Opinion: 'Growing up 'ethnic' in Australia, SBS and its iconic broadcaster Les Murray were a constant presence in my life. But it was only recently that I discovered Les, like me, came to Australia as a child refugee.'
Source:Growing up with two football-obsessed brothers, I would awake bleary-eyed in the early hours of every morning to the sound of roaring football spectators emanating from our living room.
The voice of Les Murray narrating live football action from Europe, and my brothers arguing over which team was better: Chelsea or Manchester United. Their passion for the English Premier League growing so intense, it nearly spilled into fist fights.Growing up 'ethnic' in Australia, SBS and its iconic broadcaster Les Murray - who died five years ago next month - were a constant presence in my life.
During his lifetime, Les made a tremendous contribution to humanising the plight of refugees, later passing on this legacy toAs Les once said: "Refugees, perhaps more than other immigrants, are more likely to make a positive contribution to their new country, driven by a need to give something in return for being given a chance to start again after a terrible experience". What I loved about Les is that he did not let his refugee identity define all that he was.
During his time, he advocated for refugees, often going against the grain and the prevailing zeitgeist. But then, wasn’t SBS always the home for that? Les normalised his refugee difference without ever once compromising who he was or what he stood for, or the message he wasn’t so much selling but offering. He did this through the beautiful game, where cultural difference is negated by a round-ball game. It was the game to humanise the world, to welcome the strangers who were different colours or races or gender expressions or sexualities.
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