United for Adam Goodes: From business elite to Arnhem Land kids

The national debate over whether Adam Goodes is being racially abused has inspired a united call for the booing to stop.

Gumatj children pay tribute to Adam Goodes at Garma. Picture: Melanie Dove

A furious and at times ugly ­national debate over whether Adam Goodes is being racially abused by football crowds has inspired a united call from political, business, community and sporting leaders for the booing to stop.

As one of Australia’s most ­influential business figures, gaming mogul James Packer, declared he felt ashamed to hear opposition supporters heckling Sydney’s ­celebrated Aboriginal star, Tony Abbott urged people to treat Goodes with civility and respect, and the AFL launched a campaign to eradicate abuse by fans.

In the far northern reaches of Arnhem Land, ceremonial dancers from Galarrwuy Yunupingu’s powerful Gumatj clan painted a red V on their chests and Goodes’s number 37 on their backs to perform the opening dance of the Garma Festival. Mr Yunupingu’s son Gabirri, a footballer, had a message for Goodes: “Keep going brother, we are all behind you. Everyone knows he’s going through a tough time down there, and we just wanted to show support. What Goodes is doing is standing up to racism and we support him in that.”

Goodes’s performance of a spear dance during a match two months ago fuelled the booing campaign against him. Prominent Aboriginal academic Marcia Langton, who is at Garma with Aboriginal leaders Noel Pearson and Mick Dodson, said the spear dance had been misrepresented by Goodes’s critics. “It is part of our culture and it doesn’t mean war,’’ she said. “It means strength, it means celebration. I am sick of pig-ignorant bigots saying it means war. How dare they purport to ­represent our culture?

“There are no genuine Abor­iginal people who will stand for the treatment of Adam. We are not going to take this lying down.’’

Actor Jack Thompson, a close friend of the Yunupingu family, said the debate surrounding Goodes had revealed the “depths of racism’’ in Australia.

“It’s an incident that demonstrates a stream that runs through our history and our society,’’ Thompson said.

AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan published an open ­letter to all football fans urging them to stop heckling Goodes.

“Whether you agree or not, the booing of Adam Goodes is perceived by him and many others as being racially motivated and that’s hurting us all,’’ Mr McLachlan wrote. “Adam is hurting, as are his family and close friends, and the game we love is hurting.’’

Fremantle coach Ross Lyon, who previously coached Goodes at the Sydney Swans, said ignorance was no longer an excuse.

“If you continue to boo Adam Goodes, well you’re a racist and you’re a bigot,” Lyon said.

Goodes’s decision to withdraw from training this week and to take no part in today’s match against Adelaide has prompted a groundswell of support for the Swans champion. It also means there will be no repeat of the booing that marred Sydney’s last game, at least for a week.

Across Australia, 150 businesses, community and religious groups and leading universities and charities put their names to a joint statement condemning racism directed at the two-time Brownlow medallist.

“The booing, which has snowballed out of control this year since Goodes proudly displayed his culture during AFL Indigenous Round, appears to be in large part racially motivated,’’ it said. “The behaviour of the crowd that booed him is absolutely unacceptable and must stop. To dismiss claims of racism as just banter is to use football as a shield for prejudice.’’

The banner prepared by the Sydney cheer squad for today’s game is adorned with one word in enormous letters: RESPECT.

The personal toll on Goodes prompted one of his critics from earlier in the week, former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett, to change his position. “Adam finds so much of the commentary to be hurtful and offensive. As such, it is time to draw a line in the sand,’’ Kennett wrote in a statement issued by beyondblue, the anti-depression initiative he chairs.

The public display of support for Goodes included the first public comments by the Prime Minister since Sunday’s game at Subiaco Oval in Perth, during which Goodes was heckled by West Coast supporters.

“The last thing we want in Australia is anything that smacks of racism,” Mr Abbott told Sydney Radio 2SM. “I can understand why he’s upset because no one should be subject to taunts, they particularly shouldn’t be subject to racial taunts. Yes, we’re a robust people and I guess politicians typically get booed at the footy but Adam Goodes is a good bloke and he’s a great player and I hope he’ll get treated with respect and civility.’’

Bill Shorten said although there might be “idiot’’ football supporters who were booing Goodes without knowing why, racism was at the core of the issue. He said the debate about Goodes had been hijacked by extreme views. “I know there are people on the extremes of politics and sometimes even in the media who say that standing up against racism is some form of political correctness,’’ the Opposition Leader said. “To my way of thinking, people who attack standing up against racism are inadvertently or accidentally collaborating with the negative attitudes in our community.”

A corporate event scheduled to announce Crown’s support for constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people yesterday became an impromptu support rally for Goodes, with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews leading three cheers for the Sydney champion and 2014 Australian of the Year.

As Mr Packer was leaving the event he said Goodes deserved to be treated with respect. “He’s a great Australian. He won Australian of the Year. And to hear people booing is something that I’m ashamed of as an Australian,” Mr Packer said.

Professor Langton said if the abuse did not stop, football should. “They AFL doesn’t understand how serious this is,’’ she said. “They clearly don’t understand the extent of racism that Aboriginal people have to put up (with) every day. It is essential for public life that Aboriginal people can participate, so our players can participate, without this brutal baiting. This has got to stop. And if the AFL Commission is serious about this, we have to stop the game when it starts. They might have to stop the game for a minute but it is worth it to preserve standards of behaviour in the game and to prevent the game from being taken over by this riff raff.’’

Additional reporting: Rachel Baxendale, Rosie Lewis