Sam Newman claims booing of Adam Goodes was ‘not because of skin colour’ as he doubles down on Welcome to Country

Controversial AFL personality Sam Newman has claimed former Sydney Swans legend Adam Goodes was never booed because of his skin colour or Indigenous heritage.

The comments came as Newman continued to defend his criticism of the Indigenous Welcome to Country, in which called on the public to boo or slow clap when the introduction is read out.

During an interview with 3AW Radio host Tony Jones on Thursday, Newman insisted he was not racist or inciting disrespectful behaviour towards Indigneous Australians.

Newman said no players had been booed because of their heritage but Jones suggested many believe Goodes was a victim because he is Aboriginal.

“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 the hapless Gill McLachlan waded into this and said ‘please don’t boo Adam Goodes’. That’s like red rag to a bull.”

Booing directed towards Goodes began after a young girl called Goodes an “ape” during the Swans’ match against Carlton during the AFL’s Indigenous Round in 2013 and continued until he retired in 2015.

The year after the infamous match with Carlton Goodes scored a goal against the same side and celebrated by charging at a section of the crowd in a stirring war cry dance which ended by imitating the throwing of a spear.

The incident added to the booing with crowds divided about it being provocative or a celebration of Goodes’ culture.

Newman’s initial comments came during his You Cannot Be Serious podcast where he urged people to start “booing… or slow hand clapping” during the Welcome to Country.

“If we are at all serious about the Welcome to Country and the nonsense that has suddenly taken over in the last 20 years from a completely harmless introduction by Ernie Dingo some years ago and people have latched onto it,” he said on the You Cannot Be Serious podcast.

“What about this, next time you go to a public event like the (AFL) Grand Final or a football game or any public event in an auditorium and they trot out the Welcome to Country, start booing … or slow hand clapping.”

Indigenous Senator Lidia Thorpe slammed Newman’s comments telling the 77-year-old to “educate himself” as “we are all on stolen land”.

“I am not sure why he is in the news. He is irrelevant to any debate of the time,” she told Nine’s Today Show.

“A Welcome to Country is simply that, we all are on stolen land, there has never been a treaty, and a Welcome to Country is a way to bring people along on an understanding of the country that you are all living on.

“So it’s a peaceful – it’s about peace and the whole message behind a Welcome to Country is about respect and bringing people together.”

Newman insisted his comments meant no harm to Indigenous people or their culture but were about people becoming tired of the ceremonies.

“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 told Jones.

“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.”