Australians have a long history of supporting the underdog and supporting the idea of a ‘fair go”. The deep regard Aussies have for their sport is also well known, and it is on the playing field we witness the great levelling of differences.
This being the case, we can only call into question the motives of the heads of the Australian Football League as they pander to the whims of social engineers, with the introduction of their “Multicultural and Indigenous Player Subsidy” scheme.
The idea of the scheme is supposedly to support the entry of players suffering financial hardship into AFL clubs. Perhaps a noble and altruistic move on the part of the AFL.
Financial hardship, according to one enquiry, is a household earning below $44,000 per annum.
The scheme is one which could have been applauded had it been based purely on the financial criterion, but, as usual, social engineers do not feel vindicated unless they bring the issue of race into the question.
The programme is “part of the AFL’s strategy to encourage diversity in our game”. Such sentiments immediately bring to mind a call “Aussie footy is too white!!!” This despite the long term and impressive presence of Aboriginal players at all levels of the game, and the vast contributions made by players of non-British heritage.
The AFL has made much of the prevalence of its Aboriginal player representation. As of 2014, 69 players on club lists are Aboriginal, representing about 10% of total AFL players. This figure is actually well above what might be expected, given that self-identifying Aboriginals represent about 3% of the national population.
A member of the public who has a long term involvement with local football made an enquiry on behalf of his young relative, to see if he could also receive a subsidy to help him pay his subscription. Despite meeting the financial ruling, he failed on the one criterion we are told does not matter in Australia, and certainly has no place in sport. That issue being his race – the young footballer is white.
If the idea of sport is supposedly to “give everyone a fair go” then the AFL is failing dismally. But the AFL appears unperturbed. CEO Andrew Demetriou recently announced that he would be retiring at the end of the 2014 season. Commenting on Demetriou’s departure, AFL Commission chairman Mike Fitzpatrick praised Demetriou for “his determination to give the game an ethical underpinning and conscience… by implementing plans to embrace multi-cultural communities, expanding opportunities for indigenous Australians as players and administrators at various levels of the game…”
This seems very much like affirmative action, which is hardly justifiable, when it means that young footballers from disadvantaged backgrounds may miss out – simply because they’re white. And apparently, this gives some people a “conscience”!
References:
“Multicultural and indigenous player subsidy”, AFL NSW/ACT
“Multicultural and indigenous player subsidy”, Sporting Pulse
“Current indigenous players in the AFL”, AFL Community Club
“Aboriginal population in Australia”, Creative Spirits
“Breaking: AFL boss Andrew Demetriou resigns”, The New Daily, 3 March 2014 (Melissa Mack)
“‘I never injected anyone’: Demetriou defiant on Dons”, The New Daily, 3 March 2014 (Patrick Smithers)
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So sad, and so true.
Multiculturalism proves yet again that it is a one way road: people of North-European heritage have to accept, give, share, understand, embrace, celebrate, welcome and become more humane towards other cultures, no matter how hostile or incompatible.
How long is this self-inflicted self-destruction and genocide will be continuing for?
The discrimination doesn’t stop there. There’s also generous grants to any group (sporting?) that can be shown to be supportive of Multicultural outcomes as long as they are from a CALD (Culturally and Linguistically Diverse) background. Compliments from from both state, federal, and ALF bodies. One of these so called AFL Multicultural officers said in a meeting I attended, that local WA football clubs need to be more accommodating to these CALD groups. That they need to provide halal foods and restrict alcohol so that a certain group could attend social functions such as BBQ’s and after match meetings. He also mentioned changes to the football dress codes and other things needed to see the growth in crowds and memberships. What he failed to mention was what cultural baggage these CALD’s would also bring to the game and crowds.