ABC star Tony Armstrong has shut down the suggestion that his second Logies win means there are no racists in Australia.
Armstrong, a former AFL player who presents sports on ABC News Breakfast, posted a question on his TikTok account from someone suggesting his Bert Newton award for Most Popular Host Logie contradicted his views.
‘Now that you’ve won a Logie, which is a popularity award, can you STOP calling Australians racist now?’ the question posed.
Armstrong, who was wearing a gray hoodie and appeared to be at home, replied, “This one’s pretty good.”
He issued and messed up before picking up his new Logie statue and flashing a big cheeky smile.
Tony Armstrong has answered a question suggesting his Logies victory will change his outspoken views
‘No, I won’t stop because some Australians are still racist.’
Before Saturday’s awards show, Armstrong sent out a seemingly tongue-in-cheek tweet.
“I fully respect the nominees, but a vote for me is a vote that will keep you on the right side of history.”
In 2022, Armstrong took home the Graham Kennedy Award for Most Popular New Talent at the 2022 Logie Awards.
However, he was later attacked by online trolls for welcoming the country during the awards.
Social media users accused the 33-year-old man from Barranbinya of “wake-up” and “virtue-signaling”.
“Shut up bro,” he wrote.
‘I am a blackfulla and I have a duty to respect the land I stand on.’
Armstrong denounced the racist online abuse he received last November for discussing the Australian netball team’s split with sponsor Gina Rinehart over comments his father made about indigenous peoples.
One email, sent to his work address, was riddled with racial slurs, referring to the former Swans, Crows and Collingwood player as “disgusting trash” and an “uneducated dog”.
“This shit has to stop,” Armstrong posted on Twitter along with a screenshot of the offending message.
‘However, one thing is for sure, this is not a gun for us to stop talking or step forward. Sent to my work email, no less.
ABC management forwarded the email to police.
In April, Armstrong told Stellar magazine that being labeled an indigenous TV star was a double-edged sword.
“All of us who are in the performing arts who are on television, who are behind the microphone, who are represented in the print media, will continue to be frustrated,” he said.
‘I know most of us would love to cross out ‘Indigenous’ before our name when talking about us.
‘What a pleasure it would be to be ‘Tony Armstrong, Dancer’. ‘Tony Armstrong, guitarist, musician…’ whatever.’
But he said the ‘other side of the coin’ was that indigenous stars have a responsibility to ‘keep moving forward’.
“I guess being a blackfella is being political whether you like it or not,” he said.
Though he delivered a forceful punch, Armstrong also showed off his cheeky side as he held up his latest Logie statue.
‘And that’s hard because, far away, have you seen what politics is like? It is full.
‘So it would be nice to be able to worry about your job and not have the added stress of: you made a blue; did you do things
‘It’s not just you who got filled; it’s all your people who were smeared with it, (and) wrongly’.
In the same interview, Armstrong admitted that he knew very little about whether the Voice would be good or bad for Aboriginal people.
He said Aboriginal people should be the ones to talk about the Voice and admitted that it was a complex issue.
“I let people who really know their crap give advice on it,” he said.
“The way it frames itself in public discourse is that it’s binary, but it’s much more nuanced and complex than that,” he said.
Armstrong said he would seek out prominent indigenous Australians and elders to help him decide.
“I am going to follow the path of my leaders,” he said.
Armstrong said the Voice debate was making it “another hot year for black guys.”
“Our very identity will be torn and torn and examined,” he said.
“The irony, however it goes, will be: It’s not necessarily going to be the black kids whose vote makes the difference.”
