A national public holiday to celebrate the Matildas if they win the FIFA Women’s World Cup will be on the agenda when leaders meet later this week.
The Matildas have done what no Australian soccer team – men or women — have done before: secure a spot in the FIFA World Cup semi-final.
The golden girls are now just one game away from the all-important final and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has argued Australians should be rewarded with a day off if they are victorious.
“Regardless of what happens, what we need to do is to have a proper celebration of the Matilda‘s and their achievements,” Mr Albanese told ABC Sydney on Monday morning.
Ahead of the meeting, NSW Premier Chris Minns confirmed the call had his support.
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“If the Matildas win the semi-final and then win the World Cup final, then yes, we’ll pursue a public holiday in NSW but not just to celebrate the victory, but also to have a massive civic celebration and allow the Matildas to celebrate with the people of Sydney,” he told 2GB radio.
Mr Minns would not lock in a date but stressed due to the “pretty strict” rules in place it wouldn’t take place the day after the final. “We want to make sure we’re in a situation where there’s enough time, particularly for young people, particularly for young girls to come and celebrate a massive victory,” he said.
“It would be within a week … not the day after because we’re in this situation where the World Cup is on a Sunday. You have to Gazette it, it takes seven days, there’s pretty strict rules in place for public holidays.”
But not everyone is a fan of the plan.
Nationals frontbencher Barnaby Joyce poured cold water over the idea when asked on Monday morning, questioning why we should have a day off to celebrate the success of one team and not another.
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“I think it’s a very good reason or the Matildas to have a day off. But look, why didn’t we have a day off after the Diamonds won (the Netball World Cup)?” he told Seven’s Sunrise.
“I mean that they would have just put just as much effort in as anybody else. When we go well in the Olympics, we’re gonna have a day off after that?”
Mr Joyce’s comments echoed those from his leader, David Littleproud, on Sunday, who said employers could not afford the move.
“We’ve just got to be really careful, this taking days off, because ultimately somebody does pay. I mean, it‘s not a case of it’s for free.
“Somebody has to pay and it’s overwhelmingly the small businesses. And if I asked you, ‘do you want to pay for your colleagues to have a day off?’, you would probably say no.”
Public holidays can only be called by state governments.
The last public holiday agreed to by national cabinet was the national day of mourning to mark the death of Queen Elizabeth II last September.
Mr Albanese stressed the world does not stop on a public holiday.
“I remember when we did the national day of mourning for the Queen … There was some of the fears about what would happen and small businesses had the biggest boost, if you’re in the hospitality industry, that it had for a very long period of time on that day,” he said.
The Matilda’s will play England on Wednesday night in Sydney, with the winner taking on either Spain or Sweden in the grand final next Sunday.
— Courtney Gould, NCA Newswire
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Women’s World Cup semi-finalists Spain might be defined by technique and a mesmerising passing game, but the player who gives them that precious something different is Salma Paralluelo.
The 19-year-old took Spain to this stage of the World Cup for the first time with her brilliant winner against the Netherlands in the quarter-finals.
The Barcelona ace, who was once a promising athlete before concentrating on football, struck on the counter-attack in extra time after coming off the bench.
A starter in every round before that, she also played a big part in the 5-1 demolition of Switzerland in the last 16 with her deliveries from the left wing, two of which led to goals for Aitana Bonmati.
With Alexia Putellas still recovering full fitness following a serious knee injury, midfielder Bonmati has been the leader in Jorge Vilda’s team that will face Sweden in the last four in Auckland on Tuesday.
But Paralluelo could have a big role to play against a physically imposing Swedish side thanks to her pace, direct running and power on the flank.
“She is a player with enormous potential and she is a long way from touching the ceiling in terms of what she can do,” Vilda said.
“She is very young and has only been focusing fully on training for football for a year. We will see the best of Salma in the future.
“She is already shining now, but I am sure that in the future she will do so even more.”
Vilda must consider whether to recall Paralluelo from the start or whether to focus first on passing Sweden into submission in a clash of styles at Eden Park.
Spain have completed 3,171 passes in their five games so far at the tournament, compared to under 2,000 for Sweden.
— AFP