Because that would be taking a big step backward. And thank goodness for that. This is still a country racked by racism. Apologies have been demanded for how the Aussies have treated the indigenous people. Only in Australia, the sentiment is against it.
Freeman is a direct descendent of that treatment.
Cathy's stepgrandfather, Sonny Sibley, helped lead a revolt against the terrible working conditions there in 1957. Cathy's mother was born there. The media covered this, naturally. It was part of the story they were hoping Freeman would write. For if the selection of Freeman to light the cauldron was a symbol of reconciliation, an olive branch of sorts, to show whites could root just as hard for Aboriginals, then so too was all this support for her 400-meter race.