‘Sport and politics don’t mix’: John Howard slams NRL for 'ridiculous' Voice support

now we've seen of recent days that um

sporting organizations are now starting

to say we're all in on The Voice we say

yes from the Olympic Committee to the

AFL and the NRL now maybe I'm old school

but I thought that sport was supposed to

be an escape from real life a place for

us dare I say to meet in the middle to

meet on the hill and focus on one thing

that we all agree on for 80 minutes in

rugby league's case what do you think

about these organizations now overtly

taking a political position that

obviously not 100 of the players or the

fans will agree with well look I think

it's a thoroughly bad and then I am

old-fashioned

in seeing sport as an escape from a lot

of things and I also adhere to that view

the sport and politics don't mix

and the idea that is 14

body and organ a roof organization can

speak with authority on behalf of the

whole football coach it's ridiculous

and how do they know

um uh what players and what um

individual fans think and because they

can never know they should just stay out

of it and leave it to the individual

next time I go to cover oval and see the

Georgia lamborough play I hope I run

into Graham Richardson we're all Saint

George supporters do you think we argue

about the voice

when we're talking about how the team's

going the last thing we see in a cattle

like that is a time and an opportunity

to pursue political debate and political

dogma and I just think it's wrong and

how can you ever know

what the hundreds of thousands

of rugby league fans think of something

or Australian Rules fancy gets something

the glory of support

isn't it's an Escape but it's also

something that brings us together when

us prime minister I used to say sport

was a great National cement

and the way in which it crossed the

Dubai Cricket like Australian rule for

those that attracted Mass followings

precisely because they reached everybody

so the voice is a political issue

people have different views I've got a

view I'm not going to vote for it I

think it's constitutionally dangerous

but that's another matter that's my view

is it I would expect

Australia

and everybody knows how much I love

Cricket or or or run at the Australia

and I'm a great follower of the

wallabies to come out in favor

of one side or the other it's ludicrous

I'm not asking them to come out against

it and I don't want them to come out

forward apart from anything else how do

they know what they followers think and

because you can never know and because

it breaks that Great rule of politics

and support nodding not mixing I think

it's a bad development I also wanted to

ask you about a development in

Queensland where we know that after the

voice we move to treaty and Truth Now a

treaty process that has been that has

now passed through the parliament of

Queensland is potentially going to have

a scenario where indigenous people will

be able to knock back mining licenses

for cultural environmental or any other

reasons

this is the other shoe to drop for all

the conversation about what's in the

Constitution and who's going to be the

advisory body we're starting now to see

that this is really going to be where

things are going to change how do you

feel about

veto power that comes via things like

treaty because obviously no one's

handing back the keys to their house and

nobody's changing the ownership of the

land so you've got to negotiate

somewhere what does this mean

potentially about how we go into the

future considering how that last federal

budget was completely built off

resources well Paul the idea

that a Sovereign Nation

makes a treaty with out of that nation

is absurd and tweeties are things that

are made between

sovereign states

there's only one sovereignty that we

belong to and that is a sovereignty of

the Commonwealth of Australia you'll

have a real statement of that it had the

voice

it had pretty making and truth-telling

now the government made it very plain

the prime minister's said that they are

committed the trading making and food

telling as well as the voice so you are

right it's another shoe to drop it's

another reason not to support the voice

and I think the collective response

of the Australian public whatever their

views are on politics whether they've

ever bought a liberal labor or whatever

beside the point

they will rise up against the idea of a

treaty now this nation was settled by

the British more than 200 years ago and

sure British colonization was not 30 but

it was infinitely better

the colonization of other European

powers pretending that a Sovereign

Nation can make a treaty with part of

itself in the very statement of that

reveals its absurdity and I think once

the Australian public become aware of

that they will be rightfully quite

outraged