For the last few weeks, I've seen a film bring together Aboriginal people all over Australia. The buzz around Utopia - a documentary by John Pilger - has been unprecedented. Some 4000 people attended the open-air premiere in Redfern last month - both indigenous and non-indigenous Australians - and yet little appeared in the media about an event that the people of Redfern say was a ''first''. This silence has since been broken by a couple of commentators whose aggression seemed a cover for their hostility to the truth about Aboriginal people.

When I watched Utopia for the first time, I was moved to tears. Three times. This film has reminded me that the great advantages I enjoy today - as a footballer and Australian of the Year - are a direct result of the struggles and sacrifices of the Aboriginal people who came before me.

Utopia honours these people, so I think the very least I can do is honour Utopia and the people who appeared in it and made it.