Sam Newman grilled point-blank: "Are you a racist?"
Sam Newman has been left struggling to come up with an answer after being asked if he is a racist.
The former AFL player spoke with Tony Jones on 3AW radio on Thursday, as he doubled down on recent comments that encouraged Australians to boo during Welcome to Country acknowledgements.
While defending his opinions, Newman was asked point-blank by Jones, "Are you a racist?"
Newman stuttered in response, "Now... what a... No, no, please..."
Jones clarified his question, "I think there would be people listening to this at the moment with an open mind that would want me to ask that question."
Newman became immediately defensive, asking in retaliation, "Please... now you tell me what you think a racist is besides saying me ... Who have I vilified? I don't think you know what racism is.
"Racism is about hate primarily and it's if you defile, decry or degrade someone, think you're superior than them or try to dominate them."
"It's the most overworked word in the English lexicon at the minute... you tell me why anything I've said and what I've done is anything to do with racism."
Newman then went on to highlight the past controversy surrounding Indigenous AFL legend Adam Goodes, saying he was relentlessly booed while playing because of an incident on the field, and not because of his race.
"[In 2015] Adam Goodes was booed because he pretended to throw a spear at the Carlton cheer squad after the Swans were beating them by 10 goals at half-time and wondered why people... people get booed on the football field, not because of their skin colour, but because of things they do," Newman said.
"I know that, everyone knows that. Then the AFL waded into this... and said 'please don't boo Adam Goodes'. That's like red rag to a bull."
Contrary to Newman's comments, Goodes had been booed for weeks prior to tha incident by the crowd every time he neared the ball, with the crowd escalating their behaviour, which resulted in fans being kicked out of the stadium.
Newman also insisted he was not attempting to incite violence against First Nations Australians after he urged people to boo the Welcome to Country at the AFL Grand Final.
"We like to go to the football and watch the game without being told to vote for the gay marriage proposal, which is fine, without being told to vote for the Voice - I know (the AFL) has retracted their direction to vote Yes for the Voice. Why do they get involved?" he said.
"I'll tell you. It's an absolute hoax. It's a rort. Welcome to Country. Why do we have to be welcomed to the country we live in? Why is that? It is just a mark of division. The people who welcome you to country get a nice stipend out of it. Why do they charge to have it? It is just a rort."
Just prior to his radio appearance, senator Lidia Thorpe once again blasted his comments on the Today Show.
"Sam Newman, I'm not sure why he's even in the news. He's irrelevant to any debate of the time," she said on Thursday morning.
"It's about peace. The whole message behind it is respect."
"Sam Newman is not a respectful man at the best of times. He needs to educate himself."
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