1
(DRUMROLL)
(LAUGHTER)
(AUDIENCE EXCLAIMS)
(APPLAUSE)
STAN GRANT: Sport has a way
of really capturing
the essence of what's
happening in society.
TRACEY HOLMES:
'Racism' is a word
that Australians find
very hard to deal with.
ADAM GOODES: I decided
to stand up last night,
and I'll continue to stand up.
ANDREW BOLT:
Playing with racial division
is dangerous and stupid.
NOVA PERIS: There's
such an uncomfortable truth
in this country,
and yet when we speak about it,
people don't like it.
ADAM: I believe
racism is a community issue
which we all need to address,
and that's why
racism stops with me.
STAN: You don't want to be
the person who stands up
and has to fight battles
every day of your life.
Who wants that?
And it takes a huge toll.
But it takes a greater toll
to walk away.
ANDREW: Every action
invites a reaction.
Sometimes that reaction's
gonna be extremely nasty.
(CROWD BOOS)
MAN: The force of it
was primal.
People didn't want
to acknowledge
what was really happening.
STAN: He, in the minds of some,
had committed the great sin -
the black man who complains.
I can't speak for what lay
in the hearts
of the people
who booed Adam Goodes,
but I can tell you
what we heard.
We heard a howl.
WOMAN: (ON RADIO)
Gotta look ourselves
in the mirror here, guys.
We've gotta face our demons
as Australians.
STAN: We heard
a howl of humiliation
that echoes across
two centuries
of dispossession, injustice,
suffering and survival.
SAM NEWMAN:
People are not booing you
because you're an Aboriginal.
They're booing you 'cause
you're acting like a jerk.
STAN: We heard the howl
of the Australian dream,
and it said to us again...
.."You're not welcome."
(GENERATOR WHIRRS)
(BURNERS WHOOSH)
SARAH HARRIS: Welcome
to sunny Australia Day.
MICHAEL USHER:
Thousands of proud Aussies
have boarded boats
and packed the foreshore,
celebrating on and around
Sydney Harbour.
SARAH HARRIS: Australians
celebrated the big day
in true Aussie style.
It's pretty good
to be an Australian.
Happy Australia Day!
ADAM: You know what? We're very
lucky to live in this country.
No better place
to live, really.
MICHAEL USHER: Every corner of
the city marked Australia Day.
MICHAEL O'LOUGHLIN:
We're very fortunate.
It's an amazing place we live,
here in Australia.
REPORTER:
More than 60,000 people
have celebrated here today.
STAN: It's peaceful.
It's prosperous.
It's tolerant.
It's multicultural.
This is a fantastic place!
MARK FERGUSON:
The most dedicated among us
have shown plenty of pride
as we celebrate
our history, our culture
and our journey as a nation.
MAN: Australia Day
is Australia's birthday.
I mean, celebrating the
best country in the world
and celebrating
the day it was organised.
- Having a bloody good time.
- Relaxing.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
ADAM: This is the day
that we celebrate
the birth of Australia
as you know it now.
But to the Indigenous
community,
that's the saddest day
for our culture.
(MUSIC PLAYS, CROWD CHATTERS)
MAN: (CHANTS)
Always was, always will be!
ALL: Aboriginal land!
Always was, always will be!
ALL: Aboriginal land!
- Always was, always will be!
- Aboriginal land!
Dates mark history,
but dates don't tell us
necessarily about history.
It's up to you and I!
It's up to every single
human being!
Ain't the world sick
of all the killing?!
Ain't the world
sick of the government
standing over
our basic human rights?!
We need to put our focus
on uniting!
- Uniting in solidarity!
- (APPLAUSE)
Of caring and sharing
for one another!
That means
we join hands together!
- Thank you.
- (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
ADAM: Crazy turnout today.
I think people are getting
more and more aware
of what this day actually means
to Indigenous people
and there is a need for change
in this country,
and it starts with a showing
like it is today.
WOMAN: (CHUCKLES)
How are you doing, brother?
I was hoping we'd see you here.
MAN: (OVER P.A.)
I really applaud everybody
who turned up here, both
Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal.
We will march under
the banner of Invasion Day.
Here we go. One, two, three.
MAN: (OVER P.A.)
Because you are on the pathway
to telling the truth
of history.
And it's when
the truth of history is told
that we CAN walk together.
I just wanted to say you're an
inspiration to all Australians.
Thanks, mate. Appreciate it.
ADAM: Ever since what happened
when I was playing footy,
I've only ever felt love from
community, love from people.
It's great to be able to see
those people's faces
and hug them back
and say thank you,
because they're the people
that have been fighting for me
when people say things
about me.
So, yeah, it's nice to be able
to shake their hands,
have some photos
and, you know,
share the love back.
Yeah, which is good.
Growing up, I knew
I was different. I was darker.
I actually didn't know
what it meant
to be an Indigenous person.
I did see myself
just like everybody else.
It wasn't until high school
where bullies, smart-arses
would call me names
that I then went home
and asked my mum,
"What does that mean, Mum?"
And Mum goes,
"Well, you're Aboriginal.
"They're trying to tease you.
"What I want you to do
is whenever they do that,
"you just keep walking away."
My mum is
full-blood Indigenous,
my dad is Irish-Scottish,
but I've never really been seen
as that white person.
They've always just seen me
as, "You're that black kid."
STAN: It's a struggle when
you're young to be different.
I remember when I was a boy,
sitting in a bath and trying
to rub the colour off my skin,
and my mother coming in
and asking what I was doing.
I'd say, "I'm trying
to rub this black off."
I found out later that's
a really common experience
amongst a lot of Aboriginal
kids who just want to fit in.
BRETT GOODES: We didn't
have much as a family.
Mum was on her own
a lot of the time.
When I look back, you realise
how tough Mum did do it
with three boys on her own.
We were very energetic
young boys too, so...
Mum was strict, that was
for sure. She had to be.
ADAM: We moved around
quite a fair bit
to be closer
to other relatives,
and then we'd move away
from that family
just because Mum just thought
it would be best for us boys
not to be around
those environments,
which at times
were quite toxic.
Every barbecue that we went to,
there was always
lots of alcohol
and the adults
would always fight,
and we'd always see
this physical violence happen
and, you know,
it just became accepted.
STAN: Our life wasn't
the Dreamtime.
It wasn't this idea of some
pristine Aboriginal existence.
It was broken glass
and mangy dogs.
I think the thing that we have
most in common, Adam and I,
was that we were having to
make our way in the world
based on what
WE could bring to it.
ADAM: I was such a shy,
quiet kid growing up,
who really didn't have a voice.
It would take a long time
to make friends,
and then before too long,
we'd move away.
But one thing that would
help us assimilate
was our love for sports.
My brothers and I,
that was the way
that we broke down those
barriers every time we moved.
A soccer ball or a tennis ball
or a football,
it didn't matter what ball,
it would keep us occupied
for, you know, hours on end.
ADAM: I grew up playing soccer,
but when I moved to Victoria,
there wasn't any option
to play soccer
in this small country town,
and that's when
I had to try out AFL.
Sport in this country
really goes to the heart
of what the country is,
how the country sees itself.
(CROWD ROARS)
But here in Australia,
the local home-grown sport
of Aussie Rules, or AFL,
it's the thread
that binds the nation.
NATHAN BUCKLEY: It's a way of
life. It's guttural, it's deep.
It's handed down from
generation to generation.
There is a tribal nature to it.
EDDIE MCGUIRE: It's freestyle,
it's challenging,
it's rough-and-tumble,
it's courageous
and it's skilful
at the same time.
You know, they've got
'the beautiful game', soccer,
you've got rugby, which is
'the game they play in heaven',
but as we say, Australian Rules
is the game we play here.
ADAM: It's said that
the game that we now play
was actually an Indigenous game
called marngrook.
It's something that
our ancestors have played
for thousands and thousands
of years.
GILBERT McADAM: It's
something that's a part of us.
Whether we like it or not,
it's a part of us
just as much as
we're a part of it.
I compare it to the land,
where they say,
"We don't own the land.
The land owns us."
And for some strange reason,
I get that feeling
with a football in my hand.
PETER LANDY: And a very good
morning, everyone.
Welcome to the MCG,
grand final day 1997,
between
the North Ballarat Rebels
and the Dandenong Stingrays
in the TAC Cup
for the under-18s.
ADAM: It came naturally to me.
My development came very fast.
COMMENTATOR: Here's a chance
for Clarke, the full-forward.
Can't take the ball.
Strong work out to Goodes,
centre half-forward, in front.
He's got it! The first
on the board to the Rebels.
PAUL ROOS: This guy was
an incredible athlete.
That was the thing that really
jumped out at everyone
when he first started.
PETER LANDY:
Comes towards Goodes.
His snapshot is on target.
He's got his second!
GILBERT: Adam had
a beautiful vertical leap.
He could jump from here and,
boom, he'd touch the roof.
He was a freak.
- Goodes flying in!
- Good mark!
Pow! He was fast.
For a big man,
his pace was incredible.
COMMENTATOR: Goodes on the left
foot, the centre half-forward.
He's let one go.
Look at that!
That's incredible!
We've got six-goal hero
Adam Goodes with us.
Adam, how are you feeling,
mate?
Oh, stuffed.
It was just great to win today.
Grand final and everything,
it was just a good atmosphere.
To have the parents here,
and everyone just played
to their best ability.
- It was just unbelievable.
- Congratulations.
And I think we'll see you
in the AFL in the future.
All the best.
GILBERT: I thought to myself,
"This kid's gonna be
something special."
I didn't know he was gonna
become... what he done.
I first heard Adam's name
in the draft, the AFL draft.
Player 3308 -
Ballarat Rebels, Adam Goodes.
MICHAEL: I was sitting at home,
and my mother was there
and we were both watching, and
the name Adam Goodes came out.
And Mum goes,
"Oh, that's your relation."
And I sorta looked at her
and I went,
"No, you're kidding, Mum.
You think we're all related!"
And then she proceeded
to go through the family tree,
and, "That's where he sits
in the scheme of things,
"and technically speaking,
he's your uncle."
And I looked at her, I said,
"Well, I can guarantee you
"I'm not calling
this 17-year-old my uncle."
And that was it. And I went to
the phone box and rang Adam.
ADAM: Got a phone call
from Michael O'Loughlin,
who was up in Sydney as well.
He said, "Welcome to
the football club, Goodesy.
"Can't wait for you
to get up here.
"By the way, you're my cousin."
So, as scary as it was, I knew
that there were people up there
waiting for me and excited
by me moving up to Sydney.
I just can't wait
to get up there,
but I know I'm gonna be
leaving a lot behind,
so I have to probably say
the cheerios now
before I leave and that.
My first couple of years
at the Swans
were a real slap in the face.
One week, I'd be
the best player in the team
and the next week I'd be
the worst player in the team.
My senior coach, Rodney Eade,
he wasn't one to hold back.
He could make it
very personal at times,
the feedback
that he could give you.
JOHN LONGMIRE:
At that particular time,
the coach would have seen
the talent that Adam had
and drove him hard.
PAUL: What you need to realise
after a certain period of time
is that every personality's
different.
You know, I might have made
the same mistake
had I been Adam's first coach,
but being his second coach,
I realised
that Adam's personality
didn't lend itself
to the negative criticism
constantly.
It was pointing out
what he could do well
rather than the things
that he couldn't do.
ADAM: What the Swans did
in 2003 by appointing Paul Roos
was actually giving me
a connection to a culture.
A culture that I'd been
looking for, crying out for.
DENNIS COMETTI:
Goodes accelerates away
and puts it through for a goal.
BRUCE McAVANEY: Goodes!
That's a wonderful mark!
PAUL: And one of the things
we tried to do with the players
was engage them with the past,
really to try and connect them
to a history.
ADAM: Our heritage goes back to
this team in South Melbourne,
who they called
the Bloodstained Angels.
We wanted to tap into this
heritage of being the Bloods -
hard, disciplined,
fight for everything.
- COMMENTATOR: Goodes!
- (CROWD ROARS)
ADAM: Buying into this culture
at this football club
definitely filled a void
in my life.
Identity. Who am I?
What do I want to be?
BRUCE McAVANEY:
Goodes stretches and then goes!
Jackhammering it home!
ADAM: We created
our own language
in this Bloods culture.
We had our set of behaviours.
We had our elders
to look up to.
COMMENTATOR: Goodes!
Awesome mark!
ADAM: And that's
what I absolutely loved
and that's what I ate up.
They really helped make me
who I am.
(APPLAUSE)
ANNOUNCER:
Ladies and gentlemen,
welcome to the 2003
Brownlow Medal.
EDDIE: The Brownlow Medal is
the most valuable player
of the year award.
This is the individual award
that every boy dreams of
as a kid -
that one day you'll be
the Brownlow Medallist.
MAN: Sydney, A. Goodes,
two votes.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
EDDIE: I was lucky enough to be
hosting the Brownlow Medal
the night he won.
What does it mean for you to be
a Brownlow Medallist now?
I don't know.
I really don't know.
- (LAUGHTER)
- It hasn't... It's a dream.
It is. I can't believe it.
EDDIE: And your poor mum
who's over there,
she still hasn't quite got over
the shock of it over there.
Lisa, can we ask you, how are
you feeling at the moment
looking at this son of yours
up here?
I'm elated.
I still can't believe it.
Did you give him much chance
going into the last round?
- All the way, bruz.
- (LAUGHTER)
- (APPLAUSE)
- EDDIE: Congratulations, Adam.
Great stuff, mate.
ADAM: I had my mum there,
who had sacrificed a lot
in her life.
You could just see
how proud she was of me
and the role that she'd played
getting me there.
MICHAEL: It just signalled
to the football world
that Adam had arrived
as a player.
He said to me,
"If I keep working hard,
"I can get even better."
Which is scary.
(CROWD ROARS)
ADAM: As soon as I realised
that I was one of those Bloods
and I deserved to be there,
that's when I had aspirations
to be an elder, be a leader
in that culture.
TIM LANE: For the first time
in 72 years,
the Swans are champions
of the AFL!
PAUL: The evolution of Adam
was interesting
to see it firsthand.
He was just more comfortable
in his own skin
and more comfortable
with his teammates,
more comfortable with coaches.
LANE: Goodes can do
pretty much everything!
JOHN: He just had
enormous self-belief
and started to cement himself
and his reputation
as one of the best players
in the game.
ANNOUNCER: The winner
of the 2006 Brownlow Medal
is Adam Goodes!
EDDIE: There's no duds
who win a Brownlow Medal.
If you win two,
you're a superstar.
You're one of
the greatest players
in the history of the game.
ADAM: You look around the room,
see that there's a lot of names
on people's lockers,
and to get your name
on your locker,
you have to play
at least 100 games,
win a premiership,
a Brownlow.
BRIAN TAYLOR:
Goodes on the attack.
Sprints away! Look at this!
Sensational start
from Adam Goodes!
ADAM: I've just got a couple
of premierships up there,
which is pretty awesome,
and then just
all that other crap.
BRUCE McAVANEY:
It's dream time, isn't it?
It's that moment that every
player wants to experience.
JOHN: Adam was
our co-captain at that time,
when I first took over in 2011,
when Paul left.
He was able to pick up
pretty quickly
that he could influence others.
Players need to hear
that you've got an opinion
and you're prepared
to put it out there,
because that holds you
to account.
NATHAN: When you get
to a grand final,
the adrenaline that's
coursing through your veins
has you overcoming
a lot of physical ailments.
But there are some things
that just stops people.
ADAM: At the start
of the second quarter,
I go up for a marking contest.
As I go for the mark, the ball
then goes over the top.
COMETTI:
Goodes, a deflection. Jetta.
I land on the ground.
I'm like, "Ohh!"
McAVANEY: Right now, Goodes
not moving all that well.
The physio comes out and goes,
"Come off. Come off."
So I sort of hobble off
to the bench.
COMMENTATOR: And Goodes has had
some posterior cruciate
ligament damage in the past.
So, just doing the structural
test to make sure he's OK.
ADAM: I look at him,
I go, "Is it OK?"
And he moves it side to side,
he goes, "Your ACL's good."
I said, "Yeah, I know.
"Is the PCL OK?"
He goes, "Nuh. It's ruptured."
JOHN: Obviously quite anxious
to know
how one of my best players
was like at half-time.
And I went up to Adam and just
said, "How's the knee?"
He said, "Oh, it's alright,
mate. Don't worry about me."
ADAM: John Longmire's next to
me, he's like, "Are you right?"
And I said,
"Yeah, mate, I'm good."
I'm getting some more tape
on my knee,
he leans over
the doctor's shoulder,
he goes, "Goodesy, are you OK?"
I said, "Yep, I'm good, mate."
And just before we run out,
he grabs my arm,
just as we're about to run out,
he goes, "Goodesy, are you OK?"
I said, "Horse, I'm fuckin'
alright. Leave me alone."
He used some pretty strong
language to tell me
to "move on
and don't worry about me".
At that particular moment,
I knew that he was
to be relied upon.
ADAM: I can run
in a straight line.
I can't change direction
and I can't stop very quickly.
But I can still play a role
for the team.
McAVANEY: Goodes in
a good spot! And, yes, he does!
Morton has to fish for it.
Still fishing.
No-one's got him!
And he's hooked a big one!
(CROWD ROARS)
NATHAN: The capacity
to be able to continue on
is based on,
"This is my moment.
"I've got to find a way."
He still found a way to put
the cherry on top of that,
which he always does.
COMETTI: Well, how about this
for a finish?
78 apiece, seven and a half
delicious minutes to come.
ADAM: There was only a few
minutes to go in the game,
and... it was instinctive.
McAVANEY: Back to Grundy.
And then off a step
to full-forward.
Big flight, Bird. Goodes.
Can he roll it through?
- He can!
- (CROWD ROARS)
Cometh the moment,
cometh the champion!
That to me was the moment
that summed him up.
Mentally strong,
sensing the moment
and having the ability
to be able to deliver.
It is one of the great moments
in the history of grand finals.
(SIREN SOUNDS)
McAVANEY: They've done it!
What a team!
That culture, the Bloods -
that's what it's all about!
JOHN: He wasn't able to run
until four months later.
That gives you
some sort of indication
how bad that injury was.
GILBERT: He got every ounce
out of his bones
and out of his skin.
He did it. He's a champion.
And he always will be
a champion, Goodesy.
MICHAEL: Go to any Aboriginal
community around Australia
and ask them
about Adam Goodes,
the smile comes to the face
straightaway,
and there's a sense of pride
and they just say,
"That bloke's deadly.
"He is bloody deadly."
(SYDNEY SWANS TEAM SONG PLAYS)
TRACEY: Here in Australia,
we like to think of ourselves
as being egalitarian,
but the fact is
we're not all the same
and we're not treated
all the same.
MICHAEL: Sport's been
a huge part
of my life and Adam's life.
It's given us an opportunity
to be able to go and make
a better life
for our communities
and our families.
So, it's given us plenty,
but, jeez, it's also given us
a couple of whacks as well.
ADAM: The first time in AFL
when I was racially vilified,
I would have been 24, 25.
The guy called me "you black,
monkey-looking cunt".
STAN: You can't describe
what it does to you
when someone says
something like that.
We should be bigger than that,
and you hear that.
You know, "sticks and stones",
all of that.
But, boy, names can
REALLY hurt you.
You shrivel inside. You shrink.
It suffocates you.
It strangles you.
I remember when I was a boy,
when someone would turn
and say something -
"You black bastard,"
or "nigger", "Abo", "coon"...
..I wouldn't even know
how to respond.
You know, what do I do?
Do I punch this person?
Do I yell? Do I...
What do I do? Who do I turn to?
And that powerlessness
just overwhelms you,
it becomes crippling.
ADAM: You just need to ask
any Aboriginal person,
ask any minority
in this country,
have they ever been
racially vilified,
and I guarantee you, they've
all got a story to tell.
NOVA PERIS:
One of the most hurtful things
was when I was
representing Australia
and we were at a camp going
on to the world championships.
And the Australian team
was seated at a table,
and a fellow Australian athlete
wearing the green and gold
said to me,
"Pass the salt, nigger."
And... no-one said anything.
It was dealt with after,
behind closed doors,
and he said to me,
"Oh, I didn't know that
that was offensive."
Really?
The N-word? You did not think
that that was offensive?
ADAM: We have our Indigenous
camps every two year.
We share stories of how
we've all been vilified.
How one player
who just bought a new car
got pulled over three times
in the same day
because they thought
that he'd stolen it.
Walking into shopping centres
and security
following you around
thinking you're gonna
steal something.
These are the things
that happen every single day
to Indigenous people,
and it makes us feel like shit
and it makes us feel
like we're not worthy,
that we're not part of the same
society that you live in.
GILBERT:
When I first come to AFL,
oh, mate, racism was full-on,
don't worry about that.
From players,
but more so from spectators.
The name-calling thing
was just bullshit.
We played Collingwood at
Victoria Park in April of 1993.
GILBERT: When me and Nicky
walked out,
they started giving it to us
straightaway.
They were calling us
everything under the sun.
They were calling us Abos.
They talk about
our people being hung
and raping our women.
I said to Gilbert, "Did you
hear what they were saying
"out there before
we ran out on the field?"
He said, "Yeah, bruz.
"Don't worry. We'll fix that
on the scoreboard."
GILBERT: I said to him,
"Bruz, we just gotta play
deadly today.
"Let's run amok and let's
stick it up these mob.
"Me and you both get
best on ground today."
NICKY: It was very
frightening at the time.
I can still see it today.
I can still hear 'em.
(BOOING)
COMMENTATOR: Here's McAdam
from the boundary line.
Tucks it under the arm, sprints
into goal. A brilliant player.
COMMENTATOR 2:
Oh, that is sensational play,
Gilbert McAdam.
Oh, here's Winmar.
From 60 metres,
Nicky Winmar kicks.
The brilliant Winmar.
NICKY: And then I was called
a "black cunt"
and they were gonna
kill my family,
they were gonna find out
where we lived.
I just looked around, raised my
jumper and pointed to my skin
and I said,
"I'm black and I'm proud."
Yeah, I'm proud of Nick
for doing that.
STAN: There was something
incredibly powerful
about that moment.
Remember the 1968 Olympics -
John Carlos and Tommie Smith.
That image has lasted
a lifetime.
That's the Nicky Winmar image
for Australia.
It's not the black fist
in the air,
it's the black skin on his body
and pointing to it and saying
that, "This is who I am."
But to be able to stand up,
raise your voice,
make an example of yourself,
it takes a toll.
NICKY: I did go through a lot
and I just didn't want to play
the game anymore.
I was tired of being angry
towards other players
on the field and... um...
..fighting all that stuff,
'cause it wasn't
a part of footy.
Welcome back to The Footy Show.
The final segment of the night,
and we're going west
for the 'durby',
as they like to say in WA...
I meant to go onto the show.
I didn't turn up.
Nicky Winmar was scheduled to
be on The Footy Show tonight.
SAM: Do you reckon
he'll make it, Ed?
No, well, we believe
that Nicky has disappeared.
Sam Newman could be
a very crude person sometimes.
It's Fremantle versus the West
Coast Eagles. Plenty of drama.
(LAUGHTER)
SAM: Sorry I'm late, mate.
I'm sorry.
EDDIE: When he walked on, he
heard me say, "What the hell?"
He didn't understand
the nuance.
He was, you know,
a product of those times.
He was a '60s, '70s
vaudevillian
who was sending up Nicky Winmar
because he didn't turn up
on the show that night.
This is as close
as we could get.
- He's not here.
- (LAUGHTER)
Go on, ask me some questions
about the Western Bulldogs.
I know everything.
I know all the players.
NICKY: It's not funny.
I thought it was disgusting.
The Footy Show racism row
between Sam Newman
and Nicky Winmar
was publicly resolved overnight
with the program issuing
an unreserved apology.
Oh, great. Yep, no, very good.
Very happy to, uh...
..uh, have that unanimous
document read out,
and, uh...
so, we're very... very happy.
A normal white person
in society,
they can prove themselves,
and then once they've proved
themself, they can be accepted.
I just want to say,
you know, like,
I'm just glad
that it is all over.
GILBERT:
If you're a blackfella,
you've still got to keep
proving yourself.
Doesn't matter where you go
and what you do,
because you're judged
as a blackfella.
And you're always
judged as a blackfella.
(CAMERAS CLICK)
EDDIE: Thanks, everyone.
MAN: Thank you.
There's a difference between
being Aboriginal
and knowing what you are
and being politicised.
Most people don't have
that dilemma.
They can be
who they want to be.
MAN: Goodesy.
STAN: But identity
for Aboriginal people
has always been
front and centre.
The challenges arise when
you become politically aware.
ADAM: As a football club,
we wanted all of our players
to do some extra study.
I was seen as
an Indigenous role model,
and I actually still didn't
really know what it meant
to be an Indigenous person.
MICHAEL: Adam went
and studied Aboriginal studies.
I was very, very fortunate
growing up
because it was drummed into me
as a young kid,
and I forget that Adam
missed out on a lot of that.
He knew he was Aboriginal,
but he didn't know about
our culture and our history
and what we've gone through.
LINDA BURNEY:
Human occupation in Australia
is at least 60,000 years.
The oldest continuous surviving
culture on Planet Earth.
It's remarkable.
It gives you goose bumps
when you think about that.
ADAM: The more I learned about
what it meant to be Aboriginal,
the more proud I got
of what it meant
to be Indigenous,
to be Australian.
LINDA: Our people
walked this land
for thousands of generations
before white man arrived,
which was only
230-odd years ago.
FAITH BANDLER:
The referendum is on Saturday,
and it's important that we
should have the maximum vote,
because the eyes of the world
are on Australia.
They are waiting to see whether
or not the white Australian
will take with him as one
people the dark Australian.
LINDA: I was born in 1957,
and for the first 10 years of
my life, before the referendum,
we were not counted
in this nation.
GILBERT: We only become
citizens in 1967.
That's the year that I was
born. So, that's not long ago.
But you've got to remember also
that in the Constitution,
we're still not recognised
as the original people
of this country,
because of that stupid term
'terra nullius'.
LINDA: The legal doctrine
that Australia was
claimed by the British
of course was terra nullius,
which means 'empty land'.
STAN: "Empty" land?
People had been here for
60,000, 70,000 years at least.
It wasn't empty!
People were standing on
the shore as the boats came in.
It wasn't empty!
ADAM: When Captain Cook landed
and claimed that
Australia was terra nullius,
he claimed that
there was no civilisation
living here in Australia.
Our land was taken off us.
We were raped,
murdered, massacred.
And this is a day
that people celebrate.
We don't celebrate
the Holocaust.
We don't celebrate
these moments in history
where for one side of the story
it's a tragic, tragic story.
But we do in Australia.
For me, learning
about all this stuff
just brought up
all these emotions inside of me
and I was so angry.
STAN: Suddenly for Adam,
here was a history of invasion.
Suddenly, here was a history
of poisonings,
of shootings, of massacres.
Here was a history of
rounding people up,
forcing them onto reserves
and missions,
separating children,
segregating us from
the rest of Australia.
When you learn
the history of this country,
it's... it's shocking.
Everything about us as a race
of people has been denied.
Ever since I did my Diploma
in Indigenous Studies,
gone on my own personal journey
about who I am
as an Indigenous person,
anything that has been said
about me,
about my Aboriginality
derogatory, racist...
..I'm gonna call it out.
(CROWD ROARS)
BRUCE McAVANEY:
It's Friday night footy,
the beginning of
the Indigenous Round.
Big night here - it's the Swans
and Collingwood.
EDDIE: Every year, we have
in the AFL Indigenous Round,
where we pay tribute and honour
the Indigenous players
that have come before
and are currently playing.
This has all been part,
I think, of the reconciliation
in Australian Rules football
to not only look at the talent
that is there
and celebrate
the wonderful champions,
but also look at
the issues involved
in Indigenous Australia
and see where
we can challenge ourselves.
I'm here with Micky O'Loughlin,
one of the great
Indigenous players of all time.
Now, Mick, it's 20 years
since this photo was taken,
a really iconic
Australian football photo -
Nicky Winmar at Victoria Park
after some taunts
from the crowd.
Leading into Indigenous Round,
it actually was the 20-year
anniversary of Nicky Winmar.
I did exactly that photo
to celebrate,
signifying, "You know what?
"I'm just as proud
as Nicky Winmar
"to be black and Indigenous."
MICHAEL: This photo represents
a lot of the sacrifices
these guys have made to make
the game what it is today.
And now we just go out
and play footy.
We don't have to worry about
all the other, I guess, garbage
that the guys
used to put up with.
(CROWD CHEERS)
ADAM: I always loved the roar
of the crowd when you walk out.
It was a big part of why
I loved playing at the MCG.
It was always gonna be
a big crowd,
especially if it's
Friday night football.
DENNIS COMETTI:
So, Friday night football
about to get under way.
ADAM: The thing
about our sport is
that the crowd rides
every bump, every tackle,
every score.
As a player, being out here
and feeling that emotion
from the crowd is fantastic.
COMETTI: 400 AFL goals
to that man.
What a great player he's been.
ADAM: The fans
are pretty close,
and you want them to be close
and to be able to at times
feel like they could
reach out and touch you.
McAVANEY: Goodes.
He's been so brilliant tonight!
What a handball! What a goal!
We're having a night out!
Just over
in that forward pocket
is where the incident happened.
I just remember
running down Collingwood's end
and I grab the ball
right near the boundary
and I get pushed
closer to the fence.
And I hear from the crowd,
"Goodes, you're an ape."
Time just sort of stopped
in my head. I was like, "Whoa."
And I just turned around and
I said to the security guard,
"I want her out of here."
Now, when I looked
at the person,
I could see it was a kid.
McAVANEY: Has
Adam Goodes had a word
to somebody in the crowd,
do you think?
BRIAN TAYLOR:
He definitely went back
and pointed at someone
in the crowd.
Something has happened there.
He's definitely not happy
about something.
I just remember hearing a bit
of a ripple through the crowd
and wondering what had gone on.
(WHISTLE BLOWS)
COMETTI: A bit going on in the
area to which Goodes pointed.
And security seem to think
they've got their woman.
ADAM: I come off the bench,
I sit down,
and then it just
sort of hits me,
the emotion of
what she's called me,
and I just walked
off the ground.
I walked down into
the medical room underneath
and I just burst into tears.
McAVANEY:
So, away from the spotlight
at the end of the match,
Adam Goodes.
That is interesting.
ADAM: And I hadn't
been racially abused
for eight years,
and it just rocked me.
You know, I was just
trying to take it all in,
what had just happened,
and I was obviously
a little bit emotional.
STAN: Australia's history
was born out of the idea
that Aboriginal people
were somehow subhuman,
less civilised.
Lower on
the evolutionary scale.
So, when someone says
"an ape",
what's someone like Adam
going to hear?
"You're subhuman, Adam.
"You know?
You're not... like us."
Even the best of us
can be laid low
by someone
who says something
that reminds us
where we came from
and reminds you who
you really are in their eyes.
EDDIE: As soon as
the game finished,
I immediately went into
the Sydney Swans' room
to speak to Adam personally,
to find out what had happened.
This is actually where
I caught up with Eddie,
and that's when
he gave me condolences
and said, "Whatever happened,
we'll make sure
"it never happens again
at our footy club."
EDDIE: We apologised to him
that he had to go through
something like that,
particularly on such
a significant night,
and that we would be there for
him in every step of the way.
(BOOING)
GILBERT: It was a young kid.
That's what freaked
everybody out.
It was actually a young girl.
ADAM: It would have been easier
if it was a drunk, white,
25- to 35-year-old male.
But because
it was a young girl,
it actually created
more conversations
about, what are we saying
in front of our kids?
Racism's not born in us.
Something put that there.
Why would she think
that you can use that word
towards an Aboriginal person?
JENNIFER KEYTE:
Adam Goodes has delivered
a powerful message
denouncing racism
after telling how an insult
from a young Collingwood
supporter left him shattered.
I had the absolute privilege
of meeting the great man
Nicky Winmar two days ago now,
and what he was able to do
for us 20 years ago,
and to be able
to make a stand myself
and say, you know, "Racism
has a face," last night,
and, you know,
it was a 13-year-old girl,
but it's not her fault.
ADAM: All I wanted
to get across was
racism is unacceptable.
But she's a kid. She didn't
know what she was saying.
She was influenced by others.
We needed to support her.
The person that needs
the most support right now
is the little girl.
You know, people need
to get around her.
She's 13. She's uneducated.
You know, if she wants
to pick up the phone
and call me and apologise,
I'll take that phone call
and I'll have a conversation
with that girl
about, "You know what?
You called me a name.
"This is how it made me feel."
Adam doesn't condemn the girl.
He actually offers sympathy
to the girl.
He extends a hand to the girl,
to talk to the girl.
That's what Adam's about.
He's about reconciliation.
Drawing a line -
"I'm not gonna cop this,"
and then asking afterwards,
"How can we move beyond it?"
And I decided
to stand up last night,
and I'll continue to stand up,
because, you know, racism has
no place in our industry,
has no place in society,
and hopefully
any person out there
that's been name-called,
has been verbally abused,
can stand up for themselves
after seeing what happened
last night.
ANDREW BOLT: It concerned me
that here was a girl
whose face had been shown,
broadcast around Australia,
and at a subsequent
press conference
she'd been called by Adam "the
face of racism in Australia".
And I thought that was really,
really unfair on a child.
Good evening.
A young Collingwood fan
at the centre of footy's
latest racism storm
has phoned Adam Goodes
to apologise.
The teenager admitted
she's ashamed,
the slur hurting
the Swans champion deeply.
I think Adam had
good intentions,
but I judge it by the result.
In the end, an example was
being made of a 13-year-old.
REPORTER:
A regretful 13-year-old
trying to repair some of
the hurt she's caused.
GIRL: Yep, OK. Sorry for that.
REPORTER: Today
supported by her mother,
the youngster explained why she
called the Swans star an "ape".
I just kind of meant it
as a joke,
and then he heard it
and then he thought
it was, like, racist.
REPORTER:
The incident also shocked
those closest to the teenager.
She's only a 13-year-old,
young girl
that lives in a country town,
that... doesn't really
get out that much.
NEIL MITCHELL: How is she?
It's been a couple of days now.
You've had national attention.
She's had a really rough time.
How is your daughter?
JOANNE: (ON PHONE)
She's not doing too bad
considering everything
that's happened.
NEIL: Do you feel a bit angry
about the way
she's been treated here?
JOANNE: The way
she was treated at the ground
by the security
and the police, yes.
ANDREW BOLT: It became clear
that she'd been taken
separately from
her grandmother,
who was with her at the game,
that she'd been detained
for a couple of hours,
and that she'd been
very scared.
NEIL: That's no way to treat
a 13-year-old kid, is it?
JOANNE: No. No, that's not.
ANDREW: If a child of 13
abused you in the street,
are you going to drag them off
to the police, threaten them,
then call a press conference,
show their face to the world?
Make them infamous
in their own town and school?
Would you do that,
or would you think,
"Ooh, no, that's a bit unfair"?
NEIL: You notice
Adam Goodes said
she was "the face of racism".
Did that concern you?
JOANNE: She's only
a 13-year-old, little girl,
and this has really been taken
way out of proportion.
NEIL: Joanne Looney,
who is the mother of Julia,
the child
in the middle of this.
ANDREW: You can't let
your ideology,
your race politics,
your wish to improve things
get in the way of the fact
you're dealing with a girl.
You owe her something.
BRETT: Unfortunately,
people wanted to focus on
Adam being a bully and
picking on a 13-year-old girl,
and it was turned around
really quickly.
ADAM: The feedback
that I was getting
on my social media -
Twitter in particular -
was, "Toughen up, Goodes,"
"She's only a young girl."
And then they would post
pictures of me and an ape -
"Well, actually,
you do look like an ape."
And this was just constant.
G'day, people. It's your
favourite ranter, Mr Anderson.
OK, we're doing a rant
on Adam Goodes.
Adam Goodes is the Sydney Swans
football player
that basically
went out of his way
to kick out a 13-year-old girl
for calling him an "ape".
Yes, this man is an Aboriginal,
but I hate to tell you,
you ARE an ape.
We all descend from apes,
you fucking moron.
And I hope everyone calls you
a fucking ape
at every fucking game,
because, you know, what you did
was over the line, mate.
You do not kick out a kid
from a football game, alright?
I guarantee you, you've heard
worse fucking slurs than that.
An "ape". Seriously,
you're a fucking soft-cock.
Get thicker skin, you idiot.
And from now on, Adam Goodes,
you're known as a fucking ape.
ADAM: The backlash just
intensified and intensified
to the point where
it actually really surprised me
that people had
those points of view
and said those things about me.
The whole message
that I tried to get across
is that we need to talk
about this.
And we didn't have to wait
too long
until that conversation
actually started again.
RADIO ANNOUNCER: Live across
the greatest city known to man,
this is the Triple M
Hot Breakfast.
Now the man
who really knows Melbourne
and just about everyone in it -
Eddie McGuire.
Football's racism row
has erupted again
after bizarre comments
from Collingwood president
Eddie McGuire.
Speaking on breakfast radio,
McGuire linked footballer
Adam Goodes with King Kong
just days after Goodes was hurt
by a teenager's insult
during a Swans match
at the MCG.
Hang on a minute.
This is the guy who
four nights earlier
is shaking my hand,
saying, "This is unacceptable,"
but he's on radio making a joke
about King Kong - a gorilla -
and me.
It was just a mistake.
It was a misspoken moment.
(CAMERAS CLICK)
I had run myself into
the ground a bit that week,
I was exhausted,
and the night before,
I was actually out
hosting a symposium
to raise money to try and help
Indigenous boys and girls
come to private schools.
It's a very disappointing
moment for me
to be sitting here today.
I made a slip-of-the-tongue
remark this morning
that was actually the opposite
of what I was thinking
at the time.
But what went to air
went to air,
and it's as simple as that.
EDDIE: I was trying to make
the point that in the old days
there were variety shows
in Australia,
the black-and-white
minstrels, etc,
where this would have been
set up as satire,
and I was trying to make
that point
and I completely stuffed up
what I was trying to say.
I've spoken
to Adam Goodes today,
who again showed
the class that he has
to accept my call,
to listen to my reasonings
and to take on board
what I had to say.
ADAM: When I finally
took his call,
I just said,
"You're not a friend."
He just forgot where he was.
He forgot that he was on radio,
and it was just an off-the-cuff
thing that he would say
at a barbecue, at a bar,
and it just highlighted
my point -
that casual racism is there,
it's alive and it's flourishing
in our communities.
I don't understand the
question. What does that mean?
No, it's not. I wasn't racially
vilifying anyone this morning.
WOMAN ON RADIO: I don't think
Eddie's being racial at all.
I think it was
just like he said -
a slip of the tongue
and it was a bit of a joke.
MAN ON RADIO: I don't think
either of these comments
were being deliberately racist.
I think we're getting
a little bit thin-skinned.
WOMAN ON RADIO: It's just
something that came out.
Anybody could have said it.
PRESENTER: Innocent mistake,
then, you think, Shirley?
WOMAN: Oh, absolutely, yes.
TRACEY: I don't think
most Australians know...
..what the big deal is.
(LAUGHS)
I don't think they understand
what is racist and what isn't.
Why was it so obviously racist,
in your view?
Because he indicated earlier
really he felt it was just
a slip of the tongue.
What's the difference?
All sorts of remarks are made
in everyday conversation
which indicate that
a lot of us don't understand
where the line of racism
is drawn.
RADIO PRESENTER:
Can you be racist
if you don't intend
to be racist?
MAN: It is possible for people
who are not necessarily racist
to make racist statements,
and they make them
out of ignorance.
TRACEY: People think
because it's casual
and because
it happens everywhere
and because we do it
in our backyard barbecues
and because it happens
in the schoolyard
and because it happens at work,
it's just a joke.
You know, have a bit of
a laugh. (CHUCKLES)
But, again, it comes back
to that much deeper thing
of not understanding
the impact of that
on people that have to hear it.
MAN: People couch
the question of racism
from the perspective of
the person uttering the words
rather than the perspective
of the person
to whom the words
were directed.
PRESENTER: Some of the comments
I've just heard presuppose
that we need a policy
of national clairvoyance
to understand exactly how
a comment is going to be heard.
People just don't have
a perspective
of the reality
of the situation.
And unless you've
been there yourself,
you'll never, never know,
because you'll never, never go.
Because you're not black.
ADAM: Growing up,
we didn't really know
how we were Indigenous
or what that actually meant.
People said,
"Are you Aboriginal?"
I was like, "Yeah, I am.
I'm from Adnyamathanha tribe."
But that's all I knew. And
that's all I think my mum knew.
She couldn't really pass
anything on to us children
about us being Indigenous
or where we came from.
Long time no see, eh?
ADAM: When I started to ask
questions about the past,
I started to notice
that she'd clam up
and she didn't want
to talk about it.
I just knew that
she was taken away
and that we had a white nanna
for some reason.
So I was very surprised
when we filmed
Who Do You Think You Are?
and my mum relived
what happened to her.
LISA: I've got a couple of
photos to show you, honey.
This is your
grandfather Hurtle.
And this one is your nanna,
my mum, Daphne.
Aw. That's an awesome picture.
Yeah. It's a nice photo of her.
I can see myself in her.
I know I'm Indigenous,
but I don't know nothing
about my ancestors.
- The same as you, yeah.
- Yeah. Cool.
- Be nice to know, eh?
- Yeah.
STAN: The idea was
that Aboriginal people
would die out.
There was a phrase
that was widely used -
"to smooth the dying pillow".
People were being sent off
to reserves and missions
where, effectively,
they would disappear.
But of course,
we didn't disappear.
FILM NARRATOR: The problem
of Aboriginal welfare today
is not primarily one
of ministering
to primitive, nomadic tribesmen
living well away from
the centres of civilisation.
The main task is set by those
who are losing touch with
their Aboriginal way of life
and have not yet
been fully received
into the Australian community.
STAN: Governments tried
to develop policy
to deal with what was seen
as 'the Aboriginal problem'.
And one of the ideas
was assimilation.
FILM NARRATOR:
But it's with the children
that the real hope
for assimilation lies.
Their education
should be intended
not merely to fulfil the normal
educational requirements,
but also to fit them for
taking their place in society.
ADAM: You were five,
weren't you, when...
LISA: Yep, about five,
going on six, yeah.
ADAM: Oh, that would have been
a very traumatic time, Mama,
to be taken away.
LISA: It was.
The day they took us away,
the only thing I can remember -
I was stripped down,
scrubbed with
a scrubbing brush,
and they shaved all my hair
off my head.
Absolutely terrified.
And I was under the bed
singing out, "Mum! Mum! Mum!"
And, um...
ADAM: Yeah.
It's sad, isn't it, Mama?
Sharon came under the bed
with me and cuddled me.
That was gut-wrenching
to hear my mum tell that story
and break down in front of me.
(SCHOOL BELL RINGS)
STAN: Part of that policy was
to take children from families,
take them off
into children's homes,
where they would be educated
and then sent out to work
for white families.
They would marry
potentially white people
and have white kids,
who would eventually be
absorbed into the Commonwealth.
There's an incredible picture
used at the time
as a way of explaining
the assimilation policy -
a dark grandmother,
her slightly lighter daughter
and her daughter's
blond-haired son.
I can't imagine what it's like
not to have known Nanna.
Quite a nice-looking couple,
aren't they?
ADAM: They're very nice, yeah.
NOVA: My mum
and my grandparents
were all members of
the Stolen Generation.
There's nothing greater
than a mother's love
for her own children,
and you protect them.
Adam's mum, like my mum,
didn't want to burden him
with what she endured
during her time.
GILBERT: That's an effect
that the Stolen Generation had
on our people.
When we found out
about what had happened,
I had a different perspective
on my father
as to why he might have drank a
bit more or did this and that.
I had a bit more clear
picture of what...
You know,
I put everything together
and then I realised why.
ADAM: My mum actually, at this
point in time, is up in Sydney,
getting some help
for her trauma.
BRETT: Mum was very strong
bringing us kids up,
'cause she didn't want
to lose us,
and, like, she was taken
from her parents, so...
And I think once we all left,
um, it sort of...
..you know, had this, um...
..she didn't have to be strong
anymore, and... yeah.
Yeah, she's still
dealing with it.
NOVA: The removal of
Aboriginal children,
the abuse that
those children endured,
whether it was
physical, mental,
it transcended.
And it's hard
not to inherit the pain.
It's in our DNA, it's in our
blood, that we are who we are
because of those
who have gone before us.
ADAM: The biggest lesson
I learnt from doing that show
was the story of survival
and wanting to survive
and wanting something better
for our children,
the next generation.
And that to me is, you know,
why I do the things that I do.
Good job, Mama.
NOVA: There's
a whole generation
that's an educated generation
of Aboriginal people
who are saying, "We've got
an inherent responsibility
"and we're gonna talk
about the past,
"we're gonna talk about
the intergenerational trauma
"that's passed down.
"We're gonna talk
about the pain
"of our mothers'
and grandmothers' sufferings,
"and white Australia
need to hear the truth."
The Australian of the Year...
The Australian
of the Year...
JULIA GILLARD:
Your Australian of the Year...
VOICEOVER: Since 1960,
the Australian of the Year
Awards have recognised
great Australians
from all walks of life.
Most Australians
would know Adam Goodes
as one of the great champions
of Australian Rules football.
But Adam is far more
than just a sportsman.
He's an extraordinary
Australian
who has committed himself
to some of the toughest
social issues that we face.
I met Adam when
we were actually filming
the Australian of the Year
Awards.
I was the producer
for the TV show.
ADAM: In my 16 years
as a professional athlete,
I've learnt about
my deficiencies,
the things that I needed
to improve on.
I've also learnt a lot
about myself -
who I am and where I come from.
A lot of this goes back
to my identity
of being a very proud
Aboriginal man.
He spoke with passion
and conviction
and just an honesty
that you can't deny,
and you couldn't deny,
having heard it.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
ADAM: The honour of being named
Australian of the Year,
it was something
that I had to think about.
Australia Day doesn't sit
very well with me.
But the reason why I decided
to go and accept it
was it would be
a fantastic platform
to talk about racism
on a national level.
Ladies and gentlemen, the 2014
Australian of the Year,
Adam Goodes!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Thank you, Australia,
for this award.
It is a huge honour.
It's an honour
to receive an award
for doing stuff that you love
and what you believe in.
Growing up as
an Indigenous Australian,
I have seen and experienced
my fair share of racism.
Whilst it has been difficult
a lot of the time,
it has also taught me a lot
and shaped my values
and what I believe in today.
NOVA: His speech was beautiful.
He used that opportunity
to tell the whole of Australia
who Adam Goodes was.
I believe racism is
a community issue
which we all need to address,
and that's why
racism stops with me.
In a way, it's the greatest
expression of patriotism,
to say, "I believe in
my country so much,
"and when my country fails me,
I have to confront it.
"I will stand up to make
my country better."
It is not just about
taking responsibility
for your own actions,
but speaking to your mates
when they make racist remarks.
GILBERT: I'm so glad
he said that.
See how he stuck up
for his people?
It wasn't about him, was it,
about getting
the Australia Day award?
I'm not here to tell you
what to think
or how to act
or raise your children.
All I'm here to do is tell you
about my experiences
and hope you choose to be aware
of your actions
and interactions,
so that together
we can eliminate racism.
Thank you so much
and have a great Australia Day.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
ADAM: It's just quite amazing,
to be honest.
It's taken me a long time
to get to the point
of actually celebrating
Indigenous culture and heritage
on this weekend.
There are a lot of
Aboriginal people out there
that do think back,
"What if 225 years ago
we were never colonised?"
These are thoughts
and pain and sorrow
that Aboriginal people
go through.
I'm so proud to be Australian.
This award is
such a huge honour.
And on Australia Day,
for me, you know, it IS -
it is Invasion Day,
it is Survival Day.
It's all of those things
to Aboriginal people,
and I think people need
to understand
today is a day
of sorrow, of hurt.
ANDREW: Yes, bad things
were done 200 years ago,
but we're asked to feel guilt
for something
none of our ancestors did
to people long dead.
Andrew Bolt has slammed
footballer Adam Goodes,
claiming he's already let us
down as Australian of the Year.
NATALIE: For him
to truly express who he was
as an Indigenous Australian man
and not just be
playing football
like he was 'supposed to do',
I think that made people
uncomfortable.
As Australian of the Year,
I have often spoken
about the fact
that our country's Constitution
still closes its eyes
to the long part of
the Australian story
that predates British arrival.
ANDREW: The problem
that Adam had
was that the response he got
was one of disagreement
to the way he was having
the conversation.
It's a warning to us all
where the policies of
racial division could end up.
Every action
invites a reaction.
Sometimes that reaction's
gonna be extremely nasty.
(CROWD ROARS)
ADAM: It was
grand final day in 2014.
DENNIS COMETTI: Goodes is
down there, and takes the mark!
Runs around,
and he's kicked his second.
ADAM: Stuff was just
happening in the crowd.
(LOUD BOOING)
And then the next season,
it started again,
and I was just like, "Really?
Are we still doing this?"
COMMENTATOR: Goodes.
- (BOOING)
- (COMMENTATORS CHUCKLE)
And they're pantomime
kind of boos.
It's a little bit of fun,
and hopefully,
it's taken in that context.
MICHAEL: Back in the old days,
if you got booed,
you wore it
as a badge of honour.
You knew you were doing
really well.
COMMENTATOR:
And Goodes getting some boos,
but he'd be used to that.
MICHAEL: But he was getting
booed for going near the ball.
And you're just left there
scratching your head.
(BOOING ECHOES)
MAN: The booing was there
for Goodes again.
Every time he kicked a goal,
it was massive.
REPORTER: The boos
have been getting louder
every time
he steps on the field.
It escalated week on week.
He couldn't ignore it.
It was at a level that was
clearly affecting Adam.
MAN: It is something
that you hear.
Whether it bothers you or not,
that's up to each individual.
MAN: Clearly, he's frustrated
by the treatment he's getting.
MAN: It is clear that it is
taking a toll on Goodes.
NATALIE: Adam was really upset.
He knew why it was happening.
(BOOING ECHOES)
ADAM: You'd like to think
that people would respect
how long you've played for,
what you've given to the game,
causes that you've supported.
But they obviously didn't like
what I was saying,
and loud and clearly,
they were letting me know.
(BOOING)
NATHAN: Adam's no different
to anyone else.
All anyone ever wants is
to be seen for who you are
and respected for who you are.
And when you don't get that,
that can be the most hurtful,
debilitating response to get.
"What does that mean
"of the lifetime's work
that I've put in?"
And we all respond when we
feel like we haven't been seen
or we haven't been acknowledged
or we've been hurt.
BRUCE McAVANEY: Mitchell
off a step. Didn't look pretty.
But Goodes is able to
cut across and take the mark.
(LOUD BOOING)
ADAM: I could hear the Carlton
supporters booing me
as I was lining up.
My instincts just took over.
(BOOING)
COMETTI:
Goodes pops it through.
(BOOING INTENSIFIES)
You've been geeing me up
all day with the booing,
and this war cry
was just perfect.
When I saw him do that,
I thought,
"Well, that's aggressive."
That's the response of a bloke
who feels like he hasn't been
acknowledged for who he is
and he's shown,
"Hey, this is who I am."
But it wasn't gonna get
a great response
from people who couldn't see
that that came from
a position of hurt.
MATTHEW RICHARDSON: Mate,
we saw you with the celebration
in the second quarter there
after the goal.
Can you talk us through that?
Yeah, just
a little bit inspired
from the under-16
Boomerang kids,
who taught us
a little bit of a war cry.
So, just a little tribute
to those guys.
It wasn't a reaction
to anything untoward
tonight at all?
Nah, not at all, mate.
Indigenous Round, proud to be
Aboriginal and representing.
(BOOING)
MICHAEL: I felt immense pride
when he did it.
I love watching
the replay of that.
My son practises
the same moves in the mirror.
And I can guarantee you
there'll be another 100,000
young little Aboriginal
boys and girls
doing the same thing
in the mirror.
It was awesome.
I thought he left
a couple of good moves out.
Former Australian of the Year
Adam Goodes
has sparked
a social media storm,
performing
an Aboriginal war cry
during last night's
Sydney win over Carlton.
REPORTER: The war cry certainly
stirred up Blues fans,
many hurling abuse at the man
who has become
the most booed player
in the game.
ADAM: There was
nothing untowards
to the Carlton supporters.
It's actually something
for them to stand up and go,
"Yep, cool, we see you, we
acknowledge you. Bring it on."
REPORTER: It caused
a stir on social media,
with Goodes likely to cop
more abuse from fans
in the coming weeks.
Why do you feel you're
such a polarising character
in the game of football?
Is that what you think?
Obviously, people have got,
you know, divided opinions
on your character and what...
People have got divided
opinions about everything.
ANDREW: The mimicking of a
throwing of a spear at someone,
I think it's
pretty unmistakable
what that gesture is...
..and I don't think
that was really smart.
Adam, you should know better
and try and unite people
rather than divide them.
(AUDIENCE CHEERS AND APPLAUDS)
ANDREW: Once you challenge
someone in a martial way,
even symbolically,
you invite a response -
that's just human nature.
And I think
it's foolish to think
that you issue a challenge
and you don't get a response.
(BOOING)
STAN: These things become
a herd, a pack.
They saw a man who was
vulnerable and they piled on.
It kept growing.
(LOUD BOOING)
ADAM: We went over to WA,
and the Western
Australian crowd
can be loud
at the best of times,
but they were next-level.
Every time I got the ball,
they booed.
Every time I kicked
a goal, they booed.
(LOUD BOOING)
ANDREW:
Booing is the voice
of people who are
normally powerless.
It's their contribution
to the debate.
That's their voice.
It's not nice,
but... that's humanity.
Sometimes it isn't nice.
(BOOING)
STAN: He, in the minds of some,
had committed the great sin -
the black man who complains.
Suddenly he wasn't just
Adam Goodes the footballer,
he was Adam Goodes
the angry Aborigine.
People don't like
the angry Aborigine.
It cuts deep here.
It's something that reminds us
of a history that we'd really
rather leave in the past.
(LOUD BOOING)
JOHN: It was terrible to see.
Your natural reaction is
to protect your player,
and I couldn't protect him.
ADAM: My teammates
are feeling this as well.
They just don't know
what the hell is going on.
They just want to be able
to do something.
COMMENTATOR: Lewis Jetta
just threads the needle.
Hang on, it's the spear.
There's a fair bit
of anger in that.
He's sending a message
to the crowd.
And the booing has intensified.
ADAM: Football for me
was a place
where I got accepted for
just being good at football.
Didn't matter
the colour of my skin,
didn't matter where
I came from.
This safe place that helped me
break down barriers
actually became the place
that I hated to walk out onto.
(BOOING ECHOES)
MICHAEL: Watching that game
in Perth, my son said,
"Dad, why are they
booing Uncle?"
And I was sort of, like,
"Oh, hang on, I don't..."
I had no words for
my seven-year-old to say...
.."Mate, they're booing him
because he's black."
ADAM: I came out
and told people
that this has racial undertones
and I'd like it to stop,
and it didn't stop.
PAUL: Adam said, "This is
racist. This is unacceptable."
I think from
that point forward,
anyone that continued to boo
was racist.
SABRA LANE:
The subject of whether
booing at sporting events
is racist
has dominated conversations
around the country.
MAN: This debate is raging now
on social media
about, is it
racially motivated?
And I don't think
it IS racially motivated.
RITA PANAHI: Being told that
if you boo, you're racist -
that is so simplistic
and moronic.
Playing with racial division
like that
is... is dangerous and stupid.
What right have you got
to say that the people
who boo are racists?
They might boo because
they don't like who's playing,
whether it be Goodes,
me, him -
they just like to boo.
I've booed Adam Goodes,
and the reason is
I'm a diehard
Richmond supporter.
He stages for free kicks.
I boo him.
There's nothing wrong
with that.
It's got nothing
to do with his race.
It's got nothing to do with
me being a racist.
I'm a football fan.
RADIO CALLER:
Maybe Adam Goodes
should have a look within
at some of the actions
he has done
that has incited
this type of reaction.
He's obviously
brought it upon himself,
or else the crowd wouldn't be
reacting the way they are.
ANDREW: Adam Goodes
was a symbol
we could really unite around
before this,
but when people see a man
richer than they are,
more successful than they are
acting like he's the victim
of a race war
that they can't even see,
suddenly his symbolism
is tarnished.
People are not booing you
because you're an Aboriginal.
They're booing you 'cause
you're acting like a jerk.
What would they know?
What would they know...
what would they bloody know
what it's like
to be a blackfella?
From the day you're born,
from the day you go to school,
from the day you go to work,
we're dealing with it
every day.
ADAM: People could be saying,
"Oh, you're just a big sook."
Well, let me put YOU
in that situation.
Let me question YOU
about who you are as a person.
Yeah, it's fun
and a laugh for you,
because you can go there
and boo me
and feel happy about yourself
'cause you were part of a crowd
that did that,
but deep down, there's people
who are coming to that ground,
they're booing me
because of my Aboriginality.
And you actually...
whether you like it or not,
you were part of that.
It's not Adam Goodes's
responsibility
to fix this matter up.
I find that extraordinary -
that the person who feels that
he's been racially vilified
has been asked
to do something to stop it.
STAN: (ON RADIO) Regardless
of what the motive is:
CHARLIE KING: This is
a dangerous time for Australia,
and if we don't deal
with this matter,
I'm afraid how Aboriginal
people will react to this.
RADIO CALLER:
We've got to look ourselves
in the mirror here, guys.
We've got to face our demons
as Australians.
We are racist.
NATHAN: It was not appropriate.
It was not respectful.
It did not show the best of us.
It was ignorant.
And often, someone has to break
for that to cease.
Unfortunately.
ADAM: I was done.
I called up John Longmire
and I just broke down.
"I'm not coming in today.
I can't do it."
JOHN: He was emotional.
He was clearly drained.
I was feeling pretty helpless
at the time.
I tried my best
to look through his eyes
and I tried to think that way,
but the reality is I'd have
no idea what it's like
to walk in Adam's shoes, or
any Indigenous person's shoes.
He made a comment in regards to
how if he couldn't be strong,
his concern was
that other people
might not be as strong
as what they should be.
That really highlighted
the stress and the weight
that he was carrying.
In the eyes of my son,
Adam Goodes was Superman,
and what he endured was he just
got showered with kryptonite.
And when you can bring down
Aboriginal children's Superman,
what does that say for anyone
who wants to put their hand up
and call racism out?
ADAM: I just was
sitting there thinking,
"I don't want to be here."
He came home and he told me
he was leaving that night.
I was heartbroken.
MICHAEL: I was just
so worried for him.
Trying to ring
and it was going to voicemail.
And he eventually
picked the phone up.
I said, "Mate, I'm coming.
Where are you going?"
He said, "Mate, I'm not telling
you, 'cause you'd come."
And I'm like, "Yep,
course I'm bloody coming!"
He goes, "No, mate,
I need to do this by myself
"and I... I just...
I need to get away."
"I need to get my feet
in the dirt."
STAN: Home matters.
It's a place to go to heal.
It's a place to go
where you'll be loved.
It's a place to go for us
where...
..the spirits
of our ancestors...
..can hold us tight.
ADAM: When you're
in a dark place,
it's like you've
completely forgotten
everything anybody ever said
to you that was good.
All that you think of
are all the bad things
that have ever
happened to you.
All you think about
is all the bad things
people have said to you.
And it's on a stereo
playing at the loudest possible
decibels in your head,
echoing in your mind,
"You're worth nothing.
"They don't even care
about you.
"Go away."
STAN: To stand on a land
and say,
"2,000 generations of my family
are from here.
"I'm born out of this place,"
that feeling is not something
you can feel anywhere else.
For Adam to go back was the
Aboriginal part of him talking.
ADAM: I knew
what I was going through.
I knew I was in a dark place,
and I knew I needed
to get myself out of it,
but it was
incredibly hard to do.
MAN: So, this is where
it all began, I suppose.
And all of our mob lived
up and down this river, eh?
There used to be camps
all the way along
and all the way
back down that way.
STAN: I'd been overseas
for a long time.
I'd reported the darkest
corners of our world.
Now, when you walk through...
..the blood of
a terrorist bombing
that is so thick on the ground
that when you go back
to sleep at night,
you can taste it
in the back of your throat,
when you've seen mothers
digging out
bits of burning flesh
from pockmarked holes in
the wall to put it into a bag
because that's all
they've got left to bury
of their children,
when you've seen
what we can do to each other
and tear each other apart,
often in the name
of history and identity,
to come back to Australia,
for me,
and to hear people
booing Adam Goodes,
what I heard...
..was the echo of our history.
All of that pain,
all of the children taken,
my father beaten by police,
moving from town to town,
living on the margins,
living in poverty -
all of it.
And in this country -
one of the richest,
most tolerant, we are told,
peaceful countries,
the envy of the world -
to see it in this country...
..I couldn't believe it.
For days, I didn't know
where to put those feelings.
I didn't know what to say,
what to do.
And it was really
disturbing me.
I was really down.
ELDER: What you need to do
is now reconnect to country.
ADAM: Yep.
ELDER: And the best way to do
that is your feet in the soil.
STAN: And then my wife
said to me one day,
"You know, you should
write something."
MAN: So the spirit of the land
will now travel
through you, Adam.
Could lay here all day.
STAN: And I'd been out
for a walk with my dog
and I came back and I just
sat down at the computer,
and in about an hour,
it was done.
The first thought was
the thought I put on the page.
I can't speak for
what lay in the hearts
of the people who booed
Adam Goodes,
but I can tell you what we
heard when we heard those boos.
We heard a sound
that was very familiar to us.
We heard a howl.
We heard a howl of humiliation
that echoes across
two centuries
of dispossession, injustice,
suffering and survival.
We heard the howl
of the Australian dream,
and it said to us again,
"You're not welcome."
But it wasn't... contrived.
It was honest.
'The Australian dream'.
We sing of it
and we recite it in verse.
"Australians all,
let us rejoice,
"For we are young and free."
My people die young
in this country.
We die 10 years younger
than average Australians.
And we are far from free.
ADAM: It's like there's
nothing else that matters
- in the world, eh?
- Yeah.
Oh, we love this country
so much.
We can do things like this,
you know? Sit round.
Mmm.
Learn from each other.
STAN: The Australian dream
is rooted in racism.
It is there
at the birth of the nation.
It is there
in 'terra nullius' -
an empty land,
a land for the taking.
60,000 years of occupation.
A people who made
the first seafaring journey
in the history of mankind.
A people of music and art
and dance and politics -
none of it mattered,
because our rights
were extinguished
because we were not here
according to British law.
ELDER: We are part
of this land, you know?
We come from the land,
we go back to the land.
STAN: In 1963, when I was born,
I was counted among
the flora and fauna,
not among the citizens
of this country.
Our people,
they worked on oral history.
- ADAM: Mmm.
- It was passed down, see?
ADAM: Yeah,
we didn't write it down.
Yeah. Didn't write it, yeah.
Yeah.
STAN: You will hear people say,
"But YOU'VE done well."
Yes, I have.
I've done well because of
who has come before me.
My father, who lost
the tips of three fingers
working in sawmills
to put food on our table
because he was denied
an education.
My grandfather
on my mother's side,
who married a white woman
who reached out to Australia,
lived on the fringes of town
until the police came,
put a gun to his head,
bulldozed his tin humpy
and ran over the graves of the
three children he buried there!
I have succeeded in spite
of the Australian dream,
not because of it,
and I have succeeded
because of those people.
I've lived in the worst places
in the world,
and Australia
is not one of them.
So it's even more important
that we don't allow
this business to go unsettled -
that we give courage and voice
to those people
who do want to stand up.
Every time
we are lured into the light,
we are mugged by the darkness
of this country's history.
It matters to me
that my children
can grow up feeling
that this is their place -
that they don't have to live
with the legacy of trauma.
That they don't have to carry
the weight of history.
That they can live
in this remarkable country,
with everything
this country has to offer.
And one day
I want to stand here
and be able to say as proudly
and sing as loudly
as anyone else in this room,
"Australians ALL,
let us rejoice."
Thank you.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
The response that I got
was overwhelming.
Other Aboriginal people
were saying,
"That's what WE felt like.
You've said how we feel."
But the response from
non-Indigenous Australians
was extraordinary too.
Because even at the height
of that booing,
they didn't boo for
the majority of Australians.
People were silent,
people should have stood up
and they didn't,
but they found their voice,
and they did come out
in support of Adam.
And it turned.
It turned.
People stood up.
Footballers stood up.
Politicians stood up.
People in the street stood up.
REPORTER: From suburban
football grounds to the SCG,
there's been an overwhelming
show of support
for Adam Goodes today.
REPORTER:
Right across the country,
footballers took to the field
in honour of
one of the game's icons.
REPORTER: Thousands of fans
have flocked to the stadium
with their homemade
banners and signs.
(CHILDREN CHEER)
I was overwhelmed.
(CLAP STICKS PLAY)
Up in the Northern Territory,
the little kids
at the Garma Festival
had '37' painted
on their backs.
REPORTER: He didn't
play for the Swans,
but his presence was felt
as football supporters called
for an end to discrimination.
The game that he missed
had a moment for him
where everyone stood up and...
..sent him their good thoughts.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
COMMENTATOR: It's a standing
ovation here at the SCG,
and, Adam Goodes, if you're
watching, this is for you.
Everybody wants you
back to football,
everybody wishes you the best.
I must say, everybody,
have a look at this.
Play continues,
but there is bigger things
on people's minds
than football this week,
and right now,
they're showing exactly that.
STAN: What we saw ultimately
was the true measure
of who we are.
It wasn't the booing,
it was the people
who stood up to the booing.
It can never be too late. It
can never be too late for that.
Our history is a history
of violence and racism,
and it's a history of
people overcoming that,
people reaching
across that divide.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
COMMENTATOR: Jetta. Will
this one bring the house down?
From outside 50...
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
And there's the celebration.
I stand with Adam.
I stand
with Adam.
I stand with Adam.
I stand
with Adam.
I stand with Adam.
I stand
with Adam.
I stand with Adam.
I stand
with Adam.
I stand with Adam.
We stand with Adam.
We proudly stand with Adam.
NATALIE: When I heard from him,
I was so relieved.
He sounded good.
He sounded...
like himself a bit more.
REPORTER: Back from
his self-imposed exile,
Adam Goodes was getting
nothing but crowd love today...
(CHEERING)
..confirming he'd be playing
this Saturday against Geelong.
He wants to concentrate
on the last five games
leading into
the finals campaign,
adding simply that after that,
he'll see what happens.
ADAM: Getting away
from everything
really did empower me
to have the strength
to come back for those
last couple of games,
but... I knew
it was gonna be over.
I just didn't need to subject
myself to this arena
where it gave people
an opportunity
to show their racist attitude
towards me.
(BOOING)
I didn't want to give people
that platform anymore.
I've never been one
for the fairytale ending
and the perfect send-off.
REPORTER: While the retiring
Rhyce Shaw was chaired off,
the typically understated
Goodes
told teammates
behind closed doors.
My ending is my ending.
I chose to end it
the way that I wanted to.
MICHAEL: He made
the decision to say,
"Nuh. Don't need this anymore."
But, jeez,
it would have been nice
to watch him for
a couple more years.
NATHAN: Mostly
the body stops players.
The heart and the mind is
willing but the body says no.
And when you're in
Adam's circumstance...
..I reckon...
his heart was broken.
MICHAEL: It's gone from
a kid who loved his football,
who was obsessed with his footy
and was bloody good at it,
to now, "Oh, I don't even need
to watch a game anymore."
TRACEY: I don't blame him.
Not at all.
I don't know
how long it will take
for him to be in a position
where he feels he can,
or he should, or he needs to.
He might never feel that way.
It's terrible.
It's a blight on all of us.
STAN: From the convicts
to the waves of migrants
fleeing Europe
after World War II,
to people who've come in boats
looking for a new beginning,
that's what the Australian
dream offers, in a sense -
a refuge from history.
But the Australian dream
fails to deal with the history
of THIS country,
and it's that tension
that I think sits at the heart
of the idea of Australia.
So the Australian dream
is something
that people reach for,
and many people attain it,
but there's an emptiness
at the heart of it,
because it hasn't resolved the
questions of its own history.
PAUL: We should be learning
and teaching this in schools.
Because regardless of whether
you're ashamed of the history,
proud of the history,
that IS your history.
That is your history.
You have to put yourself
in someone else's shoes,
learn what
they've been through,
learn what they're
going through.
Then you have
a common understanding
around what their views are.
STAN: In Australia today,
one group of people,
a people linked directly
to that history
of suffering and injustice,
are still suffering today.
And we still haven't found
a way to deal with that.
While ever
we think about this as,
"They're INDIGENOUS
communities.
"They're INDIGENOUS people,"
it's like it's something
that's removed from us.
If it was 10 times more likely
for kids under the age of 15
to commit suicide
in an Australian town,
we'd fix it.
If there was no running water,
if there was no electricity,
we'd fix it.
But what's been remarkable
out of this story
is that a new space
has opened up.
I can feel it.
I hear it everywhere.
That space that is
beyond certainty.
The ambiguity that we all feel
making our way in the world.
We are not just one thing.
There are layers to who we are.
The space that's opened up now
is allowing us
to express that -
to loosen the chains
of that history
and to find something bigger
about what it is
to belong in this country.
There's a space
to find each other.
And Adam helped
create that space.
ADAM: You want us
to grow thicker skin?
Our skin doesn't get
any thicker than what it is.
You want us to harden up?
Well, how about you come on
a journey with us and help us?
We don't want any handouts
anymore. We want a hand UP.
Let's give each other a hand
up, help educate each other,
create better opportunities
for all of us.
We've got enough wealth in this
country to spread it around.
We shouldn't have
the disadvantage
that we have in this country
the way we do.
TRACEY: I do believe this is
a good country predominantly.
We've got cracks, but let's not
let the cracks get any bigger.
And let's hope that at the end,
Adam has the position
he deserves to have.
Not just in sport, but
at the heart of the country.
He's an Australian of the Year.
And I think he can be
even more than that.
STAN: It's the sad thing,
isn't it,
that people have to suffer
for us to get better?
I know that will never
leave him,
but my hope for him is
that he can keep his eyes
on what he's achieved
and that he can show others
that there's a path
from the worst of Australia
to the best of Australia.
(KIDS SHOUT, LAUGH)
Oh, yeah, oh, yeah
Oh, yeah,
oh, yeah
- I stand
- Oh, yeah
- I stand
- Oh, yeah
- I stand
- Oh, yeah
- I stand
- Oh, yeah
They can't stand us
when we stand up
And when they grandstand,
they change standards
They want to pin us back down
in the background
Don't want a handout,
we want a hand up
I gotta stand up,
I want the land back
And I want to speak about it
like it's Anzac
With all the props
and the praise for the people
Can't take it all the way
to be equal
The rules you wrote are broke
Your guidelines,
I ain't following
I'm First Nations,
opinionated
And the thing I do
is politics
The rules you wrote are broke
Your guidelines,
I ain't following
I'm First Nations,
opinionated
And the thing I do
is politics
The rules you wrote are broke
Your guidelines,
I ain't following
I'm First Nations,
opinionated
And the thing I do
is politics
I stand
I stand
Not because I can
I stand
I stand
It's everything that I am
I stand
I stand
Not because I can
I stand
I stand
It's everything that I am
I stand
For my sisters, I stand
For my cousins, I stand
For the children, I stand
For my brothers
Would you stand with me
If we stand for each other?
Would you stand with me
If we stand for each other?
I stand in the face
of defiance
I stand on the shoulders
of giants
I stand in kerosene boots
and a gasoline suit
And walk through fire
And when that smoke clears,
all of those fears
We still be standing
on our own, yeah
You gotta make a change,
put your hand up, hand up
You wanna walk with us?
Then you stand up
Couldn't give me no answers
Won't stand up for us
I won't stand up
for that anthem
Won't stand up for that
anthem
I won't stand up
for that anthem
Stand up for that anthem
I won't stand up
for that anthem
I stand
For the underdogs and
the ones that you all forgot
I stand
For the ones we lost and the
ones that have paid the cost
I stand
For the underdogs and
the ones that you all forgot
I stand
For the ones we lost and the
ones that have paid the cost
I stand
Get up, go stand out
Want a hand up, no handout
I stand up, go stand out
Want a hand up, no handout
- I stand
- Oh, yeah
Yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah
- I stand
- Oh, yeah
Yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah
- Yeah
- I stand
For my sisters, I stand
- For my cousins, I stand
- I stand
For the children, I stand
- For my brothers, I stand
- I stand
Stand with me
if we stand for each other
I stand
Stand with me
if we stand for each other
- I stand
- Oh, yeah
Oh, yeah
Oh, yeah
Oh, yeah.