Mathew Stokes Letter

[Ludwig]

Congratulations to the AFL for publishing Mathew Stokes' open letter on the AFL website on a matter that is not directly football related.

Dear Prime Minister: Stokes' open letter to Tony Abbott - AFL.com.au (http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-03-27/dear-prime-minister?utm_medium=RSS)

Firstly, it is pleasing to see a popular and well respected indigenous player from another club take some of the heat off of our Adam Goodes, who has copped the bulk of the racist comments from some parts of the football community. Most players don't want to go public about such things. But if a few more high profile indigenous players could step up it might go a long way to improving awareness of the issues facing our indigenous communities.

It's been a matter high on the public agenda of the AFL, and they did take some criticism, particularly from Mark Robinson, for passing over Michael Long for the AFL Commission. My feeling at the time was that it was probably more to do with keeping Chris Langford on the Commission ahead of the Academies bidding system decision than anything to do with racism, yet an opportunity was missed.

It will be interesting to see if any other indigenous players come out in support of Stokes as well as the reaction from the footy journalists.

[dimelb]

It's a good letter - straightforward, no overstatement or hostility, simple regret at such a mistake.
The response will be interesting.

[RogueSwan]

It's a good letter - straightforward, no overstatement or hostility, simple regret at such a mistake.
The response will be interesting...
...and probably a long time coming.

[Doctor]

Absolutely agree, but this belongs in the general footy thread.

[tasmania60]

Lets be honest ,nothing done swept under the carpet ?

[S.S. Bleeder]

Stokes surprises a few people. Hes quite a good writer. I believe he even writes his own songs.

That said, I believe that Tony Abbott and Warren Mundine (the only intelligent Mundine) were correct. If you (Aboriginal, Caucasian, Martian, whatever) live in an area where there is no hope of gaining employment you should lose your unemployment benefits. This also applies to people who want work in a particular sector and aren't willing to move interstate. This country has too many people on welfare as it is. Why should the taxpayer have to pay someone who isn't willing to go to where the work is?

I know that many of you will disagree with this but please respond without the personal abuse.

[dimelb]

Stokes surprises a few people. Hes quite a good writer. I believe he even writes his own songs.

That said, I believe that Tony Abbott and Warren Mundine (the only intelligent Mundine) were correct. If you (Aboriginal, Caucasian, Martian, whatever) live in an area where there is no hope of gaining employment you should lose your unemployment benefits. This also applies to people who want work in a particular sector and aren't willing to move interstate. This country has too many people on welfare as it is. Why should the taxpayer have to pay someone who isn't willing to go to where the work is?

I know that many of you will disagree with this but please respond without the personal abuse.

I take your point that it is a mistake to pay welfare to people who make no effort to find work, but I think there are genuine cultural issues here that should be taken into account. As far as I'm aware, Aboriginal people themselves coined the derogatory term "sit-down money" to describe welfare.

Perhaps we need to find ways to bridge the gap between industrial and post-industrial life on one hand and indigenous attachment to and use of the land on the other. If people value both worlds, surely they can work out ways for people to live in both, albeit at different times. Can mainstream Australia and outback indigenous society find enough flexibility to allow both identities? Even city slickers like me can have a sense that our inland is important for other reasons than being dug up and sold to the highest bidder. And no, I'm not simply dumping on the mining industry, which is also a necessity if we want the benefits of a materially advanced society. That's the dilemma.