An Aboriginal Aussie rules player pretended to throw a spear and some right-wingers think a race war is imminent

Right-wing commentators have speculated that an aboriginal Aussie rules player's goal celebration in defence of his team-mate on Sunday could provoke a "race war".

Lewis Jetta, who plays for the Sydney Swans, threw an imaginary spear at supporters who had been booing his team-mate and fellow indigenous Australian Adam Goodes after scoring against the West Coast Lions.

Goodes has become a figure of controversy himself since performing a similar "war cry" celebration in an all-indigenous game in May and has received hostile reactions in stadiums across the country since.

After the match Swans coach John Longmire said Jetta made the gesture after becoming angered by the treatment his team-mate had been receiving.

Look, he wanted to celebrate the goal and he wanted to stick up for a mate. I spoke to him after the game and he was upset with the booing, and he’s had enough of it.

Lewis is a young kid who has come to Sydney and Goodesy has been such a powerful figure for him. He’s pretty close to Goodesy... and he was reacting and trying to show some support for a mate of his.

• John Longmire

While many - including the league commissioner, the Lions coach and CEO and television commentators - criticised those booing, a small section of the crowd as well as members of the right-wing press were left outraged by Jetta's response.

Writing in the News Corp-owned Herald Sun, right-wing columnist Andrew Bolt, says the Australian Football League must stamp out this "invitation to a race war" before it "gets out of hand":

The public rejection of this racial division that Goodes now represents has prompted Lewis Jetta to make even clearer that this symbolic spear-throwing at (only) white supporters is actually an invitation to a race war - an inflammatory and threatening challenge that the AFL must stamp out fast before this gets out of hand.

• Andrew Bolt

Over on the radio, 3AW host Neil Mitchell said the gesture was "provocative, confrontational, divisive and unnecessary" (without mentioning the actions of the fans) and called on the league to "put political correctness aside and tell him so".

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