CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
The one man that Australia looks to as the ultimate decider on what constitutes institutional racism, has this week declared he may have gotten it wrong once before.
Peter Helliar, a former stand up comedian turned evening TV show panellist is well known for his street-smarts and ability to put himself in the shoes of the persecuted, says he has changed his tune on the whole ‘chimp thing’.
This follows the release of the ‘Do Better’ Report, which found that Helliar’s beloved Collingwood Football club might actually be as racist as the rest of Australia thought it was when Adam Goodes got booed into retirement.
The report was instigated after former player Héritier Lumumba made claims about enduring a “culture of racist jokes” and being nicknamed “Chimp” while playing for the Magpies between 2005-2014.
Peter Helliar – who is a club member at Collingwood – was quick to publicly question the authenticity of Lumumba’s allegations, during a live discussion on The Project panel.
On a live national TV broadcast, Helliar said “it would be really helpful if we heard more detail, especially with the nickname” and claiming the former player risked “smearing an entire club” if his story could not be verified.
Helliar’s decision to stick his neck out to defend a historically problematic institution of average footballing is now being viewed as ‘not the right call’.
This week, as the club president Eddie McGuire stands down over severe backlash to his poor handling of the club culture, Helliar has admitted that he too can get it wrong when it comes to deciding to undermine a black man’s brave decision to speak out on against discrimination on what must have been the worst day of his life.
Helliar’s backpedalling from his initial position that maybe this whingeing black was lying about the alleged misconduct of a bunch of 19-year-olds who are paid to run high knees training drills for a living, has left the Australian public in shock.
“If Peter got it wrong, I don’t know what to think” says Melbourne resident, and avid night time TV viewer, Annette Carlton (55, HR).
“The Project is where I go to reaffirm that Australia is actually full racist redneck cunts… But on the one occassion he decides to critically analyse a topic, it turns out it was only to defend his own”
Another Victorian, Ted Prahran (65, plumber) is equally as confused about Helliar’s brain snap to defend a bunch of his favourite footballers against something that could have easily happened in any football club in the country.
“He told me and millions of other Australians that this man was lying… And now it’s been revealed that he doesn’t”
“Peter wouldn’t have just said those things purely because of his allegiance to a football team, would he???”
MORE TO COME.
