RUBY:

From Schwartz Media, I’m Ruby Jones, this is 7am.

Eddie McGuire’s resignation as the President of Collingwood, following the release of an explosive report into team culture, is the culmination of a decades-long story of racism at the club. But the story isn’t just about Collingwood, the AFL or even sport.

Today, Yorta Yorta writer and contributor to The Saturday Paper, Daniel James, on how racism in sport can’t be divorced from racism across our society.

RUBY:

So Daniel, I thought to start off, maybe could you tell me a bit about your relationship to AFL? Who do you support?

DANIEL:

Well, I've been a lifetime Tiger supporter, so it's been mostly tragic, but...haha. Victorian boy, born and bred, grew up in a family of good athletes, good footballers throughout time and space. My great uncle Cedric played football for Fitzroy back in the 40s, played alongside Doug Nicholls. My cousin Glen James was the first Aboriginal umpire in the VFL.

But knowing the history of racism in football has challenged me throughout my life.
I remember going to football games, watching the Goulburn Valley Football League teams like Mooroopna, which had high populations of Aboriginal players within the team, and the racist abuse that they copped from spectators that I was standing next to was just horrendous. Absolutely, absolutely horrendous. The saying ‘what happens on the field, stays in the field’ happened all the way from the inception of football, all the way through to that flashpoint in ‘93 when for the first time what happened on the field didn't stay on the field.

RUBY:

Mmm. So let’s talk about that flashpoint in 1993 because I think you’re referring to that very famous incident involving Nicky Winmar - so can you describe what happened?

DANIEL:

So in April 1993, St Kilda was playing Collingwood at Victoria Park.

Archival tape -- Sounds of the game

DANIEL:

The racism that him and Gilbert McAdam, his fellow indigenous St Kilda player - that they copped was apparently next level.

Archival tape -- Unidentified Reporter:

“Collingwood supporters have never been the most gracious in defeat and they did little to improve their reputation after Saturday's loss to St Kilda…”

DANIEL:

And it led to that famous picture of him standing in front of the Collingwood members, lifting his gansey and pointing to his skin, saying, I'm proud to be Aboriginal.

Archival tape -- Unidentified Reporter:

“Nicky Winmar broke from his normal coolness to hit back at the magpie army, who threw everything at him, mostly racial abuse.”

DANIEL:

I thought about that because I thought, well, where did all this start with the conversation about racism in the VFL slash AFL start proper. And it was in ‘93.

RUBY:

Right, and why do you think it was at that moment that this debate really exploded? Because as you said, it wasn’t the first example of racism on the football field, it was the first time that it really spilled off the field though. What made the Winmar incident different to what had happened in the past?

DANIEL:

So the Mabo decision was handed down in June of 1992.

Archival tape -- Unidentified Reporter:

“For the first time Australia has recognized the legal existence of aborigines prior to white settlement…”

DANIEL:

And it was then the Keating's responsibility to actually develop some legislation to make that law practicable.

Archival tape -- Paul Keating:

“It is a milestone decision and one which I think gives Australia a tremendous opportunity to get its relationship with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people right.”

DANIEL:

So between June ‘92 to December ‘93, there was a massive fear and scare campaign launched by the Liberal National Party and the various vested interests that basically described what native title would like in Australia, in terms of worst case scenario.

Archival tape -- Unidentified Speaker:

“Mr Keating, why does your government see the Aboriginal people as a much more equal people than the average white Australian?”

Archival tape -- Paul Keating:

“We don’t. We see them as equal.”

Archival tape -- Unidentified Speaker:

“Well, you might say that but all the indications are that you don’t.”

Archival tape -- Paul Keating:

“But I think, what’s implied in your question is you don’t.”

DANIEL:

People were concerned that Aboriginal people were coming after their household home, coming after their communities, their schools, their land.

Archival tape -- Paul Keating:

“What's your beef? I mean don’t think that Aboriginal Australia is entitled to land.”

Archival tape -- Unidentified Speaker:

“They should be treated the same as any others.”

Archival tape -- Paul Keating:

“Well ok, what's your problem?”

Archival tape -- Unidentified Speaker:

“I have to buy why can’t they buy theirs, forget about this racial business.”

DANIEL:

So the Winmar incident, in April of ‘93, happened smack bang in the middle of that debate. It was the first time that a club president had had to sort of field any questions from the media on the way that Collingwood members and Collingwood players treated First Nations people. And the president at the time was a gentleman called Alan McAllister. He finished his defence by saying that as long as Aboriginal people conduct themselves like white people - well off the field, everyone will admire and respect them. And then to have a report handed down some nearly 30 years later saying that the same club and the person in charge of that club had overseen systemic racism at that same club made me reflect on how little we've come, not only in sport, but in society.

RUBY:

Right, and this report that you mentioned was precipitated by much more recent incidents of racism, this time levelled against Collingwood by a former player, Héritier Lumumba. Can you tell me about that?

DANIEL:

Yeah that's right. Héritier Lumumba was a premiership champion for the Collingwood Football Club. He is a man of African descent. He claimed during his time at Collingwood to be the victim of racism. And in 2013, during the Goodes saga, he decided to come out and take a stance against his own president, Eddie McGuire.

Archival tape -- Unidentified Reporter:

“Did you tell Eddie why you find it offensive?”

Archival tape -- Héritier Lumumba:

“I didn’t have to tell him. I didn’t have to tell him. But I had to justify myself to-- in instances like this in the past, I had to justify myself to people and sometimes it feels like you are speaking to a brick wall because Australia does not have a great track record on race relations.”

DANIEL:

So one of the things was that his nickname for a time at Collingwood was chimp, there were derogatory remarks about the size of his genitalia playing into African stereotypes.

Archival tape -- Héritier Lumumba:

“There's something about silence, is when you remain silent then you are essentially condoning the behavior, I did not want that silence to speak for myself.”

DANIEL:

And he had made a point of raising that and that was often not respected, wasn't heard, his claims weren't taken seriously and he left the game, I guess with a bitter taste in his mouth. He’s kept on raising these issues ever since he's been out of Collingwood and out of the AFL system. And so I have no doubt whatsoever, if Lumumba hadn't continued to be vocal, if he hadn't continued the pressure, we wouldn't have to do a better report.

RUBY:

So let's talk about the report itself. Can you tell me about what's in it and also the way that Collingwood itself characterised the report when it was forced to speak about it after it leaked?

DANIEL:

So last week, the Do Better Report, a report commissioned by Collingwood, was leaked to the media, and the report was written and developed by Professor Larissa Behrendt, and Professor Windom Coomes, both very distinguished in their field and experts in the area. And the report itself is a bombshell in that it specifically states that Collingwood has a problem with systemic racism and has a number of recommendations that go towards addressing that racism.

Archival tape -- Unidentified Speaker:

“This is a historic and proud day for the Collingwood Football Club, we have decided as a club that this fight against racism, against discrimination of all types, is where we want to be.”

DANIEL:

Collingwood wanted to portray the report as saying ‘Gee, look at us, aren't we fantastic? We've commissioned this report and it's come out with these findings, but we can act upon it. We're going to implement every one of the recommendations.’

Archival tape -- Unidentified Speaker:

“We do all these things in an airport and we have Asian people coming through the organisation. We have everybody. And that's what we're doing.”

DANIEL:

And, you know ‘this is a way of moving forward now and forgetting what happened.’

Archival tape -- Unidentified Speaker:

“We make mistakes. We learn, we strive to be better.”

DANIEL:

The way that Collingwood had received the report and tried to spin it, gave people in the Aboriginal community - in particular who had seen these types of things before - I guess, a chill up our our collective backs because this was, again, a corporation, a system that was trying to spin something that was irrefutable. So the blow back then on Eddie was, well, you're not taking this seriously. You're not hearing or seeing or reading what's in the report. You haven't heard what people like Lumumba have said. You haven't heard what several indigenous players have come out and said since. So the key aspect about truth telling and then moving forward was, well, it would seem that the president and the board at this stage seem incapable of telling the truth.

Archival tape -- Unidentified Reporter:

“And in breaking news, Collingwood President, Eddie McGuire, is stepping down effective immediately. He was due to step down at the end of 2021, we're standing by to take you to his press conference shortly.”

RUBY:

We'll be back in a moment.

[Advertisement]

Archival tape -- Eddie McGuire:

“Good afternoon everyone, I try my best and I don’t always get it right, but I don’t stop trying. But today, effectively immediately, I step down from the presidency of Collingwood football Club. People have latched on to my opening remarks last week and as result I've become a lightning rod for vitriol…”

RUBY:

Daniel, after facing significant pressure, on Tuesday, Eddie Maguire resigned from Collingwood football club. I think to understand the significance of his resignation, you do need to understand the impact that he’s had on Collingwood over many years. Can you tell me about his time there, and the things that happened under his watch?

DANIEL:

Collingwood under Eddie McGuire went from being a popular suburban club to being a massive o- field and off-field powerhouse. I think a lot of the work that Eddie McGuire did as the president was innovative and they've just gone from strength to strength. They have one of the strongest homeground attendances week in week out of any club, they've played in numerous grand finals. And in Eddie McGuire, they have probably the most prominent VFL AFL president that the game has ever seen.

But at the same time, there's been a number of instances of racism on the field and off the field. There was Michael Long being racially vilified by the Collingwood ruckman Damian Monkhurst back in the late 90s. And of course, most recently, we had the whole Adam Goodes affair in which Eddie McGuire, in his role as a breakfast radio host, likened Adam Goodes to King Kong, therefore an ape. That was less than a week after being racially vilified by a Collingwood supporter during Sir Doug Nicholls round. So there's been a number of flashpoints within Collingwood's history since then. We all wondered what was being done about it within the club.

RUBY:

Daniel, how important do you think Eddie McGuire's resignation is, do you think that it will make a real and tangible difference in terms of how Collingwood but also the entire AFL deals with systemic racism?

DANIEL:

I think McGuire and his defenders have been trying to paint a picture over the last week or so that he's come under pressure for a series of --- he's made during his presidency around race and sex. But it's far more than that. The report is very specific about what the instances were here. And it was a culture that he presided over for nearly 23 years that instilled a system of racism within the culture of the club that he was in charge of.

So it wasn't just a series of gaffes. It was a systemic thing, something that goes far deeper than a series of blunders. And I think the decision for him to resign was the right one. I think it makes it easier more broadly across the AFL to have a conversation about issues of systemic racism in particular. But in terms of the issues that are confronted at Collingwood around systemic racism, the removal of one person, no matter how prominent, no matter how powerful, is just the beginning.

RUBY:

And Daniel, we spoke earlier about the context for the racism that Nicky Winmar experienced when he was on the field in 1993. And I think our discussion was really about how abuse on the footy field doesn't come out of a vacuum. It happens as a result of what's going on in society and what's being said publicly at the time. So I'm wondering if you can tell me a bit about the relationship between our public culture and racism in sport today.

DANIEL:

I think I had the misfortune of perusing social media last night to see what the reaction was from elements of the football public and Collingwood family and the abuse that was levelled at Lumumba and other indigenous players was very shocking, but not surprising.

And I think what happens with the way we have a national discourse in this country will find its way into every part of society in the sporting field is probably the area where it is most highlighted because it is the most prominent.

RUBY:

Daniel, thank you so much for your time today.

DANIEL:

Pleasure, Ruby.

[Advertisement]

RUBY:

Also in the news today…

The Holiday Inn hotel at Melbourne Airport will be closed until further notice after two workers and a returned traveller tested positive for Covid-19. Residents at the hotel have been evacuated as the site is cleaned.
The Victorian government said its working theory is that the cases are linked to the use of a nebuliser medical device by a hotel resident.

And two directors on the board of Crown Resorts have resigned following a scathing report that recommended the company was unsuitable in its current form to operate a new casino in Sydney.

The casino building at Barangaroo has already been built and is awaiting licensing approval before it can operate.
I’m Ruby Jones, this is 7am. See ya tomorrow.