While the recent death of the indigenous talented ex footballer Maurice Rioli is a sad thing, one can't help but cringe at the increasingly epidemic pattern of awarding State funerals to every washed up has been sports star and celebrity. And how undignified it was to see Rioli's brother Sebastian pre-empting the process by publicly demanding a tax payer funded memorial. Maybe I'm a little old fashioned, but I would've thought the classy thing to do is humbly accept a state funeral IF it were offered, not EXPECT one, like some kind of God given entitlement?
But hang you say, what about his service as Member of the NT Parliament, surely that makes him worthy of State honours? Well let's have a look at that record then;
he was caught out pawning a tax payer provided bar fridge from his electorate office to cover gambling debts, as well as lending his car to an unlicensed teenager who then proceeded to crash it.
Not a particularly distinguished career of public service in my view.....and not that you can find much reference to it on google either, it seems to have been airbrushed from history? Another common occurrence with sporting celebrities in this country I would argue.
But my criticisms are not directed towards Rioli per se, so much as I'm using him as a perfect example to highlight this country's obsession with $3 celebrities and the airbrushing of the inconvenient truths. In the great scheme of things some footballer contributes very little to the enhancement of society, yet we embarrassingly fawn on them in a truly cringeworthy way.
I mean when was the last time a scientist or a doctor was awarded a state funeral for some truly worthy breakthroughs in their respective fields of endeavour....in areas that truly contribute to society?.....the silence is deafening I know!
No comments:
Post a Comment