A comment seen today suggests that disabled tennis player Dylan Alcott's elevation to Australian of the Year is "great" for the sector, but it "threatens to entrench disability as another hostile arm of identity politics". Allcott has already demanded more funds for NDIS, which is already costing us 30 billion dollars a year. We know about the demands of the last recipient, which would not have been possible to make without getting the gong.

There are quite a few problems for wheelchair
athletes. The gap in prize money between wheelchair
stars and able-bodied athletes we're told remains
stark.

Apparently Tennis Australia has boosted its prize
money for wheelchair tennis but Dylan Alcott,
our recently named - "Australian of The Year" said
more had to be done.

Dylan has won 15 Grand Slam singles titles, praised the
Australian Open for leading the way on the issue, but
said more had to be done.

"We get less than half the first round loser that the
able-bodied get at all slams."

Travel is more expensive for wheelchair athletes. There
are extra baggage costs and often times they will have
to bring a support person to assist them with travel on
and off planes and through airports into cars and things...
As well as getting dressed and so on.

We need to understand that we do need to provide opportunities
of equal rights, sponsorships, all kinds of things which will
provide massive opportunities for people with disability -
athletes to be given the chance to earn the same type of money as
able-bodied athletes. Funding helps. It's not an unreasonable
request.

It is great that sport gives the disabled an extra interest in life, but to pay them for taking advantage of the opportunities offered is ridiculous.

It's good to see disabled people being able to participate. But the more money there is the more disabled there will be - particularly in Wokestralia where the definition of disadvantage gets broader all the time.

Alcott's personal disablement and difficulties are not in question. The use to which he and other AOY awardees put the honour - disabled or not - is in question.

Help for the disabled and less fortunate is a mark of civilisations. Awards are not necessary, particularly when recipients abuse the privilege as Alcott's predecessor did. Alcott seems to be a person of much higher calibre, but he has already stepped over the line, albeit with much more civility.

Hasbeen, ttbn,
Ditto !

There are a lot of people who are not disabled physically nor mentally but they're being disabled by incompetent bureaucrats in authority !