Federal government should increase funds to Indigenous AFL
Roar Pro
By Paul, 27 May 2008 The Crowd is a Roar Pro
164 Have your say
The Federal budget handed down on May 13th showed strong favouritism towards the Football Federation of Australia over all other sports.
While $718.7 million was allocated to the “Close the Gap” policy program for Indigenous people, none was officially allocated directly to development of AFL amongst indigenous communities.
Indigenous Australians place great significance on the game of Australian Rules Football. Whether the sport of Marn Grook was an influence in the birth of Australian Rules Football or not is an issue hotly debated by some, but it undoubtedly is very important to indigenous Australians, and provides an essential connection through history for them.
Indigenous Australians have great ownership in the game of AFL. Indigenous Australians make up 10% of the AFL, but only 2% of the national population.
Indigenous children in many communities wear football gear as their daily clothing and play Australian Football constantly. They live and breathe the game. Indigenous Australian children interviewed in World Vision’s indigenous partnerships, overwhelmingly stated that it is their dream to play AFL professional football when they grow up.
Indigenous ownership of the game was proudly demonstrated in the Dream Time game at the MCG on Saturday night. The concept of the dreaming is not something from the past, but something which continues through all time and on into the future. AFL has become an important part of the dreaming for indigenous Australians.
The Close the Gap policy may well bring a lot of change and development for indigenous communities, and I hope sincerely that it does, but there is always the concern that this money will be delivered in a paternalistic manner, instead of trusting Aboriginal communities to spend the money on things that they see fit.
Much research has already shown that sporting activities for children and youth gives them hope in life and is a strong prevention against drug and alcohol abuse. Aussie Rules brings hope for Aboriginal kids. Let the indigenous communities spend money on improving facilities so that as many Aboriginal children can play footy as have the desire.
The Football Federation of Australia received $32 million in the federal budget. A further $10 million was given for the development of the Energy Australia Stadium in Newcastle (shared by the NRL and the A-League). In total soccer’s share in the federal budget was $37 million; cricket’s share was $17.5 million; Rugby League’s share was $13 million; AFL’s share was $7.5 million. No money was allocated to Rugby Union, in fact Howard’s previous pledge of $25 million to Rugby Union was removed.
Kevin Rudd has placed a lot of time, energy and money into developing the game of soccer, and towards winning the 2018 world cup for Australia. But in the process he is allowing his own personal preferences in sport to over ride the greater needs of indigenous sport in Australia.
I wonder what indigenous Australians would have to say about that?
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NUFCMVFC said | May 27th 2008 @ 8:58am | Report comment
AFL has plenty of money, can easily spend the money it is using on South Africa on Aborigines itself and in the Northern Territory, if they are indeed hard core AFL followers than they are AFL constituents and it is the AFL’s responsibility, find it a bit of an awkward argument that someohoe giving money to football has been strangely morphed into an argument about Rudd then somehow neglecting Indiginous Australians.
Also, what about indigineous Australians wanting to follow in Travis Dodds and Jade Norths footsteps and play for the Socceroos? AFL doesen’t have some kind of monopoly over indigineous Australians. I can twist the same logic around and cite the refugees in the Joeys squad and say that under investment in Football for years is bad because it had hindered the integration of migrants into Australian society, after all, they live and breathe football, wear association football shirts and so a good way to welcome them into the country is via a local version of a platform they are familiar with. I find the talk about Rudds “preference” and the whingeing surrounding a bit rich considering the preferential treatment other sports have always been given over football, I recall seeing Premier Brumby at some Dubai AFL junket but never at Melbournes ACL matches, including against our Japanese sister city Osaka
Also, the fact that Football for once has gotten a bit more money is pretty much a first, but it is important now because as part of the AFC, through the Sport of football we are directly engaging with a region that will become increasingly important economic partners and it is important there is the infrastructure etc in place in order to be able to facilitate those ties, we will be having womens and youth teams competing in Asian competitions and that now needs to be provided for
Midfielder said | May 27th 2008 @ 9:26am | Report comment
Just for the record there are more both in percentages terms and in number play rugby league.
In fact in the NRL they have an Indigenous team its called South Sydney. To me like many things the AFL does it claims to be the biggest and the best when ignoring other codes who often do more. The Melbourne support this as well.
Some facts to consider, league is more represented than any other code, football as I understand was the first football code to play an Indigenous person in a national shirt, football is the only team sport I am aware of who has had an Indigenous person as the team capitian, football has appointed a national coach who was Indigenous.
So if funded to all codes and the AFL may find that for all its talk on this issue it is only one of a number.
Redb said | May 27th 2008 @ 9:27am | Report comment
“AFL has plenty of money, can easily spend the money it is using on South Africa on Aborigines itself”
You must be a Krudd voter to think like that. What’s next let’s tax the AFL for being successful and give it to FFA.
I don’t think the AFL or FFA should complain, what about the ARU funding for a rugby academy in Brisbane promised by Howard or RL’s hall of famethat was to be built from Canberra money – Rudd turned off the tap.
Rudd’s mandate is not to pick one sport over another – he should fund all football codes/sports in a balanced way.
Redb
Redb said | May 27th 2008 @ 9:31am | Report comment
Midfielder,
I think you will need to prove your opening comment. There are quite a few aborginal players running around in the AFL.
Redb
Forgetmenot said | May 27th 2008 @ 10:57am | Report comment
Wonderful article. I had been waiting for an article as such in a major paper but alas i didn’t see any.
It seems to me that Rudd is just like any politician and is only concerned about the short term positives that he can show to the Australian public.
Can you imagine the economic windfall that Australia would receive if the government helped promote football around the world. We could have hundreds of millions of dollars coming in to the country from overseas every year if only a small percentage of the world started following AFL.
I myself am considering joining a political party that champions the cause of the true blue Australian, lets try to make the next fedreral election about politicians whowill do what it itakes to improve Australia, not improve their own credentials.
Footy Freak said | May 27th 2008 @ 11:04am | Report comment
The AFL is investing very little in South Africa, most of the work is done by others than the AFL.
One thing that Rudd may have forgotten is that it is against South Africa that our only indigenous team to compete internationally, the “Flying Boomerangs’. This team has assisted the growth of fine young men, including those who have reached the highs of AFL in Austin Wonaeamirri, Isaac Weetra, Malcolm Lynch and Nathan Krakouer.
Midfielder said | May 27th 2008 @ 11:26am | Report comment
Redb
Will get back to you with links latter in the week.
Lazza said | May 27th 2008 @ 11:55am | Report comment
AFL is still struggling to cobble together a NATIONAL competition after 150 years. People around the world and half this country are just not interested.
Rudd is continuing the policy of Howard and the Liberals. How many Gold medals are we going to win in our ‘traditional’ sports at the Olympics? ZERO! None of our sports can muster enough interest to win a vote on the IOC and be included?
Why don’t you ask the Government to stop funding the AIS and transfer the money to AFL? The World Cup has overtaken the Olympics as the World’s biggest sporting event. TV ratings are 10 times the Olympics.
All our Governments and the majority of Australians want our country to be a force on the World’s biggest sporting stage. Get used to it.
True Tah said | May 27th 2008 @ 12:17pm | Report comment
Midfielder,
I think you will find that quite a few of the South Sydney Rabbitohs are of Polynesian descent, and are not Aboriginal.
I also believe that both Arthur Beetson and Mark Ella captained the national sides of their respective sporting codes at some stage, therefore negating your claim that soccer is the only football code to have an indigeonus Australian as captain.
Lazza,
we already win enough medals at the Olympics without including our traditional sports, and against countries with far more than our population. Soccer is England’s number one game, but funnily enough the Poms Olympic medal count doesn’t suggest that having soccer as your number one game improves your Olympic performances. The US and China constantly appear in the top couple of medal winning nations, and neither of this could be attributed to soccer.
In any event, the fact that the likes of rugby, cricket and AFL are not included does not phase me, it would be impractical to play rugby and AFL anyway, these sports are too physically demanding to play effectively within a 2 week competition.
Rudd basically seems to want all Australians to play soccer because it is the world game – and also the most generic team game. The phrase which basically springs to mind of soccer to me is “If everybody looked the same”.
My sport got the short end of the stick when Rudd was handing it out, but I think this will force rugby to lift its game, and management to be lift their game. Historically rugby got bugger all support anyway.
Eamonn Flanagan said | May 27th 2008 @ 12:17pm | Report comment
Fantastic article.
What about “fair go Australia”. First time football , ever, gets more dosh than any of the other codes, and whingersfrom Roy Masters down whinge on about “favouritism.”
Never heard any of the other codes ever suggesting football should get more money, despite having the biggest player base in the country over the last twenty years
Still Indigenous card, let’s play it. AFL seems to have many Indigenous players, fantastic, and the game is entrenched in Indigenous communities, fantastic, but surely a true believer in Indigenous communities should be complaining that the Fed Govt has not spent enough on Indigenous Australians in the World Game arena where there will be a growth of opportunities for kids in coming years.
After all we are all interested in increasing the opportunities for those kids, surely, and they should be given a wider range of sports than just AFL.
Increase the spending to enable more Indigenous Aussies like Jade North, Travis, Dodd, David Williams, Tahj Minnicon, Lydia Williams and Kyah Simon to play football at the highest level, and across the World.
No matter how many Indigenous men play in the ANZAC day game, Jade North for the Socceroos v China, Lydia Williams for the Matildas in the Asia Cup this week in Vietnam will be watched by more across the World…..and of course career prospects are better. A footballer can play more games per year, in general, and can stay in the game, in general, for a longer playing career. Not to mention the options they have to play across Australia, Asia and the World.
Maybe it was favouritism as some paranoid AFL and League media men tell us, or maybe it was good policy for the future of Australia.
And don’t worry David Gallop and co are complaining so hard that the Fed Govt will clearly do the “right thing” before the next election. And I don’t expect to see too many shouting, “what about football.”
Interestingly Footyfreak, AFL now have 10,000 players in South Africa. I’m told football gets the black South Africans, Whites go to cricket, and AFL are aiming at being non-racial. Shouldn’t be too long before one or two make it to the Aussie stage if reports are true.