This dreamtime celebrates the particular importance of our Indigenous players. It also celebrates the men who’ve come before them and all the people who’ve helped them get here: the supporters who’ve manned the sausage sizzles on the side lines of the tiny clubs that started them off, the coaches, the families – the communities.
And while tonight honours Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders – I think we are also slowly realising – that this field of dreams out there is growing into a bigger story of a shifting balance of equality. In short, we are starting to right the wrongs.
The G has always been a place of dreaming for so many Australians. Think of its history: Betty Cuthbert sprinting down its Olympic straight, Cricket’s Bodyline series …and countless contests of AFL epics.
Then, in the last 10-15 years Indigenous footballers have been pushing through with their own dreams of the G.
But every Indigenous player brings with him the added vision of improving the lives of this country’s first people. It’s this dream that is slowly starting to materialise.
I’m sure you all know that there remain enormous problems, with life expectancy still 20 years below that of non-indigenous Australians.
What I want to talk about tonight is how Australian Rules is part of the solution.
Without question for me the single biggest impactthat has struck home in recent years is the way the game has embraced indigenous Australia, not just with the obvious increase in what was once lost talent, (but more importantly, perhaps), the way Australian Football has become a leader in relationships with our indigenous brothers and sisters.
In a world in which inclusiveness and tolerance are two critical elements of society (and in many places are paid mere lip service), Australian football has played a huge role in bringing Australians together. And not just in indigenous relations (celebrated tonight) but in the welcome offered to immigrants from all parts of the globe. This is truly a game for all.
Tonight we celebrate indigenous culture. The wonderful theatre—and pure joy—they have brought to our game.
All parts of society are made better by inclusion. And learning from others, and our game is so much the better for what indigenous Australians have given us.
It’s tragic to think that for so many generations, so few indigenous players were given the opportunity to play at the highest level. Thank heavens that blight is gone, and the roll call of indigenous Australians on all club lists continues to grow beyond any comparison with other talentpools: around 2% of the population – yet 10% of the AFL player list.
There are many people to thank for that, and we should be grateful that the vision of Kevin Sheedy at Essendon through the eighties gave us such a wonderful list of talent, headed, of course by the Norm Smith Medallist Michael Long—a list that extends all the way to the brilliant, versatile and exciting Paddy Ryder.
I remember when Paddy arrived at Windy Hill, Kevin gave that look whenever his name came up: “You watch this kid,” he said. We did and haven’t we enjoyed it since.
Kevin Sheedy and Michael Long did wonderful things for Essendon. Kevin pushing us to see the talent that we had been ignoring for so long. And how that talent could impact on their brothers and sisters by making it to the elite level; and Michael, for standing up for his people, and showing that one person can make a difference and that our club could make a huge difference in Reconciliation.
Let me pick out one example of this, from today’s event that bears his name, The Long Walk.
As part of the Long Walk celebrations over at Birrarung Marr this afternoon there was a CD launch by the band Yung Warriors. The single Standing Strong is part of the new album also titled Standing Strong.
Their lead singer Jimba Possum Burns will sing again tonight with Shane Howard that great Indigenous anthem ‘Solid Ground’. But how did that come about?
Well when Nathan Lovett-Murray is not playing or training for the Bombers, he’s running a small Indigenous Record label – PayBack Records. He did this because he loves music, yes. But also because he could see that HipHop could play a role in engaging Indigenous people, giving them a voice and spreading indigenous pride.
Nathan is also starting a sports management business – designed to promote Aboriginal athletes of all codes.
Nathan has grown into a wonderful leader at our club! You may have read his comments in the media this week – congratulating the AFL on tackling racism – but calling for a much greater focus on Indigenous health, siting members of his own family who are dying too young in their 40s and 50s.
Nathan Lovett-Murray is showing great leadership to all Australians. But how did he create this influential profile after being delisted from Collingwood with injuries in his early 20s?
Nathan says it was Michael Long who put his hand on his shoulder and said “keep at it”; It was the people of the amazingly successful St Mary’s club in Darwin who kept him playing – to a premiership no less – and found him a job; It was the supporters at Haywood and Bendigo that ran him back on the field and finally the surprise call from Kevin Sheedy and the mentoring of Dean Rioli.
That saw him realise his dreams, football again played its role. As Indigenous players like Lovett-Murray and Long keep showing us – one man can make a huge difference. And one game can provide those field of dreams!
Soon that success becomes a critical mass that begins prizing open the flood gates.
This is evident in the amazing work of the Clontarf Academies.
You probably already know of Gerard Neesham’s model of Indigenous education that is driven by Australian football. When a boy enters the Academy he can play footy only if he engages with school. It is so simple and yet it is changing lives dramatically. Some of its graduates areplaying tonight, Paddy Ryder and Leroy Jetta.
While these boys have made it to the AFL – this is not the measure of the program’s success.
Clontarf’s magic is its simplicity. Kids who graduate go off and do what most of us strive to do. They get jobs, they form stable relationships, they live in good health and they contribute to their local communities in the small but consistent ways that make societies function.
Gerard Neesham reports he’s now seeing the first graduates of Clontarf taking their own kids to school – the generational change is underway.
The exciting thing about Clontarf is that the model seems to have the illusive combination of being financially efficient and replicable.
Tonight I want you to think about this. I believe we in football are sitting at an historical pivot point. People like Michael Long and Nathan Lovett-Murray show us that one man can change many. Programs like Clontarf show us that we can bring on this change in great numbers.
Every AFL team is now engaged with Indigenous Australia in helping to improve lives. Like Essendon, Richmond Football club has committed to supporting reconciliation in Australia by launching the Maurice Rioli Reconciliation Action Plan and continues to invest and commit to Indigenous programs through the club’s Korin Gamadji Institute for Education and Leadership.
But we must not get complacent. Having finally recognised what footy can do for our Indigenous brothers and sisters let’s harness the connection for all it’s worth.
That means being brave enough to honestly talk through the difficulties. And it means being wildly imaginative in letting footy carve new pathways to true reconciliation and equality.
This night is one to cherish. It’s a night to pay tribute to the trailblazers who had the dream and turned it into a permanent and much-loved part of our fixture.
Good luck to both sides. I am sure it will be a wonderful game, in keeping with this truly inspiring celebration.
