As the Matildas have advanced through the World Cup, it’s been an unedifying spectacle to see one politician after another turning into an enthusiastic women’s football supporter, even if most of them probably couldn’t explain the offside rule or pick out Caitlin Foord in a lineup a few days ago.
Anthony Albanese has already floated the idea of a public holiday if the Matildas manage to win the cup. Even if they don’t get that far, hopefully other sports (and nations) will pay attention to the closing of the gender pay gap which the Matildas and Socceroos have pioneered. Although equity isn’t quite there yet in terms of prize money, it’s getting close, and the Matildas have already achieved far more than their male counterparts on the field.
As for the politicians, even Peter Dutton is on side with the Matildas, abandoning his usual negativity to say it was ‘a great honour’ to be at the game against Denmark. No matter how unsporty the politician, it’s hard to succeed for long in this country if you don’t at least pretend to be interested, as Paul Keating learned. John Howard had his cricket, ScoMo had the Sharks and Albo has the Rabbitohs.
Bob Hawke set the bar high with his famous enthusiasm over the America’s Cup, a yacht race for extremely rich people that few Australians had ever heard of until Alan Bond and the winged keel. The Olympics of 1956 and 2000 were both exploited by state and federal politicians, providing unity, focus and distraction in the time honoured tradition of bread and circuses, while the athletes did all the hard work in the gladiatorial arena.
Players and pollies
There have been numerous Australian sportspeople who became politicians, including the legendary cyclist Hubert Opperman, Hockeyroo Nova Peris Kneebone and tennis player John Alexander, who regained John Howard’s seat for the Liberals after his shock loss to Maxine McKew.
The problem is that the lustre quickly seems to fade when there’s a transition from sporting glory to parliamentary compromise, as David Pocock may now be learning.
The recent Commonwealth Games debacle has shown it can be politically costly to be too closely associated with a sporting event when things go pear-shaped. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said schools and hospitals were more important. It’s yet to be seen if the electorate agrees with him.
Unsurprising victories aren’t very useful for politicians, as the national women’s netball team the Diamonds discovered when they won their World Cup a few days ago (for the twelfth time), only to be ignored by almost everyone in favour of the Matildas. The battling Australian underdog myth needs to be respected, even if it doesn’t bear very close examination.
The United States has different myths about itself, which made the responses of the current and former president to the unexpected early departure of their national women’s soccer team from Australia illuminating.
Targeting retiring star Megan Rapinhoe, who inexplicably missed a crucial penalty, Donald Trump said, ‘WOKE EQUALS FAILURE’.
Joe Biden said to the team, ‘I’m looking forward to seeing how you continue to inspire Americans with your grit and determination – on and off the field.’
Back here in Australia, things have never looked so bright for women in the world game. Winning is everything of course, in both sport and politics, and the current excitement around the Matildas might vanish like a mirage if the Australians go down against Les Bleues tomorrow night, but it feels like the ground has already shifted. A meaningful political response would be an increase in funding for women’s sport across the board, rather than another public holiday.
Whatever happens next, we can thank the Matildas for temporarily distracting us from politics, and other awful realities.
Originally from Canberra, David Lowe is an award-winning film-maker, writer and photographer with particular interests in the environment and politics. He’s known for his campaigning work with Cloudcatcher Media.
Long ago, he did work experience in Parliament House with Mungo MacCallum.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
