Rugby Australia has become the latest sporting organisation to endorse the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, joining the NRL, Tennis Australia, Football Australia and the Australian Olympic Committee as well as several AFL clubs which have formalised their support.

The overlap between sport and politics is one that has always existed. The unique and powerful platform sport provides can be utilised for social change. Throughout history sport has been held up as a beacon of inclusion where acts such as Peter Norman supporting black athletes at the Mexico Olympics or sporting organisations playing a part in the marriage equality campaign in 2017.

The debate around the Voice referendum to parliament has once again seen the unavoidable merging of sport and wider society. Opposition leader Peter Dutton hit out at sporting ‘elites’ as both the Nationals and Liberals declared they will formally oppose the vote.

Dutton stated it was counter-productive for sporting organisations to state a position.

“Most of their fans are really scratching their head as to why the elites within sport, particularly the elites involved in the administration of the game, are taking a position into the Voice”.

Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott also tweeted out that Rugby Australia had been the latest sporting body to be socially blackmailed into confirming a position on the Voice and that this latest debate was vastly different from 1967 or ending the White Australia Policy.

Critics of sporting bodies and athletes which involve themselves in political matters such as when Fox News host Laura Ingraham infamously suggested LeBron James “shut up and dribble”, highlights the missing link many of these detractors fail to acknowledge when it comes to sport and politics.

Sporting organisations are guided by core values and goals and like many other areas of society are constantly engaging in day-to-day challenges of improving diversity and opportunities for people with disabilities.

The ability to achieve many of these goals are guided by policies including vision, strategy and impact which are all steeped in politics.

Rugby Australian chairman Hamish McLennan, who oversaw the statement which was released to state Rugby Australia’s position on the Voice, stressed that they were not telling people how to vote.

“But the proposed referendum on the Voice to Parliament is too important a contest to watch in silence. And we know we aren’t the only sports body which believes the aims of the referendum transcend any rivalries,” he said.

The intertwined history of the traditional land owners of Australia and sport was showcased for all to see in the NRL and AFL’s Indigenous Rounds, wherein the significant contribution of Indigenous and First Nations people was recognised and celebrated in both codes.

The recognition and inclusive capacity of sport to celebrate the many indigenous athletes which have and continue to entertain crowds all over Australia is one that is important and signifies the compelling platform sport holds within this country when it comes to dealing with and helping close the gap in achieving true unity as a nation.

Sport has a major role to play in the direction of the Voice vote and ultimately will be judged on whether the major sporting codes within Australia fall on the right side of history.

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