay marriage proposal, which is good, without being told to vote for The Voice – I know (the AFL) withdrew his directive to vote Yes for the vote. Why are they getting involved? he said.
‘I will tell you. This is an absolute hoax. It’s a mistake. Welcome to the Country. Why should we be welcomed in the country we live in? Why is that? It’s just a mark of division. The people who welcome you to the country get a nice benefit from it. Why do they charge to have it? It’s just a crime.
Newman described his podcast speech as a “provocative and ironic demand” for Australians to reject Welcome to Country.
Asked about the perceived backflip, Newman stood by his comments, telling Jones he would boo him if he attended this year’s AFL Grand Final.
“I don’t stop at anything,” Newman said.
Moments before Newman’s radio spot, firebrand Senator Lidia Thorpe appeared on television.
“Sam Newman, I don’t even know why he’s in the news. It has no connection to any debate of the time,” she said Thursday morning on The Today Show.
“It’s about peace. The whole message behind this is respect.
“Sam Newman is not a respectful man at the best of times. He needs to educate himself.
The show’s host, Karl Stefanovic, then asked Ms Thorpe to comment on suggestions there were “too many” welcome ceremonies to the country.
“I think it depends on the traditional owners themselves and the event. It’s important for people to understand the land they live on and the stories behind it,” she said.
“I don’t think there are many, I think the stories that are told are important for this country to mature and come together.”
Sam Newman was clear on his thoughts on welcome-to-country ceremonies
Newman lit the fuse of his podcast You can’t be serious with co-host Don Scott.
“How about this, the next time you go to a public event like the Grand Final or a football match or any other public event in an auditorium and they sing the Welcome to Country, start booing …or clapping slowly,” he said. His public.
Newman said many First Nations Australians shared his views on the ceremony.
“There are so many people saying it and I still say it’s just pressure for reparations and financial power.” It is, and I say this, the next time you go to a football match, a final, and they are talking this nonsense, just start booing and it will stop (it),” he said. -he declares.
“The AFL should be absolutely flogged for whipping people into a frenzy over this. Patronize their whiteness by thinking they can virtuously dump all their sins on us.
“Honestly and truly, this needs to stop because it has divided the country more than anything. We want to be a group of people living together and respecting each other, Don. Start booing or clapping slowly or something like that.