CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
In news that should surprise nobody, The National Rugby League, a professional football code with a 20% Indigenous playing group -has announced that it wholeheartedly supports a constitutionally enshrined Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
The decision makes the NRL the first football code to formally support the Yes campaign joining Tennis Australia and the Australian Olympic Committee in supporting the Voice.
The organisation formally announced its support on Tuesday morning, with the 17 NRL clubs expected to have already been briefed on the decision which comes just two weeks out from the competition’s Indigenous Round.
“As a proud supporter of the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full, since 2017, the NRL is committed to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice,” the statement read.
This announcement is expected to elicit extreme outrage from the conservative media pundits, as well as the Federal Opposition, all of whom also like to claim that they support free speech.
As the dominant winter code in both New South Wales and Queensland, the NRL has the potential to educate fan and perhaps sway the referendum result in several pivotal regions. This is catastrophic news for the far-right media, who are staring down an existential crisis if the nation acknowledges that Aboriginal people actually deserve a bit of love.
It’s also horrible news for the embattled. Opposition leader Peter Dutton, who has finally opposed the Indigenous Voice, after months of political paralysis while trying to weigh up being on the right side of history or being divisive and making headlines.
However, this will not be the first time Peter Dutton has butted heads with the NRL.
As Immigration Minister in 2017, at the height of the gay marriage debate, Dutton said that if the NRL was going to allow US Rapper Macklemore to sing ‘Same Love’ at the Grand Final – then they should also make him sing a song that was opposed to marriage equality.
So with this kind of genius political brain at the forefront of the ‘No To An Indigenous Voice’ campaign, it’s can be expected that big Dutton will make his way onto Sky News to deliver the ultimate comeback to the NRL: “Leave politics out of sport”
On top of this, he is also expected to say the following five comments.
- “Sport and politics should not mix” (Except for the ANZAC Round, which pays respect to our government’s military forces)
- “Stop forcing your views upon us” (Unless your views are that I should become Prime Minister)
- “Shut up and play football” (But also let me get photos with you whenever I need to appeal to voters during an election campaign)
- “What’s next? An ‘Indigenous’ Round?”
- The NRL should provide balance and also support the NO campaign at the same time as supporting the YES campaign.
