Tim Watts (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to express my outrage at the exclusion of Australian Ben Simmons from this year's NBA All-Star game. In a record-breaking rookie year for the Philadelphia 76ers, Ben is currently averaging nearly 17 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in a game. He's already had five triple doubles, and, frankly, no-one with two brain cells to rub together would want Goran Dragic on their team over Ben. The fact that compatriot 'Jingling' Joe Ingles has also been left out of the three-point competition despite currently sitting at third in the league in three-point percentage makes me think there is some kind of an anti-Australian conspiracy going on at the league head office at the moment. If you thought that Australia was angry about The Simpsons 'Bart vs. Australia' TV episode, you ain't seen nothing yet, Yanks!

There is, however, a more serious point about the golden generation of Australians currently playing in the NBA at the moment. The nine Australians who are currently flying the flag for our nation in the NBA include an Indigenous Australian, four children of immigrants and two refugees. Our representation in the NBA looks like modern Australia: a nation of migrants, and the most successful multicultural nation on earth. We should particularly recognise South Sudanese Australians Thon Maker and Mangok Mathiang for their extraordinary achievement of not just making it to the pinnacle of their profession but overcoming the enormous challenges that they needed to confront on arriving in Australia as refugees. There's been a lot of nonsense said about Australia's African-Australian community over the summer parliamentary recess by politicians around the country, but Thon and Mangok show the potential of every member of this community to overcome obstacles and excel at the highest level. (Time expired)

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