The agony and the ecstasy. The trash and the treasure. Australia at its worst, and then at its best.
You have to picture the scene last Friday – Anzac Day, at the Shrine of Remembrance. Stillness falls upon the tightly gathered crowd. Heads are bowed, backs are straight, medals catch the first gleams of dawn. A sacred time in our national life. The most sacred time, as we remember our fallen.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old …
The Welcome to Country is delivered by Bunurong elder, Uncle Mark Brown, when . . .
When, suddenly, boos ring out. No, really. Of all the times, to this man, of all people, a former member of the Australian Defence Force himself, a scattered few are actually choosing this time to boo? Oh, the disgrace of it.
The question is, how would Australia react?
And most particularly, how would Melbourne react that afternoon at the MCG, for the annual Anzac Day clash between Collingwood and Essendon? The episode at the Shrine was the talk of the town, the talk of the nation, as there had been similar disgraceful episodes of booing around the country – including in Sydney, where, happily one of the alleged perpetrators was arrested.
For there was, of course, going to be a Welcome to Country at the MCG, too, before the match. Would the AFL crowd – some of whom had, after all, disgraced themselves a decade and a bit ago, by booing and haranguing Adam Goodes out of the game – start booing here, too?
And this game is not just another game. This game is a great moment in Australian life, at a place where 100,000 people are so respectful during the minute’s silence that, as I have written before, you can hear the flags flapping in the middle, as they are lowered to half-mast.
The moment comes. Uncle Colin Hunter Jr, a Wurundjeri man and an ADF veteran, steps forward.
“I would like to start by saying that this afternoon we are gathering on the lands of my ancestors, the Wurundjeri people,” he begins.
The crowd erupts.
Cheers! Applause! The mob stands!
Uncle Colin pauses. Rapturous. He is being totally supported.
“Today I want to make a special acknowledgement,” he continues. “I want to acknowledge the men and women who have served this country, and I want to pay my deepest respects to them.”
As he goes on, the MCG crowd continues to cheer and offer full-throated support. And even in the Members Stand, there was strong acclaim, as noted by journalist Rohan Connolly on social media platform X:
“Just FYI, I sat in the MCC members (hardly a bastion of progressive politics), and the Welcome to Country at the MCG was warmly and respectfully applauded.”
The one bloke who does try to boo, Connolly tells me, “was promptly told in no uncertain terms by at least a dozen people to STFU.”
That was just before he was escorted from the premises by security. Everyone else just kept cheering Uncle Colin – a seriously wonderful and heartening Australian moment. For the question was put, and the AFL crowd – which has had a checkered history in the field – gave the answer. STFU you nut-jobbo-yobbos!
Bravo, you Aussie Rules people. You make the rest of us proud.
And yes, there has been some negative commentary since about Welcome to Country, but only from the usual suspects in the media and politics. They should reflect on these words posted by AFR journalist Mark di Stefano: “What I find funny is that the ‘ban welcome to country on Anzac Day’ obsession wasn’t started by thinkers or any mainstream right wing figure. It was by freak neo nazis. Don’t doubt [some] mainstream Aussies believe it now. But that’s who is vanguarding their cultural thought.”
Yup, following in the neo-Nazis in, nice work.
But it is the mob who counts. And the mob at the MCG gave the definitive answer on the issue.
LIV and let die
What now for the LIV golfers who took the squillions, got all dressed up, only to find that they will very shortly have nowhere to go? I refer, of course, to the news out of New York that, as predicted by this columnist – ummmm, several times – the whole thing is about to collapse.
They will, of course, want to return to the PGA tour, but …
But not so fast.
It doesn’t work like that, and won’t work like that. See, the reasoning of so many of you when you took the money – and to hell with the PGA that nurtured you – was that it was a simple business decision. You are in the golf business, and a new business had just opened up.
Yes, the money you took was drenched in blood, provided by the Saudis to sports-wash their brutal regime – which included the boss of LIV having ordered the bone-saw murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi. As Greg Norman said, “Everyone makes mistakes.”
(Who can say that one time in their life, one time in their life, they haven’t ordered the bone saw murder of a critic? Happens to us all.) So you took the money, and it was nothing personal, just business, don’t you see, no personal attack on the PGA?
Yup, we see.
But the same logic you applied then now applies to you when LIV folds. It says you can’t come back for a looooong time. To let you straight back in would be completely disrespectful to those who stayed loyal, and also inimical to the interests of the PGA, which must protect itself from future defections.
Nothing personal, don’t you see? Just business.
But what about Brooks Koepka, you say, being allowed to return to LIV a few months ago? That was a strategic move by the PGA, when they still needed to weaken the renegade league. They don’t need to do that any more. LIV is DEAD. And just about none of you playing LIV have any more ranking in the game worth going after, so what is the point?
And so what will you do, when LIV does finally crashes and burns, and the PGA won’t take you back? (Apart from count your money, I mean.)
I have no idea. But, good luck.
What they said
I’m not sure who @MikeBeauvais is, but I like what he said on X: “Look, was LIV Golf successful? No. Did it bolster the reputations of everybody involved? Also, no. But was it fun? Once again, no.” [See unseemly rant.]
Jarome Luai insists signing with the Chiefs was not – no, really – about the money: “Everyone wants me to say tax-free and how appealing that is from the outside in, but that’s not what got the deal signed. Being over there you realise that it’s bigger than a game over there, and when the time comes, we’ll be able to change a lot of lives for the better.” Mother Teresa, eat your heart out!
My friend and yours, Michael Chammas, on the power of rugby league and what it can do in PNG: “You’re talking issues like the impact of domestic violence, inspiring kids to go to school, that’s what rugby league can do for people over there. It unites the country.”
Rachael “Raygun” Gunn on leaving her day job at Macquarie University:
“We need to have a serious conversation about higher education in this country.”
The chair of World Rugby, Australian’s Brett Robinson:“I have to say again to my friend Peter V’landys, with the greatest respect to your game, we are the game of the Pacific.”
88-year-old Harry Newton on running the London marathon: “Don’t try to run too quickly, and keep a steady pace. And make sure your bowels are empty.” Sounds like a plan!
Melbourne Storm’s Harry Grant after the Storm’s Anzac Day pasting: “I want to say sorry to all the Anzacs and the Diggers that we let down tonight with some performances, but we thank you for your service.” Odd, but, OK.
Geelong coach Chris Scott on player Mark Blicavs, who said he was fine despite his injury: “He was pretty upbeat as well, but he’s – you know the Monty Python skit, he could have his arm chopped off, and he’d still be positive about it, he’s that kind of guy.”
Interim coach Dean Young after the Dragons were smashed 62-16 by the Roosters on Anzac Day:
“At the moment, we’re playing the opposition, and we’re playing the Dragons as well.”
Essendon coach Brad Scott on their Anzac Day shellacking: “We weren’t able to handle Collingwood’s pressure. And then, even worse, we weren’t able to stand up under perceived pressure that wasn’t even there.”
LeBron James on the comparisons to Michael Jordan: “Yeah, but I am also fastest to 1,000 [points]. Fastest to 2,000. Fastest to 5,000. Fastest to 10,000 …. Like, I am pissed off that I didn’t have a better winning percentage individually in the Finals, but for people to try to turn it into a negative, it doesn’t bother me like it did when I was younger.”
Richmond coach Adam Yze on their 0-7 start to the season: “We are a winning football club, we are not a losing football club.” Just say, however coach, you were a losing football club. How would the stats look then?
Sabastian Sawe after breaking the world record at the London marathon: “What comes today is not for me alone but for all of us today in London.”
Team of the Week
Sydney Swans. Have the chance to push their premiership credentials against Melbourne on Sunday.
Sabastian Sawe. Broke the marathon world record, and became the first man to go under two hours. Extraordinary.
Black Ferns. New Zealand’s women’s rugby team recorded their 30th straight win over our Wallaroos.
George Pittar. The Australian surfer won the Margaret River Pro, his first World Surf League championship tour event title.
RIP, Gordon Ingate. About a month ago, TFF wrote about the impending 100th birthday of Australia’s oldest living Olympian. He passed away last week and passed the baton on to 98-year-old Bryan Leslie Harper, who competed at the 1956 games in canoeing.
RIP, Michael Shehadie, 1959-2026: The well-known and well-loved man about town and former first-grader with the Warringah Rats passed away a fortnight ago and was farewelled by hundreds this week. I saw him at the funeral of his mother Dame Marie Bashir just a couple of months ago, and he looked as fit as a trout. Vale, Michael.
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Peter FitzSimons is a journalist and columnist with The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X.
