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Money for Indigenous ‘Voice’ Should Go Directly to Struggling Communities: Former NBA Player

Australian PM lobbying sporting leagues to back changing the Constitution

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Money for Indigenous ‘Voice’ Should Go Directly to Struggling Communities: Former NBA Player
Members of the Mutitjulu Aboriginal community walk through the grounds in Mutitjulu, near Alice Springs, Australia, on July 6, 2007. Ian Waldie/Getty Images
Daniel Y. Teng
By Daniel Y. Teng
2/27/2023Updated: 2/28/2023
0:00

The millions being spent on encouraging Australians to vote to change the Constitution should, instead, be directly spent on helping Indigenous communities, says former NBA player Andrew Bogut.

His comments come as reports emerge of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese personally lobbying the country’s sporting leagues to back the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, which will effectively shrine an “Indigenous advisory body” into the Constitution.

Bogut said the seven sporting organisations involved in the campaign were “bowing to the government” because they were afraid of losing funding.

“We saw it with COVID and elections. Sporting organisations and clubs have to bow to the government and promote these causes because they know if they don’t, the government won’t give them grants for stadiums, facilities, and junior expansion,” he told The Epoch Times.

“I think it’s blatant ’sportswashing,' whether you agree with the Voice or not, I don’t think it should be promoted through sport,” he added.

“I would argue all the money being spent on the Voice, promoting the legislation, and [money for] the lawyers who have to write it—that money would do much better to go to actual Indigenous communities and build sporting facilities. Actually, have some nice things in those communities that young kids can aspire to.”

Andrew Bogut former #12 of the Golden State Warriors attempts a shot against the Toronto Raptors during Game Two of the 2019 NBA Finals at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada, on June 02, 2019. (Kyle Terada - Pool/Getty Images)
Andrew Bogut former #12 of the Golden State Warriors attempts a shot against the Toronto Raptors during Game Two of the 2019 NBA Finals at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada, on June 02, 2019. Kyle Terada - Pool/Getty Images

Bogut cited the situation in Alice Springs, the central Australian town now wreaked by a youth crime wave caused by a combination of alcohol abuse, domestic violence, and broken homes.

“Look at some of the living conditions for these children. No wonder they’re out on the street. Would you want to go to sleep, bed to bed with eight other people? [Or] with people in your home you don’t know?”

Prime Minister Gets Sporting Codes Onboard

Labor Prime Minister Albanese is working with the Australian Football League (AFL), National Rugby League (NRL), Netball Australia, Football Australia, Cricket Australia, and Tennis Australia on a coordinated campaign that will be launched later in 2023.
Meetings between the codes have been underway with Albanese taking part, according to The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

This year, Australians will go to vote on whether to embed an Indigenous Voice to Parliament into the Australian Constitution.

The main thrust of the campaign is for an Indigenous “advisory body” to be set up and advise on bills going through the federal Parliament. Yet further details of how much power this body will are yet to be determined.

Well-known sporting stars Adam Goodes from the AFL, and Johnathan Thurston from the NRL, have been earmarked as potential ambassadors. Both have expressed support for the Uluru Statement from the Heart and the Voice in the past.

Jim Reed, the pollster at Resolve, said bringing the seven sporting codes on board could bolster the campaign with expectations the NRL could help turn the tide in Queensland, which has been the “least positive” about changing the Constitution.

Further consultations are underway within each league.

No Campaign Questions Whether Extra Bureaucracy Will Help

Meanwhile, Gary Johns, former Labor minister and now-member of the campaign against the Voice, “Recognise a Better Way,” questioned whether an extra bureaucratic body—on top of an already burgeoning Indigenous advocacy industry—would help struggling communities.

“These people [in sports] ought to ask themselves, do they understand what they’re supporting? Do they really think that they’re going to help Aboriginal people in strife by having a whole big new bureaucracy in Canberra,” he told The Epoch Times.

“Sport itself is a wonderful vehicle to help kids. So why don’t they just get on and do what they’re good at, which is helping kids through sport and get right out of the politics?” he said.

Daniel Y. Teng
Daniel Y. Teng
Writer
Daniel Y. Teng is based in Brisbane, Australia. He focuses on national affairs, including federal politics and Australia-China relations. Got a tip? Contact him at [email protected].
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Related Topics
anthony albanese
alice springs
Andrew Bogut
Aboriginal Australians
Indigenous Voice to Parliament
Gary Johns
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