David Pocock Takes Jab At Tony Abbott Over Asylum Seekers; Gives You Another Reason To Love Him
Hopefully Tone wasn't planning on heading to the final this weekend.
Wallabies flanker David Pocock is in England right now preparing for the Rugby World Cup final against New Zealand on Sunday morning. It’s going to be a huge match, and it’s taken a great deal of work for the team to get there. After a dramatic one-point victory of Scotland in the quarter finals, Australia beat Argentina last week and Pocock left the field with two black eyes and blood literally pouring from his face.
But, despite all the pressure, the intense training, and the distraction that comes with having your face physically flattened by a loose herd of dense hulking muscle, last night he found a brief free moment to sledge our former Prime Minister:
@bairdjulia you must've missed the translation that says, "love thy (white) neighbour"… https://t.co/rpKak7OWsA
— David Pocock (@pocockdavid) October 29, 2015
The comment came in response to Tony Abbott’s speech in London earlier this week in which he said the principle of “love thy neighbour” was leading Europe into “catastrophic error” when it came to accepting asylum seekers — and he’s not the only one to criticise the sentiments. A number of religious leaders have come out in opposition to the argument, political commentator Waleed Aly has called his thoughts “morally bereft”, and The Age have run a scathing editorial labelling Abbott’s policy our national “disgrace”.
Pocock himself also has a history rallying against conservative causes in this way. Aside from being a huge talent on the field, the 26-year-old Wallaby is a proud activist against CSG mining and a consistent ally for LGBT communities. Last year, he was arrested for locking himself to farm equipment in a NSW state forest to protest the creation of a coal mine and he’s also repeatedly spoken out in favour of marriage equality (and against homophobia on the field).
With this in mind, he presumably had nothing to do with this photo opp:
Honoured to receive a #RWC2015 jersey from Stephen Larkham & @stevemoore83. One month until kick off – #GoWallabies pic.twitter.com/ek631TSrvt
— Tony Abbott (@TonyAbbottMHR) August 18, 2015
I can’t imagine anything more beautiful than Tone wearing that to the final to cheer Pocock on this weekend.
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Feature image via Wallabies/Facebook.