Sam Newman marches on parliament to demand golf courses be reopened, with the former Footy Show host calling their coronavirus closure in Victoria ‘a nonsense’
- Former Footy Show host Sam Newman protested golf club closures on Thursday
- Golf clubs are shut in Victoria under lockdown rules but open in other states
- Newman, 74, said golfers could still ‘walk around a golf club and obey the rules’
- Learn more about how to help people impacted by COVID
Sam Newman has stage a one-man march on Victorian Parliament to demand the government lift the closure of the state’s golf courses amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The former Footy Show host took to Twitter to post videos of himself on the steps of the parliament building, saying there was no ‘legitimate reason’ for the courses to be closed.
The videos, in which Newman appears in full golf attire with tartan trousers and carrying clubs, had been viewed more than 100,000 times on Twitter since being posted midday on Thursday.
Sam Newman has marched on Parliament demanding golf courses in Victoria be reopened because their closure amid the coronavirus pandemic is ‘a nonsense’
Newman is a keen golfer and has questioned why Victoria is the only state where golf clubs are shut amid coronavirus restrictions
Newman had been campaigning on Twitter since the Daniel Andrews government imposed a ban on golf as part of social distancing measures, arguing it was inconsistent policy for the sport to be banned while other forms of exercise were permitted.
‘This is absolute nonsense… Give me a legitimate reason why golfers can’t socially distance, walk around a golf club and obey the rules,’ Newman said in the video.
He said he would wait for premier Daniel Andrews on the parliament steps.
‘I’m going to stand here for an hour and, if he hears I’m here, I’ve got a GPS for social distancing and we’ll ask him why Victorians can’t play golf.’
‘People are out on the street jogging, spitting, vomitting, p***ing on everyone. I saw people kicking a football at Olympic Park yesterday.’
He then took the protest to St Patrick’s church in the Melbourne CBD where the gates were locked.
‘Not only can’t you play golf you can’t even pray for golf. I was going to pray for Daniel Andrews to lift the embargo for Victorians playing on courses,’ he said.
‘Or we could start a funding page and ask for a gold coin donation to put full page ads in the daily papers.’
Some people who viewed the videos threw support behind the outspoken personality and former AFL star.
Many people commenting on the post agreed with Newman saying it didn’t make sense and golf clubs were open in other states
One person said he had played golf twice this week as he lives in Western Australia
‘I went surfing yesterday, would have been 10-15 people within 20 metres of each other. What’s the difference?’ one person said.
‘How is playing golf in New South Wales – where there are more cases of the virus -permitted but not in Victoria,’ another agreed.
Others were not as easily convinced.
‘Give it a spell old mate – only a few weeks to go before some small relaxing in the rules,’ one person said.
‘Your trousers are nonsense,’ another added.
Newman, 74, is a keen golfer with a single-figure handicap, having made it his main sporting passion since he ended a semi-professional motorsport career.
Golf courses remained open in all Australian states and territories except for Victoria, which has the country’s strictest lockdown measures.
Newman is notoriously outspoken with the former AFL personality now doing a podcast