There was a very interesting column in The Australian today. It was written by Matt Ridley titled- Stop the shouting: if we don’t tame Twitter, we’ll face mob rule. The first line in particular resonated.
“Schisms of hatred seem to be fracturing the political landscape wherever you look.”
How true. I would add, destroying tolerance along with it. Every word is analysed by someone looking for something to attack or have a go at others over.
Like many I’ve been disturbed by the rise of Pauline Hanson in the political arena. I personally don’t like her brand of politics. If we had to have an anti-Muslim party in Canberra I think we would have been much better off with the ALA. At least the ALA representatives understand the issues. They have done their homework on topics such as Halal. Hanson’s knowledge when tested is very thin in all areas related to Islam, Halal and Sharia law. Hanson trades on fear on not facts.
After reading another column in the Australian today related to Hanson, “Distortion of rights ‘helped Pauline Hanson.’ I posed this on Twitter. “If Tony Abbott hadn't wimped on 18C I wonder how different the outcome might be.” I was accused of Abbott bashing. Seriously.
Many Liberals were very disappointed when Mr Abbott wimped on proceeding with 18C legislation. Fact. It lost him support. Also fact. So rather than ‘bashing’ Mr Abbott I suspect if he had proceeded with changes 18C he may still be in Government. The debate would certainly be different and people would feel free to speak their minds on topics that concern them.
Then Human Rights Commissioner Tim Wilson said at the time he was: ‘‘Disturbed to hear the government has backed down on 18C and will keep offensive speech illegal. Very disturbed.’’
He also stated source Fairfax media:
“The racial discrimination act significantly restricts free speech in a way that all other anti-discrimination laws do not and the government seems to foolishly think that backing down will assist them or be in the best interest of the Australian population.”
Mr Wilson said there should not be a situation where select legal privileges are enjoyed by some and not by other people.
“The Prime Minister said that he wants to unite team Australia. I agree, which is why we should have laws that apply for everybody consistently,” he said.
“There is nothing more dangerous to a multicultural Australia today than the idea that some people have legal privileges on the basis of their race which do not exist for other people.”
This is where the likes of Pauline Hanson rise. She did it before by inciting people's fear over Asian gangs. She is doing it in 2016 in capitalising on people's fear of Islam and Muslim’s. When people feel they can’t openly voice their concerns they turn to people like Hanson.
I still believe in Free Speech. I will continue to voice my opinions (perhaps forthright at times) and if others choose to look for reasons to attack and admonish me, that is their problem. But I will call them out. My tolerance level is shrinking at a rapid rate when people try to turn comments into something they clearly are not.
I suspect I won’t receive any acknowledgement when I pointed out the obvious in stating I wasn’t bashing Abbott. I was merely posing a question. I do think the situation might have been different if Mr Abbott hadn’t reneged on the promise and backed down on 18C. It certainly would have removed one of the major opportunities for Hanson to capitalise on. The suppression of the right to speak your mind regardless of perceived ‘hate speech.’
I read this, this morning. “The challenge is not just to kick Hanson out of the Senate. Her political career is mostly unsuccessful, and it is unlikely she will be there for too long. The goal should be defeating her agenda.” We do that by allowing people to speak openly and freely about the things that concern them. By having sensible debate and not making people feel threatened or excluded. The question is, are we adult enough to do that? At times I seriously doubt it. I hope I’m proven wrong.
18C needs to be back on the agenda.
