Klugman questioned.
In July 2022, the former Premier of Western Australia, Mark McGowan, unveiled a statue of Neil Elvis “Violence against women is never acceptable and it is important we send a strong message to the community.” Winmar at Perth Stadium, celebrating the Noongar man’s powerful anti-racism stance that remains relevant today. This statue, which honored the pivotal moment in 1993 when Winmar lifted his St Kilda jersey to highlight his skin in response to racial taunts, was taken down last week, shortly after his conviction on domestic violence charges in a Victorian court.
The public outcry regarding Winmar’s actions has been significant, yet the choice to remove the statue has sparked a heated discussion. Winmar is not the only individual honored in bronze with a history of violence, nor is he the only member of the AFL Hall of Fame with such a background.
Some Indigenous leaders contend that the statue symbolized a moment that transcended Winmar himself, asserting that the WA government should have involved broader consultation prior to such a swift decision. On the other hand, many stress that violence against women must be condemned without reservation.
‘No longer appropriate’
At 60 years of age, Winmar, who played 251 AFL matches from 1987 to 1999, was found guilty in Bendigo Magistrates’ Court of two counts of common assault and one count of unlawful assault, while being acquitted of a fourth charge of intentionally causing injury. The offenses occurred in May 2025 in Cohuna, a farming town in northern Victoria, involving a woman he was in a relationship with. This woman, whose identity remains confidential, testified that Winmar attacked her, exhibiting unexpected rage, twisting her arm, and dragging her by the hair. She recounted incidents where he pushed her against a wall, yelled, and spat in her face, and violently struck her head against a wooden door.
The repercussions of the guilty verdict have been swift and far-reaching. WA Premier Roger Cook quickly mandated the statue’s removal, asserting.
“no longer appropriate for that statue to be displayed”
In an official statement, the WA government remarked that it was “until a decision is made on its future” indicating it would be stored by VenuesWest until a decision regarding its future is reached.
The AFL has also initiated a review of Winmar’s status within the league’s Hall of Fame, a title he received in 2022. Nevertheless, the league did not respond to inquiries about Wayne Carey, another Hall of Fame member who pled guilty to indecent assault in 1996 and was given a good-behavior bond.
Jill Gallagher, a Gunditjmara woman and CEO of the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO), who is also a survivor of domestic violence, emphasized that the statue carried a deeper significance. “I need to make it clear that I do not condone any form of violence,” Gallagher stated, and added that “the Nicky Winmar statue is more than a statue of a footballer, it’s a statue against racism”
Gallagher further noted, “There should have been more consultation and more thought put into it,”
Muriel Bamblett, director of Our Ways Strong Together, an Indigenous-led organization dedicated to addressing family violence, emphasized that while there can be “What he [Winmar] did, all those years ago, by lifting up his shirt and pointing to his black skin … it raised and elevated Aboriginal voices, and it still does elevate our voices.” the violence Winmar perpetrated, a “greater community conversation” should have preceded the statue’s removal.
“The sad thing is, we talk about racial violence as well,” reflected the Yorta Yorta, Dja Dja Wurrung, Taungurung, and Boon Wurrung elder. “The thing what Nicky stood up for was the level of racial violence that he was experiencing. I think, not being able to visually see that, or understand how important that lifting of the jumper was at that time is disappointing.”
Conversely, Marcia Langton, a professor at Melbourne University and a Yiman and Bidjara woman, argued that keeping the statue would be “highly offensive to women, to AFL fans and the wider AFL community”
“His achievements as a young player will not be forgotten,” Langton asserted. “His conviction for an assault against a woman requires that he is not celebrated in public in this way, so I agree with the removal of the statue. “We have a choice here [how we respond]. We have a choice right now at this moment. Should we celebrate a man that’s been convicted of a serious assault against a … woman? No, we should not.”
Why this statue?
When Winmar boldly raised his guernsey at Victoria Park in Melbourne in 1993, it prompted the AFL to implement its first official code of conduct and ignited nationwide dialogue concerning racism in Australian sports.
AFL historian Matthew Klugman, who co-authored a biography on Winmar, criticized the decision to remove the statue as a missed opportunity for “You’ve got to have some broad overarching approach to matter like this, and if the Winmar statue is coming down, why hasn’t Stirling’s statue come down immediately?” accusing the WA government of inconsistency regarding the removal of statues of individuals with contentious legacies. He drew parallels to the apology given to Noongar people by WA Governor Chris Dawson for the 1834 Pinjarra massacre, which claimed the lives of up to 80 men, women, and children, yet figures like Stirling, who led the massacre, remain honored in statues, suburbs, and electorates.
“For this to happen to that statue so quickly, shows that there is no excuse for slow action around other statues. The question is, is that the best thing to do to statues?”
He added, “Australia has to come to terms with that history, but that’s a different issue from this,”
Langton emphasized that the decision to remove Winmar’s statue should be viewed independently from the ongoing discussions about the removal of statues commemorating colonial figures involved in the massacre of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
“Australia has to come to terms with that history, but that’s a different issue from this,” she remarked.
- Indigenous Australians
- AFL
- Western Australia
- Violence against women and girls
- Australian rules football
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