Arthur Tunstall has never been one to hold back an opinion. Lock up the bleeding hearts, warn the feminists, Kiwis, disabled athletes — and Cathy Freeman. ……..
In six decades as a sports administrator,..
Auckland in 1990 probably wasn't the most diplomatic place to suggest New Zealand be considered the seventh and eighth states of Australia. Four years later came his public rebuke of Cathy Freeman for carrying both Aboriginal and Australian flags on her victory lap in Canada, and his description of disabled athletes as an embarrassment.
Nor was a speech to the Olympic Writers and Photographers' Association in 1998 the best place to crack jokes about Aborigines and Jews.
Tunstall said criticism was always part of life. "If you're the boss of the team, you've got to make decisions and you certainly won't please everyone," he said. "I've never believed in mucking around. If you're going to say something, then that's the way it is. Unfortunately, today, Australia is losing it's own identity for the simple reason everybody wants to be politically correct. Nobody tells jokes any more."
This week, Tunstall sent his 39th letter to NSW Sports Minister Sandra Nori appealing against the ban that bars boys from boxing until they turn 14. He expects the same reply: when the Government changes policy, they'll let him know. But women? That's a different matter. "I don't think their bodies are there to be knocked around," he said.
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