PM warns Abbott, backs Macklemore to perform at NRL Grand Final

Malcolm Turnbull was asked if Tony Abbott is one of the “angry white dudes in Australia” rapper Macklemore talked of.

Malcolm Turnbull has warned Tony Abbott against trying to “censor the playlist” during the entertainment for the NRL grand final after the former prime minister said American rapper Macklemore’s gay anthem Same Love could politicise the game.

Mr Turnbull said Tony Abbott is “certainly a white dude”, and whether or not he’s an “angry white dude” depends on his mood at the time.

The Prime Minister was responding to American rapper Macklemore’s comment that he’d copped a lot of criticism from “angry white dudes in Australia” over his plan to perform his hit gay rights song Same Love at the NRL grand final on Sunday.

Mr Abbott tweeted in support of a petition calling for the NRL to “take politics out of footy”, saying: “Footy fans shouldn’t be subjected to a politicised grand final. Sport is sport!”

Yesterday someone started a petition in Australia to ban me from playing Same Love at the #NRLGF. Today its #1 on iTunes. Love is winning ❤️

— GEMINI (@macklemore) September 28, 2017

Asked whether he was sick of Mr Abbott “chiming in”, Mr Turnbull said he was “very patient”.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for everyone. Everyone’s entitled to have their say, and if people want to express views on songs or anything else they’re entitled to do so, but I’m for free speech and in this case for the artist’s right to sing his song,” he told the Nine Network.

“I mean In 1991 at the NRL grand final, the Village People did YMCA.

“It’s a question of respecting the artist. It’s one of his top songs, it’s one of his hits. People expect him to play it. He wants to play it.

“The NRL supports same-sex marriage. What’s the problem? Honestly I don’t think trying to censor the playlist at half time entertainment, it’s certainly not my role. I look forward to it.”

‘We have honoured our promises’

Mr Turnbull said commitment was at the heart of marriage, and he and wife Lucy had voted Yes in the same-sex marriage postal survey.

“Lucy and I will shortly have been married for 38 years,” he said.

“If a gay couple down the road and around the corner get married, that’s not going to affect our marriage. In fact them showing their commitment underlines the importance of commitment.”

Mr Turnbull said he had no regrets about proceeding with the postal survey.

“I made a commitment at the election to give everyone their say and I’m honouring that commitment,” he said.

“Nobody is saying that I’ve broken election promises. How long has it been since you’ve had a government nearly halfway through its term after the election when people aren’t saying you’ve broken all these promises?

“We have honoured the commitments we’ve made and as you know we’ve got an extraordinary amount of legislation through the parliament notwithstanding we don’t have a majority in the Upper House.”

Turnbull raps Abbott over song on The Project

Last night the Prime Minister defended Macklemore as a “great artist” who would sing his “top hits” and took a swipe at Mr Abbott who has opposed same sex marriage on the grounds it could impinge free speech.

Speaking on the Ten Network, Mr Turnbull — a firm supporter of same sex marriage — argued that any attempts to ban Macklemore from performing at the event were contrary to the principles of freedom of expression.

“Trying to censor the playlist [during the] entertainment at the grand final is not consistent with taking a liberal approach to free speech,” he said. “I assume Tony is expressing an artistic view.”

“He’s entitled to express a view about songs and the reality is it’s the NRL’s grand-final. They’ve chosen an artist. He’s going to perform some songs. They’ll be popular songs. Maybe not everyone will like them. Doesn’t matter.”

Mr Turnbull said he was a “free speech person” and upheld Mr Abbott’s right to speak his mind on the issue.

The Prime Minister, who said his favourite hip hop artist was Tupac, even attempted an NRL-themed rap of his own during the interview.

Yesterday someone started a petition in Australia to ban me from playing Same Love at the #NRLGF. Today its #1 on iTunes. Love is winning ❤️

— GEMINI (@macklemore) September 28, 2017

The Coalition for Marriage has backed a petition by former NRL player Tony Wall to keep “rainbow ideology out of this Sunday’s Grand Final.” It has argued for the politics of the same sex marriage postal survey to be kept out sporting events.

“Sport is something that unites all Australians, so it is pretty bizarre that the NRL would choose to use its [pre-game] entertainment to push a message which it knows millions of Australians disagree with,” the petition says.

The singer responded this morning, revealing Same Love had shot to the top of the Australian iTunes charts, describing it as ‘Love is Winning’.

While Mr Abbott — a staunch defender of traditional marriage — has criticised the NRL decision to hire Macklemore, The Australian has confirmed he has not signed the petition and he has not called for Macklemore to be banned from performing at the grand-final.

Attorney-General George Brandis told Sky News the only attempt to shut down freedom of speech during the postal survey had come from the No campaign, saying the petition was an attempt to prohibit “freedom of artistic performance.”

However, he also said Mr Abbott had “called” for a ban.

“The no case has been making a great deal of the alleged threat to freedom of speech. I think this is a red herring,” he said. “It’s interesting isn’t it that the first person whose called for something to be banned is Tony Abbott.”

Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen also hit out at Mr Abbott, saying you either believe in free speech or you don’t.

“Freedom of speech includes artistic expression, and some of the people who pretend to believe in free speech actually believe in free speech for people who agree with them,” Mr Bowen told ABC radio.

“Now I think the AFL and the NRL are perfectly entitled to support their players, their fans, the members of the two code families who are LGBTI, who believe passionately in these issues.

“This particular performer’s not my cup of tea. He’s more my daughter’s taste. But he’s perfectly right to sing whatever he likes and to express whatever views he likes, and the NRL has a perfect entitlement to invite him to do so.”

Watch the video for Same Love below

On Wednesday, Mr Abbott used social media to voice his displeasure at news Macklemore would be joined by Mary Lambert for a performance of Same Love at the NRL grand final where the Melbourne Storm and North Queensland Cowboys will face-off.

“Footy fans shouldn’t be subjected to a politicised grand final. Sport is sport!” Mr Abbott wrote.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton backed Mr Abbott, saying people didn’t want political messages “jammed down their throat” at the footy.

“I don’t want some political message jammed down their throat, and I think frankly that’s how most Australians thinks,” he told 2GB. “So these cute political messages that you get from companies now, I think whether it’s the NRL or Qantas or anything else, I think they’re worried that if they’re not acting politically correct that somehow they’ll get a volley of abuse on Twitter or Facebook.”

He called on organisations to “grow a backbone” and stand against the political correctness.

“My kids love the footy; I want to take my boys to watch the footy and I don’t want the betting ads jammed down their throat, I don’t want the gay marriage message jammed down their throat at the football,” he said.

“Let’s enjoy the finals time of year without this sort of politically correct nonsense taking place.”

Macklemore himself has vowed to “go harder” because of the furore, while Mr Abbott’s daughter Frances countered her father’s views by posting her approval of the song to be performed on Twitter on Thursday.

Greg Brown contributed to this report