Zoë Wundenberg | Steve Price's Herald Sun column highlights cost of refusing to change

And over the weekend, Steve Price has proven (again) that this quote is one we must remember. What really struck me about his full-page column in Saturday's Herald Sun, is that he genuinely doesn't seem to get what is actually going on.

Price started his piece by equating Melbourne City Council reviewing Australia Day plans on January 26 as "pretend[ing] that colonial settlement of Australia and Victoria never took place."

However, far from this, Lord Mayor Sally Capp, demonstrated concern regarding building unity between Traditional Owners of the land and other locals, in recognition of the changing sentiment in Australia regarding the "celebration" of the arrival of the first boat people to our shores - us. That's a far cry from pretending settlement never happened. There are things in our history to be ashamed of. We don't get to pick and choose what we want to remember.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Victoria Racing Club's Myer Fashions on the Field changes for the 2022 season were also cause for Price's concern with the changing "woke" world. There have always been women's and men's racewear competitions, but now, VRC are opening the two categories to anyone based on personal style, rather than gender to "drive equality, inclusion and individuality" - seriously, what's not to love? Why does this affect anyone but the contestants who now have more freedom to celebrate their style this racing season? Price reminisced to a time when clear social delineations were made (1965), claiming that "[a]t least back then everyone had a good time." But I would respectfully suggest that people like Price may have had a good time, but many others were excluded.

Then he moved on to the world of work. Cue eyebrow raise. The Artemis Program is NASA's first program aimed at putting humans on the moon since the Apollo Program in the 1960s/1970s. However, for Price, the fact that this program intends to land the first woman and the first person of colour on the moon is just a step too far, asking, "why?" He states that you'd want "the best astronauts you can find, not someone who gets a ride because of their sex or colour," and that anything else is just tokenism. He asks, "[w]ere Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin there because of their race or sex or because they could fly a spacecraft - you know the answer."

Well, yes, I do, but apparently Price doesn't. Armstrong and Aldrin were there because of their race and sex. They landed on the moon on July 20, 1969 and at this time, there had never been a woman or person of colour even in the US Astronaut Corps.

Interestingly, the first push to increase the number of minority and female astronauts at NASA came from Nichelle Nichols in 1978, with three African Americans and six women being designated as astronauts in 1979. The push for representation is not a new "woke" concept. It comes from decades of fighting to be heard, seen, recognised and valued.

Price finished off by expressing bafflement at the choice of Melbourne Vixens coach, Simone McKinnis, to sit on the interview panel for Essendon's next AFL coach. He acknowledged that he didn't know much about McKinnis. However, he apparently knew enough to question her inclusion on the panel. Perhaps he should read up on the winning culture she cultivated at the Vixens, resulting in two championships and five Australian Diamonds representatives - something I'm sure the Bombers would like to emulate.

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Just as well Price said he "doesn't care anymore" about negative reactions to his opinions. This is the "price of free speech," after all: You can share your opinion, but we are under no obligation to like it just because an "old white man" said it.

Age and the colour of a person's skin matters an awful lot less than minority blindness, inherent sexism, and blatant disregard for the diverse contributions that others can bring to the table.

Having always done it that way seems like a good enough reason to me to try something different, no?