I don't watch "the footy"

I don't care if it is rugby, soccer or the other unmentionable game. I am not in the least bit interested. I have never watched an entire match in my life and I have no intention of doing so. Yes, I know it is absolutely disgraceful. I know that I am a heathen who will be forever consigned to hell because I failed to worship the great god Sport and his archangel Football.

That second Twitter feed, the "for you" one, has given me even more reason not to do it. It was full of comments about a "welcome to country" ceremony apparently held at the beginning of some Origin match or other. People were complaining that they were being given a political message, a "Vote Yes" in the upcoming referendum. 

I think I would have turned the telly off in disgust too. Politics has no place in sport. There is certainly no place in it for an artificial "ceremony" which people are paid to perform. Yes, the so-called ceremony is an artificial one, not a traditional one. It is a piece of theatre and, although they will tell you otherwise, those who perform it are actors. 

I spent some time with three women from a remote community yesterday. They had come down to the city for several purposes but one of them wanted to talk to me about her child's future education. As is the way of such things they all came along. I provided afternoon tea and we had a fine old natter. 

They are great women, all of them in steady paid employment. They are doing their best to keep their children in school beyond the minimum age and then on to further education. It's tough. Teenage boys don't like being told what to do. Teenage girls are no better. The idea of them leaving home and coming to the city to further their education is a very real cause for worry. 

I certainly wasn't going to raise any other contentious issues but one of them did. "Now listen to us. You know this referendum thing? We don't like it."

I took a deep breath inside and said, "Tell me please. I know what M.... thinks."

Their views are much the same as my friend M.... As I listened to what they had to say I couldn't help thinking how diverse our country is. Here were a tiny group of women from two different tribes who speak different native languages as well as English. The needs of their communities are very different. They don't speak with one Voice - except perhaps in the sense they all want the best for their children.

And that "welcome to country nonsense"? They have no time for it.

"Nothing traditional about it," one of them told me, "Never saw or heard anything like it all the time I was growing up. It's rubbish." The others agreed. 

I eventually waved the three of them off. Each of them gave me a warm hug as they left. They don't need a Voice. They have one.  Other people are not listening. They are too busy "welcoming" other people to a country they already live in with a contrived ceremony.