Sam Newman calls for an end to "divisive" Indigenous symbols
Sam Newman has called for all "divisive" Indigenous symbols, including the Aboriginal flag, to be banned from major events after the defeat of the Voice to Parliament referendum.
The former AFL player, who recently encouraged sports fans to boo during the Welcome to Country at the AFL grand final, has once again taken aim at First Nations Australians after Indigenous symbols were used on awards handed out at the Melbourne Marathon on Sunday.
Speaking on his You Cannot Be Serious podcast, Newman questioned why Aboriginal artworks adorned the medals and ribbons handed out to participants of the marathon.
"People just cannot help themselves," he said.
"The Melbourne Marathon was run last Sunday, and everyone who ran in it got a medal ... the pandering and sycophantic crap. All the ribbons had snakes and lizards and were decked out in Indigenous artwork."
When challenged by his co-host, Newman doubled on his controversial opinion.
"Why can't you just have an Australian flavour for the Melbourne Marathon? (Why) do you have to keep pandering to it all for? Why aren't we just one people? What do you do that for? They can't help themselves."
Newman also welcomed the defeat of the Voice to Parliament referendum, and took aim at disappointed Yes voters who were mourning the defeat.
He said, "The people who were the Yes voters said 'we're going to fly the Aboriginal flags at half-mast'. Well, that's good, we've got them half way down let's remove them right down to the bottom and not fly them at all."
Ironically, after beginning the rant about the Voice, he welcomed the idea from Indigenous leaders to hold a 'Week of Silence' to grieve the outcome of the referendum.
"How fantastic is that? Let's have a year of silence and not talk about it," Newman said.
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