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Category Archives: Sport
Evan Williams. The seven sacred cows of Australian politics
We are indebted to the Hindu religion for that useful term sacred cow. As every schoolboy knows, Hindus venerate the cow and forbid its slaughter or abuse. Our political landscape abounds in sacred cows – institutions or practices that are … Continue reading
Posted in Economy, Education, Politics, Sport
Tagged evan Williams, family home and tax, sacred cows, wealthy private schools.
2 Comments
John Dwyer. ‘Health’ products and treatments that are often unproven and sometimes dangerous.
Health Care Advertising and Consumer Protection There are far more irritations than pearls available currently to those of us trying to champion the importance of having our health care underpinned by credible scientific evidence of clinical effectiveness. Though we … Continue reading
John Menadue. Supporting Adam Goodes.
This blog is a repost from 1 August 2015. Adam Goodes has been bullied and vilified because he has reminded us of our dark history and the discrimination that continues against him and many others in Australia today. We don’t … Continue reading
Posted in Human Rights, Indigenous affairs, Sport
Tagged Adam Goodes, AFL, Haka, John Menadue, Michael O'Loughlin
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Robin Room and Michael Livingston. Alcohol companies target the 20% of Australians who drink 75% of the alcohol.
Researchers have known for a long time that alcohol consumption is quite concentrated in a small part of the population. They argue about the exact distribution, but there is substantial agreement that, so long as alcohol sales are not heavily … Continue reading
Posted in Economy, Health, Media, Politics, Sport
Tagged alcohol and health, alcohol consumption, alcohol marketing, Michael Livingston, Robin Room, The Conversation
Comments Off on Robin Room and Michael Livingston. Alcohol companies target the 20% of Australians who drink 75% of the alcohol.
Michael Thorn. Caught Out: How Cricket Australia maintains Aussies high drinking average.
The runs are coming thick and fast in the current Victoria Bitter One Day International Series between Australia and India, bested only by the onslaught of alcohol advertising both on and off the pitch as well as in the … Continue reading
Posted in Health, Media, Sport
Tagged alcohol and sports advertising, cricket-and-alcohol, Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education, Michael Thorn
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Steve Georgakis. The unholy trinity of sports advertising in Australia – betting agencies, junk food and alcohol.
Why we shouldn’t be surprised that tennis is implicated in match-fixing. The first day of the Australian Open was marred by revelations alleging widespread match-fixing and cover-ups in men’s tennis stretching back more than a decade. World number one Novak … Continue reading
Posted in Media, Politics, Sport
Tagged alcohol and sport, corruption, Gambling and sport, junk food and sport, Steve Georgakis, Tennis match fixing, The Conversation
Comments Off on Steve Georgakis. The unholy trinity of sports advertising in Australia – betting agencies, junk food and alcohol.
Peter Day. Professional sport needs more ‘Pats’.
Despite all the feel good talk, the rags to riches stories and wonderful qualities that people like to associate with professional sport, when all is said and done, what really shapes and drives it are these three things: Results 2. … Continue reading
Posted in Religion and Faith, Sport
Tagged Essendon Football Club, Peter Day
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Dennis Hemphill. Essendon Football Club
Their club failed them, but Essendon players can’t excape blame for doping ban. Fingers are pointing again at the Essendon Football Club for its failures in the long-running supplements fiasco. This follows the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s (CAS) decision … Continue reading
Posted in Sport
Tagged Anti-dumping code, ASADA, Court of Arbitration for Sport, Dennis Hemphill, Essendon Football Club, The Conversation
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Michael Thorn. The Australian cricket captain says its about the brand and not alcohol.
Repost from 24/09/2015 Premier Mike Baird’s public comments at last week’s Thomas Kelly Foundation event in Sydney wasn’t the first time he has questioned the extent of alcohol advertising in this country, particularly its strong association with big sport. Baird … Continue reading
John Menadue. Cricket and the sound of summer.
For me, the most memorable comment of the cricket season so far has been by Steve Smith, the Australian captain, explaining that the VB logo on their jackets wasn’t really advertising alcohol. It was only ‘branding’. I notice that he … Continue reading
Posted in Health, Media, Sport
Tagged alcohol-advertising, Channel 9 cricket, Geoff Lemon, John Menadue, Steve Smith
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Sean Gorman. Goodes is gone but the confronting truth remains.
For many AFL fans, the last week in September is the time of the year where we reflect on a season that could have been and dream of next year. One thing we can be sure of is that we … Continue reading
Posted in Human Rights, Indigenous affairs, Sport
Tagged Adam Goodes, AFL, indigenous sports people, racism, Sean Gorman
1 Comment
Sandra Jones. Don’t worry about the kids: Let’s just protect the alcohol industry
A recent study from Monash University found that a quarter of all alcohol advertising on Australian TV was during televised sports. Importantly, 86% of alcohol advertising between 6.00am and 8.30pm (that is, when kids are most likely to be watching … Continue reading
Posted in Health, Media, Politics, Sport
Tagged alcohol and sport, Alcohol Beverages Advertising Code, alcohol-advertising, alcohol-lobby, Sandra Jones
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Andrew Pridham. Adam Goodes and Rosa Parks.
Before last weekend’s match between the Sydney Swans and the Adelaide Crows, the Chairman of the Sydney Swans, Andrew Pridham, gave a very challenging speech about Adam Goodes and racism in Australia. He said that recent events are a seminal … Continue reading
Posted in Human Rights, Indigenous affairs, Sport
Tagged Adam Goodes, Andrew Pridham, Rosa Parks, Sydney Swans
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Marcus Woolombi Waters. We all know and admire the Haka … so why not one of our own?
The first I heard of the Adam Goodes Bumala-y Yuurrama-y (war dance) I was in Aotearoa/New Zealand. I had been watching my son play rugby. It was a carnival (under 12s) and they had just lost the grand final. After … Continue reading
Posted in Human Rights, Indigenous affairs, Sport
Tagged Adam Goodes' war dance, AFL, Marcus Woolombi Waters, The Conversation, the HAKA
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Tim Soutphommasane. Adam Goodes has made some people feel uncomfortable.
Racism comes in many forms: overt and covert, crude and subtle. The harms of racism also come in many forms. We know from a large body of research that racism can lead to stress, negative emotions, psychological damage, even physiological … Continue reading
Posted in Human Rights, Politics, Sport
Tagged Adam Goodes, AFL, racism in Australia, Tim Soutphommasane
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Peter Day. Warning: role models may shrink
Role models: We love them. We look up to them. We say we need them. We want to know them. We want to live through them. But who are they, and what purpose do they serve? In Australia they tend … Continue reading
Posted in Media, Sport
Tagged Nick Kyrgios, Peter Day, role models, sporting celebrities.
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Alcohol is a bigger problem than ice.
In the Herald Sun on April 8, 2015, Jeff Kennett, the former premier of Victoria, said that it was time to stop the promotion of alcohol. See link to article below. In this article he says ‘If it is good … Continue reading
Posted in Health, Politics, Sport
Tagged alcohol-advertising, Herald Sun, Jeff Kennett, sponsorship by alcohol companies
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John Menadue. Alcohol and junk food – winning at the expense of our health.
If you seriously follow almost any major Australian sport as I do, you will be conscious of the saturation alcohol and junk food advertising. And in the run up to the centenary of Gallipoli there are no holds barred to … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security, Health, Politics, Sport
Tagged alcohol and junk food in sport, Australian National Preventative Health Agency, Fiona Nash, Nanny Endovelicus, National Partnership on Preventative Health, obesity, Peter-Cosgrove
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Ian Webster. Alcohol-drenched cricket.
Michael Thorn is right; the ICC Cricket World Cup was an alcohol-drenched event (SMH Tuesday, 31st March 2015). Cricketers were once models of sportsmanship. There was even altruism and some became statesmen. Recall, “That’s simply not cricket.” No longer, as … Continue reading
ICC Cricket World Cup: Alcohol-drenched culture needs to change.
Many media outlets today have drawn attention to the alcohol influenced behaviour of Australian cricketers as they celebrated winning the International World Cup. At the celebration in Federation Square in Melbourne yesterday morning, the Australian captain Michael Clarke seemed to … Continue reading
Posted in Health, Media, Sport
Tagged alcohol binge, alcohol-advertising, cricketers and alcohol, Michael Thorn, SMH
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Michael Kelly SJ. Phillip Hughes: reality bites
Seeing Australia from outside the island continent offers some very strange views from time to time. The outpouring of grief over the tragic accident that took the talented life of cricketer Phillip Hughes went global within a very short time. … Continue reading
Clare Condon SGS. Sanctioned Violence: What does it do to our society and relationships?
Some violent acts, depending on where and how they were perpetrated, are regarded as criminal. Others, however, are sanctioned by society, even applauded and cheered. Some are blatant; others are covert and subtle. Some are justified by cultural norms, by … Continue reading
Posted in Health, Media, Refugees, Immigration, Sport
Tagged asylum seekers and refugees, Clare Condon, domestic violence, media violence, violence in sport
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The Power of the Gambling and Liquor Complexes. John Menadue
I remember speaking many years ago to an old friend, Justice Xavier Connor, after he had completed an enquiry for the Victorian Government on a possible casino in Melbourne. He recommended against it. He said ‘John, gambling and casinos everywhere … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Sport
Tagged Gambling, Liquor Industry, sports
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Sport and Markets. Guest blogger: Ian McAuley
We are all suitably shocked by Justice Minister Jason Clare’s announcement of the findings of the Australian Crime Commission’s investigation into the use of prohibited substances and links to organized crime in sports. I heard his solemn announcement as I … Continue reading