- Courtney Lee has lashed out after encounter on Sunday
- She and her partner were walking to the Australian Open
The girlfriend of Indigenous AFL star Maurice Rioli Junior has angrily blasted a ‘racist’ man she claims engaged in ‘disgusting behaviour’ by telling the couple ‘happy Australia Day’ on January 26.
Courtney Lee and the Tigers player were on their way to the Australian Open when they passed the man and his friends on Swan Street in Richmond.
‘A group of people walked past us with one male saying the words “Happy Australia Day” as though it was a normal hello of good morning when walking past a stranger,’ she wrote on social media.
‘However saying this to an Indigenous Australian with direct eye contact, a head nod with a cocky laugh to follow, knowing what he had just done is not normal.
‘It took me a moment to realise what just happened as I was on my phone trying to find our tennis tickets, however by this point the group and the man had walked further down Swan St.
‘Shocked, it took everything for me not to turn around and say something. I’m ashamed I didn’t react on the spot and call out this disgusting behaviour.
Courtney Lee has lashed out after she and boyfriend Maurice Rioli Jr (pictured together) were subjected to what she claims was a racist attack in Melbourne on Australia Day
The couple (pictured together) were on their way to the tennis at Melbourne Park when a man said ‘happy Australia Day’ with a head nod and a ‘cocky laugh’ directed at Rioli
‘I didn’t know what to feel, especially for my partner.
‘I don’t know what makes me more frustrated. The comment towards us on [Australia Day] of all days, or the act racism as a whole STILL happens on the daily from white people.
‘To insult an Indigenous Australian when you are living on their lands appals [sic] me. I’m quite heartbroken.’
Lee said Rioli had to leave work early due to the incident.
Richmond are currently engaged in preseason training ahead of their first match of the season against Carlton on March 13.
Rioli and his Indigenous Tigers teammate Marlion Pickett were on the receiving end of shocking racist abuse in August 2022.
Both stars were targeted by a social media user after Richmond’s victory over Essendon, with the Tigers club condemning the attacks.
Rioli (pictured playing for the Tigers) was also subjected to disgraceful racist attacks on social media after a game in 2022
‘Two Richmond players were the subject of vile racist abuse online,’ the club said in a statement.
‘The club condemns the behaviour in the strongest-possible terms.
‘The pathetic individuals who choose to behave in such a way need to be called out.
‘The club has referred the matter to the AFL Integrity who will now seek to identify the individual.’
Rioli and Pickett were supported by Indigenous stars Eddie Betts and Liam Ryan.
Lee and Rioli have been together since late 2023.
The Tigers forward is the son of Richmond great and Hall of Famer Maurice Rioli Senior, who played 118 games for the club and created history as the first Indigenous player to win the Norm Smith Medal as best on ground in a VFL/AFL grand final.
