Mr RIOLI - 1994-08-25
Will the minister join with the opposition and support the recall of the Australian Commonwealth Games chief, Arthur Tunstall, following his absurd comments regarding gold medal winner, Cathy Freeman, carrying an Aboriginal flag after her stunning 400 m victory? Does the minister agree that comments like Mr Tunstall's are holding back the process of reconciliation for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, the short answer is no. I would have been more inclined to ...
Mr Ede: You are pathetic.
Mr HATTON: Just listen before you open your mouth.
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HATTON: I would have been more inclined to have considered such a response as an Australian given the complexion of his comments in respect of disabled people. I noted that he was making the comment in a very different context at that time. One should recall comments by the Games people that it would be very detrimental to the interests of the competitors to break the management arrangements and structures. It would have caused major disruption and may have affected the teams' performances during the course of the Games. It is those sorts of matters that they ...
Mr Bailey: Sir Humphry Appleby strikes again!
Mr Speaker: Order!
Mr HATTON: The point was made that the issue can and should be addressed on the return of the team to Darwin.
Mr Bailey: To Darwin?
Mr HATTON: For the information of honourable members, I have a note from one of my colleagues advising that James Swan, an Aboriginal Territorian who is doing exceptionally well and who is competing today in a medal fight and is still in the running for a gold in the boxing, actually stays at Arthur Tunstall's house when in Sydney. He did so in the lead up to the Games.
In respect of the incident which occurred at the closing ceremony, I state that I personally do not have any emotional objections to the Aboriginal flag whatsoever. It has been a rallying point for Aboriginal people.
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Members interjecting.
Mr HATTON: I note, however, that the federal government refuses to recognise that flag as an official flag in Australia. In terms of protocol, it is appropriate that the issue be considered in the context of national government policy on what constitutes flags as distinct from symbols or pennants.
Mr Bailey: But it is okay to run around with a boxing kangaroo!
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HATTON: Mr Speaker, I make the point also that all our competitors at the Commonwealth Games are competing as part of an Australian team. The issues relating to different people within Australia are matters that we can and should deal with within Australia, not at an international forum such as the Commonwealth Games.
Mr Bailey: And you support his comments?
Mr HATTON: Mr Speaker, I must say that I found it of concern that the Aboriginal flag, rather than the Australian flag, was the principal point of focus of that particular athlete at both games, because she was representing Australia ...
Mr Ede: She had both.
Mr HATTON: If we want to be one nation, we should be one nation banding together under one flag. The flag that goes to masthead at the gold medal presentation is the Australian flag, and we should all be proud of our national flag. I happen to believe the use of an Aboriginal flag in that circumstance was inappropriate. I support part of the comments by Senator Collins in that I think Cathy Freeman is and should be a very significant role model for Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory, and many opportunities can and, I am sure, will be made to promote her status among the Aboriginal people of Australia. I actively support that process ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HATTON: She is there as part of the Australian team.
Mr Speaker, allow me to remind honourable members of a major international and national incident for the United States which occurred, I believe, at the 1972 Olympic Games at Munich ...
Mr Ede: It was Mexico City.
Mr HATTON: Yes, it was 1968 in Mexico City. A negro competitor ...
Mr Ede: An African American.
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Mr HATTON: An African American now - decided to give a black power salute on the dais. That caused a major international and national controversy.
Mr Ede: And the Australian who came third joined in.
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HATTON: I think the issues of the internal politics of Australia are matters to be dealt with specifically in Australia. As I have said, I have no objection to the Aboriginal flag at all ...
Mr Stirling: But she should not have carried it?
Mr HATTON: I think that it was inappropriate. She was there representing Australia and, if we are talking about the processes of reconciliation, we should be talking about the process of coming together as one nation, not as 2 nations.
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ANSWER
Mr Speaker, the short answer is no. I would have been more inclined to ...
Mr Ede: You are pathetic.
Mr HATTON: Just listen before you open your mouth.
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HATTON: I would have been more inclined to have considered such a response as an Australian given the complexion of his comments in respect of disabled people. I noted that he was making the comment in a very different context at that time. One should recall comments by the Games people that it would be very detrimental to the interests of the competitors to break the management arrangements and structures. It would have caused major disruption and may have affected the teams' performances during the course of the Games. It is those sorts of matters that they ...
Mr Bailey: Sir Humphry Appleby strikes again!
Mr Speaker: Order!
Mr HATTON: The point was made that the issue can and should be addressed on the return of the team to Darwin.
Mr Bailey: To Darwin?
Mr HATTON: For the information of honourable members, I have a note from one of my colleagues advising that James Swan, an Aboriginal Territorian who is doing exceptionally well and who is competing today in a medal fight and is still in the running for a gold in the boxing, actually stays at Arthur Tunstall's house when in Sydney. He did so in the lead up to the Games.
In respect of the incident which occurred at the closing ceremony, I state that I personally do not have any emotional objections to the Aboriginal flag whatsoever. It has been a rallying point for Aboriginal people.
Page 79
Members interjecting.
Mr HATTON: I note, however, that the federal government refuses to recognise that flag as an official flag in Australia. In terms of protocol, it is appropriate that the issue be considered in the context of national government policy on what constitutes flags as distinct from symbols or pennants.
Mr Bailey: But it is okay to run around with a boxing kangaroo!
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HATTON: Mr Speaker, I make the point also that all our competitors at the Commonwealth Games are competing as part of an Australian team. The issues relating to different people within Australia are matters that we can and should deal with within Australia, not at an international forum such as the Commonwealth Games.
Mr Bailey: And you support his comments?
Mr HATTON: Mr Speaker, I must say that I found it of concern that the Aboriginal flag, rather than the Australian flag, was the principal point of focus of that particular athlete at both games, because she was representing Australia ...
Mr Ede: She had both.
Mr HATTON: If we want to be one nation, we should be one nation banding together under one flag. The flag that goes to masthead at the gold medal presentation is the Australian flag, and we should all be proud of our national flag. I happen to believe the use of an Aboriginal flag in that circumstance was inappropriate. I support part of the comments by Senator Collins in that I think Cathy Freeman is and should be a very significant role model for Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory, and many opportunities can and, I am sure, will be made to promote her status among the Aboriginal people of Australia. I actively support that process ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HATTON: She is there as part of the Australian team.
Mr Speaker, allow me to remind honourable members of a major international and national incident for the United States which occurred, I believe, at the 1972 Olympic Games at Munich ...
Mr Ede: It was Mexico City.
Mr HATTON: Yes, it was 1968 in Mexico City. A negro competitor ...
Mr Ede: An African American.
Page 80
Mr HATTON: An African American now - decided to give a black power salute on the dais. That caused a major international and national controversy.
Mr Ede: And the Australian who came third joined in.
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HATTON: I think the issues of the internal politics of Australia are matters to be dealt with specifically in Australia. As I have said, I have no objection to the Aboriginal flag at all ...
Mr Stirling: But she should not have carried it?
Mr HATTON: I think that it was inappropriate. She was there representing Australia and, if we are talking about the processes of reconciliation, we should be talking about the process of coming together as one nation, not as 2 nations.
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Last updated: 09 Aug 2016