Non-binary bathrooms, no TV ads without coloured or Asian people: This old, white man is sick of it all
Aiming to put a person of colour or woman on the moon, having a netballer help select an AFL coach, ignoring colonial history, gender neutral racing; Steve Price is over it all.
Opinion
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At the end of my street there is a memorial stone with the date ‘1803’ stamped into it.
It sits on the edge of a beach at what is known as Sullivans Cove and marks the landing point of the first English settlement in Victoria.
Just like the monument stone in Sydney at Kurnell, where James Cook first stepped ashore, this should be one place all Victorian schoolchildren visit.
It marks the spot where Lieutenant governor David Collins and 308 convicts, 51 marines, 17 free settlers, 12 civil officers and a missionary and his wife came ashore.
They didn’t last long. With not much water to be found they took off for Tasmania and established Hobart. The English returned 32-years-later and established our state’s capital city — Melbourne.
The now-metropolis of Melbourne turned 185-years-old on Tuesday but you wouldn’t have known because, again, cancel culture struck and the city council refused to recognise it.
Instead, the Labor-Green councillors are in the middle of a debate to even cancel Australia Day and pretend that colonial settlement of Australia and Victoria never took place.
Isn’t it time we took a long hard look and objected to the divisive cancel culture movement that considers even talking about our lived history as something to be avoided, and worse, ashamed of?
I’m sick and tired of feeling I need to be ashamed of being an older, white Anglo-Saxon male. Feeling that I have no place in the debate about what we remember, celebrate, talk and write about because I’m white and old.
This stuff begins innocently enough and then becomes a stampede, and, if you are not careful you get swamped by negative reaction if you object.
Social media has seen to that. Guess what, I don’t care anymore!
Just this past week there have been a few examples of the totally overboard, bending over backwards efforts, to be seen advancing the politically-correct movement that’s strangling us.
On Saturday last week this newspaper broke the news that the VRC (Victoria Racing Club), custodians of the Melbourne Cup Carnival, had scrapped the vacuous but traditional form of Fashions on the Field.
Instead, this October/November we will have a best dressed and best suited award where – wait for it – female, male and non-binary contestants can compete.
Why? Who was it that complained men couldn’t frock up and enter a women’s fashion contest, and should be allowed to?
VRC Chairman Neil Wilson said in celebrating the 60th anniversary of the event he wanted the story to drive equality, inclusion and individuality.
I guess Neil and his committee would have been embarrassed about the coverage Jean Shrimpton generated back in 1965 by wearing a mini skirt without stockings, gloves or a hat.
It would have been seen as sexist and intrusive.
At least back then everyone had a good time. This same VRC stages the Flemington Birdcage which is the antithesis of inclusion — it’s about who pays the most to get in, and features in gossip columns, largely profiling what females are wearing.
On the other side of the world, we had the delayed launch of the giant Artemis rocket planned for takeoff to the moon to repeat the efforts of the Apollo missions of the ‘60s.
Nothing to sneeze at there, except one of the stated missions of the Artemis program was to put the first person of colour and first woman on the moon. Again, why?
Surely if you are setting off on a dangerous mission to outer space you want the best astronauts you can find, not someone who gets a ride because of their sex or colour?
And, if the answer to this question is you can do both, then isn’t the inclusion of the woman or person of colour tokenism?
Were Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin there because of their race or sex or because they could fly a spacecraft? You know the answer.
Then we have the Essendon AFL club. They strike me as a wealthy outfit that’s lost its soul and its way after the supplements scandal. They round out my politically correct trio for the week.
In Essendon’s search for a new head coach after their clumsy sacking of Ben Rutten they have established a panel to choose his replacement.
A friend of mine and someone I worked closely with at 3AW, Robert Walls, has been hired as an independent set of eyes to run the ruler over applicants.
You couldn’t choose a better person. He is brutally honest, a former champion player, premiership coach and outstanding commentator.
Big tick from me. Tick too for Hawthorn and Melbourne champion Jordan Lewis and football manager at Essendon Josh Mahoney – although given the mess that joint is in - I wonder how he gets the gig.
Why though, add female netball coach Simone McKinnis? I love top grade netball and along with golf, is my favourite female sport to watch.
Now Simone might be very smart, a great motivator of women and even an Essendon fan – I don’t know – but what could she possibly bring to the table in choosing an AFL coach?
I could go on and on - golf clubs getting rid of the women’s tee, non-binary bathrooms in pubs, no TV commercials able to be made without a coloured person, someone of Asian background and equal numbers of men and women or a same sex couple.
It’s too hard to stop now. The vocal minorities have won and now white males in our 60s make up a minority group all of our own.
LIKES
Hedley Thomas and his global hit podcast Teachers Pet and the court outcome this week with the jailing of Chris Dawson.
Spring here after a wet winter with AFL finals finally underway.
Masks on domestic flights to disappear next Friday, but why wait a week?
Golfer Cameron Smith the world number two deciding it’s his future and taking the money from the rebel tour?
DISLIKES
Union domination of the federal government’s jobs summit in Canberra.
Shaquille O’Neal’s publicity stunt with PM Albanese.
Airlines jacking up airfares for desperate AFL supporters trying to get to Brisbane and Perth.
Unrealistic EV ambitions from people like the Committee for Sydney, banning petrol car sales in five years.
Australia Today with Steve Price can be heard live from 7am weekdays via the LiSTNR app.
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