5 January 1995 Conference Discussion On Athlete's Aboriginal Flag Gesture

Was athlete Cathy Freeman an Aboriginal or Australian first and foremost when carrying the Aborigine flag in her victory lap at the 1994 Commonwealth Games? And what are the rights of individual athletes at top international sporting events to have a voice separate or dissenting from the nation they represent?

These and related issues will be discussed by Australian Lee-Anne Hall at the 2nd Australian and New Zealand Association of Leisure Studies Conference at Lincoln University over 17-20 January.

Ms Hall, of the School of Leisure and Tourism Studies at Sydney's University of Technology, says that Cathy Freeman acted as a proud athlete but also an Aboriginal Australian whose identity in a colonised country was shown to be still politicised.

Over 100 speakers from seven countries will attend the Lincoln-based conference which is entitled "Leisure Connexions" and has three broad themes – Connexions Between Disciplines, Connexions Between Cultures and Connexions Between Research and Practice.

Leading the Connexions Between Cultures theme is Professor Tracy Bunda, Director of the Aboriginal Education Centre at Australia's Newcastle University. She will give a keynote speech on Aboriginal leisure concepts.

Other Australian speakers will examine the role of ethnic sport in the process of immigrant settlement in Australia.

Rob Lynch, also of the School of Leisure and Tourism Studies at Sydney's University of Technology, will discuss the impact of introduced "leisure" practices such as gambling, alcohol and glue sniffing on Aboriginal communities.

Major sponsors of the conference are the Hillary Commission for Sport, Fitness and Leisure and Apple Computers.

For full registration details the contact is Rick Mansell, Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, Lincoln University, telephone (03) 3252-811 ext 8771.

Ian Collins, Journalist, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand.