Racism

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (15:12): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation a question on the topic of racism.

Leave granted.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS: As many of us are aware, the AFL's Indigenous round in 2013 was a time to celebrate Aboriginal culture and achievements. On 24 May, Sydney was playing Collingwood and as Adam Goodes neared the boundary he heard a voice call him an ape. He was so affected that he left the field. Quickly, the President of the Collingwood team, Eddie McGuire, issued an apology for the racism, stating:

I wanted to apologise to Adam on behalf of football in general and ask that he accept our apologies.

The next day Goodes declared that racism has a face, and on this night it was a 13-year-old girl. He also added the following:

It is not her fault. She is 13, she is still so innocent. I don't put any blame on her. Unfortunately it is what she hears, the environment she has grown up in, that has made her think it is okay to call people names. I can guarantee you right now she would have no idea how it makes anyone feel by calling them an ape.

He went on to say that people need to get around her, and indeed encouraged her to give him a call. That 13-year-old girl picked up the phone and she called Goodes. The same day she recounted their conversation:

I'm sorry for calling you racist names, and I'll never do it again. I'm really sorry for what happened. I didn't know it would be offensive.

On 25 May, Adam Goodes tweeted:

Just received a phone call from a young girl apologising for her actions. Let's support here please #racismitstopswithme #indigenousround.

That 13-year-old girl also later wrote Adam Goodes a letter apologising for her words. The following day, 26 May, after the girl herself had apologised, the SA-Best candidate, Kelly Gladigau, in her shared account with her partner Travis, posted the following statement:

Seriously, don't you think it's rather soft to be upset that a young girl called you an ape? Perhaps if you didn't look like one.

That long-lost post, of course, was revealed a week or so ago with the announcement of the first of the SA-Best candidates and, when challenged on this racism, the response from Senator Xenophon was underwhelming.

According to a 'spokesperson' for Senator Xenophon, the couple say the post had no racist intent or overtones and the senator accepts that. This unnamed spokesperson also went on to say that Senator Xenophon had discussed the matter with his candidate and was 'told the comment was posted by Kelly's husband,' and went on to say, 'They say it had no racist intent or overtones and Nick accepts that.' Senator Xenophon also went on the radio later, saying that 'both Kelly and her husband have close links with the Indigenous community and they don't have any racist views'.

I reiterate, the president of Collingwood had apologised for the racist nature of the comment. The girl herself had apologised for the racist nature of the comment. Indeed, many across football and the community, including, I think, the minister himself in this place, have made comment on the racist nature of the comment. Regardless of whether the candidate or her husband made that post, the post at this stage was itself widely held to be a racist view. Yet, Senator Xenophon believes this is not the case.

My question to the minister is: does the minister agree with Senator Xenophon's acceptance that this candidate's shared Facebook post had no racist overtones or, to rephrase the Gladigaus' post, does the minister think 'it's rather soft' not to be upset and call out racism, whoever says it, whenever it occurs, at any time.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Employment, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (15:16): I thank the honourable member for her question. Those comments are unambiguously racist. There is no other way to describe it. I am not going to repeat those words, but if you use words like that about Aboriginal people, or any Indigenous people around the world, it hurts and it causes deep offence.

Here's the really big thing: even if you honestly believed that it didn't cause the offence, and if you were ignorant enough to not understand what you were saying, it is not up to you making these racist remarks to decide how others should take that. It is not up to you making the remarks to decide whether someone else should take offence at them or how hurtful it is to other people.

I have been fortunate to get to know Adam Goodes quite well over the last couple of years, and I know that those remarks hurt him and that remarks since then have hurt him extraordinarily deeply. He took a couple of weeks off football at the height of remarks being made about him. As he has explained to me, any time these sorts of remarks are made, any time they are reported on, it doesn't just hurt him, it hurts all his Aboriginal brothers and sisters. Any time remarks like this are made about other people, it hurts him. These sorts of remarks, each time they are made, hurt all Aboriginal people all the time.

I have spoken to other Aboriginal football players and, in answer to the second part of your question, no it is not soft. Some of the bravest and best humans I have met have been gutted and torn apart when these sorts of remarks have been made to them on footy fields, whether it be country footy or at the highest professional level. These remarks are racist and they have to stop.