The relentless pressure to win at any cost

Credit:Illustration: Badiucao

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AFL FOOTBALL

The relentless pressure to win at any cost

The allegations of racism at Hawthorn Football Club (The Age, 22/9) are shocking and shameful. Hearts, mine included, are surely breaking for the Indigenous players and their partners. How brave to speak up in the face of the AFL and one of its most “establishment” bastions, the Hawthorn Football Club.

It seems the AFL is in no way equipped to respectfully incorporate Indigenous players into its unforgiving, success-driven culture. While the alleged actions of coaching staff are rightly being investigated, it cannot be their responsibility alone. Clubs expect performance. Fans expect performance. Winning is celebrated. And here, we see the human cost of winning. The AFL is an industry, not a sport. Is this what winning requires? Is winning at any cost acceptable to the AFL?
Sally Holdsworth, Malvern East

It’s time to support the game’s gay male players

I am fully supportive of the AFL looking into the treatment of Indigenous players. Maybe it is also time to look at why AFL is the only major football code in the world not to have an out, gay male player. What pressure has been put on these young men and their loved ones?
Dave Reeder, Brunswick

Robbie was a star, well supported by local artists

Your correspondent asks “why was Robbie Williams the headline act for the grand final” rather than an Australian artist (Letters, 25/9). Williams was far from an “embarrassing” choice. He has been widely lauded as the best the AFL has ever had, fully engaging the crowd and paying tribute to great Australians Shane Warne and John Farnham. The contemporary Australian artists that your correspondent looked for were there in force at half-time, with excellent performances from Goanna, G Flip, Christine Anu and others. Far from being the “wrong call”, the AFL hit the nail on this head this year.
Chris Quin, Box Hill North

If this is our best, we need to return to the past

Re the half-time entertainment: If that was a display of “Australia’s finest” then I suggest we need to bring back the fabulous marching bands of yesteryear. Precision and timing and best of all, they sang in time and in tune.
Michael Shaw, Melbourne

Peace and quiet in our town: a perfect grand final day

I loved grand final day. It gave me so much peace and quiet in my rural abode. Point Lonsdale has been so busy and overcrowded with people this long weekend that I have stayed indoors. We had more than 90 boats fishing on Port Phillip on Thursday, and I was kept awake Wednesday night from 3.30am onwards by ships sounding their horns at idiotic boat owners who were stopped in the shipping lane. Not to mention the parking disaster when the boat ramp’s car park became full and boat owners parked in nearby streets.

On grand final day, I did my weekly shop at 2.00pm and it was quick and easy, although some shelves were depleted. I came home and enjoyed the quiet for three hours to read and write. I live on a main road, normally busy, but traffic stopped for three hours. Bliss. At 6.15pm, the overly imbibed came out to noisily bid their farewells. But that was OK.
Marilyn Miller, Point Lonsdale

The impact on players of striving for fast games

Is it time to review the restrictions which have been placed on the number of interchanges that are allowed in each game? The injury lists have continued to rise ever since this rule was introduced. Players are pushing themselves to continue competing for longer periods rather than taking time out when their bodies tell them to.

If the AFL wants the games to be fast and deliver non-stop action, then it needs to consider the impact this is having on players who are susceptible to soft-tissue injuries. Footballers know their own limitations and being able to come off more often for a rub-down or a short break when they feel at risk is one way to reduce the huge injury lists we have witnessed over the last few years.
Sam Johnson, Wodonga

THE FORUM

Double suggestions

It is not too late to give a copy of our national anthem to all AFL players and coaches. Plus, in future years, introduce a medal for the best and fairest defender for the season, allowing their efforts to be truly rewarded.
Roy Giesemann, Frankston

Melbourne is truly back

How good was the grand final’s pre-match concert? Thanks, Robbie Williams, and everyone else who put Melbourne right smack in the centre of the universe once again. Our city is back in the house.
Diane Maddison, Parkdale

Iranians’ right to freedom

A young woman, Mahsa Amini, died last week in Tehran after being arrested for wearing “unsuitable attire”. It is so easy for our MPs to condemn the brutal repression unfolding in Iran, and to call for freedom to protest. Perhaps not so easy to reflect on our past and present treatment of lawful young asylum seekers escaping persecution.

Our new government has a golden opportunity to to more truly reflect in action the fine words of outrage. Australian Iranians watch on in horror and despair at what is happening to their friends and families.
They need the support of every one of us to make sure their cause is fully reported, and that their voices are heard in government, international forums and our wider community.

As you reflect on the grand final, where men and women sat together, beanies and scarves worn in any way you like, spare a thought for those who can be arrested, and worse, just for wanting to do the same.
Pauline Seitz, Rippleside

Escalating hardship

Some refugees who hold safe haven enterprise visas have been cut off, without warning, from the special benefit payment despite remaining eligible for this “last-resort” financial assistance. The government has resolved some cases manually, but it has not yet addressed the technical problem that caused the error.

It must restore this payment to affected visa holders – part of the cohort Labor promised, pre-election, to move to permanent visas – who have also lost access to Medicare and, without any other income, face serious and escalating hardship.
Hilary Lovibond, St Leonards

Having it both ways?

Your editorial – “Cybersecurity is up to all of us” (The Age, 24/9) – states that “Optus deserves credit for the transparency and speed with which it has responded to the hack”. But a few paragraphs earlier, the editorial admits “still, this is a major incident, especially since the theft may have been happening since as far back as 2017”. So which is it?
Jae Sconce, Moonee Ponds

Optus’ brand is trashed

Yes. Opening privacy to untraceable sinks is disappointing. For a major internet service provider it is also reprehensible and heinous. The brand is trashed. Damage control is futile. Best practice requires immediate, free and full disclosure of breach details. Anything less is cavalier to 9million Australians.
David Allen, Seddon

A clean sweep for the AAT

The excellent piece by David Crowe (Comment, 24/9) demonstrates the severe damage caused to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal by the appointment of a number of persons, not, in many cases, on merit but because of affiliation with the Liberal Party.

And how can it be justified that in the weeks prior to the federal election, the former attorney-general lengthened the term of certain politically aligned members before their current terms expired? Decent members of the tribunal were appalled by these actions. It has been diminished and they believe their roles on it have been demeaned.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus must introduce legislation to abolish the AAT and create a new tribunal. All cases listed before the AAT will transfer automatically to the new one. And existing members should be invited to reapply for their positions pursuant to transparent criteria. Appropriately qualified members, possibly including some with political affiliations, can expect to be reappointed on merit. These steps are necessary if Australians are to regain confidence in our critical administrative tribunal.
Ian Dunn, adjunct professor in law, La Trobe University

The real hospital issue

Instead of changing the name of the upgraded Maroondah Hospital, why not concentrate on what is really needed – more new hospitals? Once that is done, I will not care what they are called, so long as they benefit our crumbling health system.
Sandra Coppin, Hughesdale

What needs to be done

As an emergency department nurse and manager, I am sure people would expect me to be elated at the prospect of the Victorian government increasing funding to emergency departments.

To an extent, it is pleasing that the government recognises the struggles that I, my colleagues and our communities have had to face. But I fear that this funding is misdirected.

Emergency departments are overflowing, wait times have blown out and ambulance ramping continues to be a problem. One reason worth considering is that there are insufficient acute beds available for emergency-department patients to move to for longer-term treatment.

Just boosting funding to expand emergency departments is short-sighted and will extend the wait room for treatment areas. A better alternative is mass expansion of acute inpatient capacity, mental health capacity, ICU capacity and the capabilities of out-of-hospital treatment options.
Taylor Voss-Smith, Bundoora

Our next royal mourning

Further to Miranda Jones’ excellent letter – “Why are we harking back to colonial days?” (The Age, 19/9) – perhaps it is time to decide on an appropriate level of response for the next royal death, assuming that Australia remains a part of the Commonwealth.

While the response to the Queen’s death may have been appropriate, given her extraordinary life of service and the affection held for her by so many, it may not be an appropriate response for Charles’.
Now would be the time to legislate so that our parliament, and the government of our country, is not put on hold again for another extended period.
Paula Hogg, South Yarra

The ideal candidates

If we need a head of state who is a highly respected, non-political Australian citizen, why not ask the Australian of the Year to take on the role? The current selection process is apolitical and has selected Australians of different ethnic backgrounds in the past.

Such a person would only occupy the role for a year. (I concede that awards to two or more people would need an ingenious solution.) While moving towards a republic is inevitable, the democratic processes in many countries with elected heads of state leave a great deal to be desired.
Jo Clayton, Great Bay, Tas

A council of elders of …

Waleed Aly, what a sensible, fair idea to have an Indigenous elder in place of a president (Comment, 24/9). In fact, I could imagine a council of elders, maybe not more than five, to preside over and protect us.
Fay Bailey, Wonthaggi

… diverse backgrounds

I like Waleed Aly’s suggestion of having an Aboriginal elder as a head of state in the event of our becoming a republic. I would expand that idea to include elders or eminent people from all groups of our society, be they Indigenous, or Chinese or Sudanese or white, Muslim, Christian or whatever. Perhaps multiple people even.
Lesley Taskis, Kingsbury

Listen to their voices

In his excellent article – “A million reasons to close the gap” (The Age, 24/9) – George Megalogenis concludes that “if we are all to do better, we need to close the gap in our own imaginations”.

While it might require imagination, it mainly requires us to learn to listen to the voices of our First Australians who have for years been asking to be heard when it comes to activities related to their lives.

Secondly, for us to work to close the gap in our own knowledge and understanding of their culture and our own history in taking possession of this ancient land.
Bill Armstrong, Port Melbourne

End of two-party system

The state election may seem stacked in favour of the two main parties (The Age, 24/9) but results from the federal election suggest it is not. Voters are insisting on political integrity, with both Labor and the Liberals falling well short.

Many electorates are now offered a choice: community-vetted, independent candidates who have experience representing the values of integrity, transparency over public expenditure, better care of our environment, accelerated action to reduce climate change, support for small business, and fairness for the less advantaged in our society.

When deciding how to vote in the November 26 election, Victorians can maintain the status quo or send a message to the entrenched, two-party system that its days are over. Both major parties have amply demonstrated that they are working for their own good, not ours.
Caroline Leslie, Hawthorn

Leaders must take a stand

Thanks to your correspondent for keeping the scourge of gambling on the agenda (Letters, 24/9). Two church leaders in NSW have called on their premier and opposition leader to form a “unity ticket” for poker machine reform in the lead-up to that state’s election.

Our state election is in November but it is not too late for community leaders here to pressure Daniel Andrews and Matthew Guy to address this problem also. Or even better, perhaps both men could take the lead themselves and promise to seriously address this issue.
Andrew Laird, Malvern

AND ANOTHER THING

Grand final

Geelong fielded a team that played each quarter better than Sydney. Why blame one player for the loss or win? The better team won.
Adrian Tabor, Point Lonsdale

Everyone knows it, but few will say it. What that grand final needed was Collingwood.
Chris Wilson, Poowong

Seriously, Meat Loaf and Robbie Williams? Let’s hope the next CEO of the AFL recognises our home-grown talent.
Heather Marsland, Fitzroy North

Do we all agree Robbie Williams was better than Meat Loaf?
Geoff Lipton, Caulfield North

Would someone teach the players the words to the national anthem.
William Wallace, Ascot Park, SA

That wasn’t a grand final. Boring. Gutsy Collingwood would have taken it down to the wire.
Margaret Skeen, Point Lonsdale

Politics

I doubt there’s a finer Australian than Marcia Langton. Put her on the $5 note.
Ian McKail, Cheltenham

When Tim Smith agrees with Daniel Andrews, something must be rotten in the City of Maroondah.
David Seal, Balwyn

I suppose naming a hospital after someone who has died suits a city that named a swimming pool after someone who drowned.
Colin Jevons, Glen Iris

After Uzbekistan, Putin may well have lost his biggest ally. Xi may have realised he has backed a loser, and is now losing face himself.
Henry Woolley, East Keilor

Furthermore

“Risk-taking businessman” (Quick crossword, 24/9). Answer: entrepreneur. Surely the clue should be “risk-taking businessperson”.
Pam Kershaw, Collingwood

It takes a village to raise a child. It takes an empire to bury a queen.
Robbert Veerman, Buxton

The Crown represents a minuscule part of our history. Approximately 250 out of 60,000 years.
Judy Kevill, Ringwood

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