Reds Under the Bed and the Axis of Leftists

Reds Under the Bed and the Axis of Leftists

It's no great secret that every political party has its 'talking points' for the week. They're easy to spot, because every time a member of that party is interviewed they'll use the same language and make the same points as each other.

One of the enduring talking points for Australia's Liberal and National Party coalition government is to accuse the Labor Party and the Greens of being Marxists, Leftists, socialists, communists ... and ... shock horror ... politically correct ...

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, when someone is being 'politically correct', run ... run like the wind ...

Political correctness is a savage beast that has come to slap a gag across our mouths, make boys dress as girls and have us all apologise to chickens for the hormones we inject in them. Scary.

Now, sadly there are some people who have accused the L/NP of living in the 1950s. What sort of rabid political correctness is this? Just because they believe that coal is the way of the future, and that copper wire is a good substitute for the more expensive fibre-optic cable, is no excuse to accuse of them of being 60 years behind the times.

So to prove that they aren't living in some pollution-riddled paradise with naught but rotary phones to communicate, they resurrect one of the greatest strategies of the mid-twentieth century: Reds Under the Bed.

Just when one thinks the L/NP couldn't get any more 50s, they completely knock it out of the park.

In almost every single interview, L/NP politicians are accusing the Labor Party, the Greens, and other dissenters, of being part of some great left-wing conspiracy. Not content to attack Unions, they have now turned their beady little bigotry on GetUp!, a politically independent activist organisation that dares to campaign for human rights, workers rights, marriage equality, and to challenge racism, bigotry and xenophobia at its roots. Apparently sticking up for the rights of people is part of a neo-Marxist agenda and political correctness gone mad. The government's attack on GetUp! is to claim it is a political 'associated entity', similar to the Unions, and therefore costing its political independence⁽¹⁾.

As an aside, if you wish to contribute to a legal expenses fund for GetUp! to defend itself against this unwarranted attack on its independence, please do so here: https://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/democracy/greatest-threat-to-getup/we-re-under-attack

This followed the biggest attack on the Union movement in 30 years⁽²⁾, which was aimed at weakening workers' rights and destroying any form of collective power that could represent workers against unscrupulous employers. Instead, the government painted the Unions as being lawless, when employers have been abusing worker rights for years.

The Reds Under the Bed campaign of the 1950s, successfully demonised communism and convinced the gullible that communism was going to take over the world if mighty capitalism didn't conquer it.

The L/NP has resurrected the Reds Under the Bed scare-mongering, with illustrious MPs such as the Finance Minister, Mathias Corman, supported by a number of his colleagues, claiming that Labor leader Bill Shorten's economic agenda would lead Australia down the same path as East Germany and Cuba⁽³⁾.

The government doesn't let up in its hyperbole, accusing Labor of the 'politics of envy'. Obviously singing from the same song-sheet, this was repeated by Corman⁽⁴⁾, Treasurer Scott Morrison⁽⁵⁾ and Prime Minister Turnbull, who ramped up the Reds Under the Bed campaign by maximising his bang for buck by accusing Shorten of being the 'most dangerous left-wing leader in generations' AND that 'he is a wholly-owned subsidiary of militant, left-wing unions who have no regard for the rights of others ...' ⁽⁶⁾. Apparently, wanting to share the wealth is envy, but wanting individuals to accumulate wealth by exploiting workers is not. Unions have no regard for the rights of others? Perhaps these conservative politicians could take a long hard look at themselves in the mirror ... or look at the innumerable businesses who are under-paying staff or denying employee entitlements, when they don't have Unions protecting workers.

Turnbull twisted the idea of equality by claiming that 'Labor's war on inequality is nothing more than a war on aspiration'. Meanwhile, the Liberal Party continues its war on wages. The coalition is using this Reds Under the Bed fear-mongering to dog-whistle the electorate into fearing unions, fearing Labor and worshiping the wealthy as their only means of attaining employment or economic security. Meanwhile, workers' rights continue to erode and wages stagnate⁽⁷⁾.

In 2015, then Prime Minister Tony Abbott banned his front-benchers from appearing on Q&A because the show had allowed Zaky Mallah, to appear in the audience and ask a question. Mallah had been acquitted of terrorism charges in 2005, but had pleaded guilty to threatening to kidnap and kill Commonwealth officers. Mallah asked a question in relation to what would have happened had the Minister been deciding his case, rather than the courts. This was at a time when there was debate about having the Minister make the final call, rather than the courts. Abbott then described Q&A as a 'leftie lynch mob'⁽⁸⁾. Regardless of the rights or wrongs of Mallah appearing, Abbott yet again had to dog-whistle the gullible with a derogatory comment about the left-wing.

In continuing the Reds Under the Bed dog-whistling, James McGrath, the Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister appeared on the ABC's Q&A on Monday 27 November 2017, where he launched a tirade against GetUp!, The Greens and Labor, claiming that the right-wing of politics was now facing an 'Axis of Leftists'. A claim he repeated a number of times, before culminating in an 'Armageddon of Leftists'⁽⁹⁾. Was he trying to equate the left-wing with the Axis of Evil. Queue the scary music.

Everything that the Liberal or National Parties oppose is being branded as leftist, Marxist or politically-correct. National Party MP, George Christensen was one of many to brand the anti-bullying program, Safe Schools and Respectful Relationships, as being some sort of neo-Marxist gender theory. Christensen: 'We need to look at other methods that aren't originating in an ideology of queer gender theory, and let's be honest, Marxism'⁽¹⁰⁾. 

Former Labor leader, turned rabid right-wing apologist, Mark Latham wrote in his Daily Telegraph column, 'The craziest trend in Australian politics is to teach neo-Marxist genderless programs in our schools through the Orwellian-named Safe Schools and Building Respectful Relationships (BRR) curriculum'⁽¹¹⁾.  No, Mark, the crazy thing is labelling everything you disagree with as Marxist. Considering Marx espoused an economic theory that put the means of production in the hands of the workers, an anti-gay-bullying program does not qualify as Marxist ... neo or otherwise. There is nothing Orwellian in the naming of BRR as it was about ensuring schools would be safe from homophobic bullying ... such as we see from many of these politicians who attack it.

This is the standard that the Liberal and National Parties are bringing to the table; that the left-wing is full of evil Marxists who would turn Australia into Cuba or East Germany.

It is pure fear-mongering. It is aimed to manipulate the gullible with untruthful claims that turn workers against the very people who are fighting for their wages and rights, while driving them into the hands of those who would deny them those wages and rights.

More insidious and disturbing, is the dog-whistling of Marxism and leftist agendas to be used to justify homophobia, Islamophobia, xenophobia, racism, and straight out bigotry. We saw it during the Marriage Equality survey, where Yes campaigners were portrayed as neo-Marxists, we see it in the attacks on those who defend the rights of asylum seekers and refugees, the attacks on those who campaign for indigenous rights.

An article in the Cairns Post claimed that practically every element of our lives was being attacked by Marxists, including marriage, police, education, gender, religion, and crime. According to the article the only anti-Marxist crusaders in Australian parliament were Cory Bernardi, David Leyonhjelm, Pauline Hanson, the now defunct Malcolm Roberts⁽¹²⁾. Each one of these is a disgrace to parliament and an insult to democracy as they attack many of the people who make up the Australian population. Leyonhjelm is currently attempting to have Milo Yiannopoulos address a gathering at Parliament House⁽¹³⁾. Yiannopoulos is a well-known racist, xenophobe, misogynist and pedophile-apologist⁽¹⁴⁾. Hanson is well-known for her hateful comments against indigenous people, Asians and Muslims⁽¹⁵⁾. Bernardi is well-known for his hateful and false claims against Islam and Muslims, his raging against homosexuality and linking it to bestiality, and his demonising of asylum seekers⁽¹⁶⁾.  And Roberts? Well, he had a spectacular fall from grace after being found ineligible to sit in parliament because of being a dual citizen. This was welcomed by many, as Roberts expressed his bizarre conspiracy theories on government and climate change.

Sadly, this is where the Liberal and National Parties are taking us. All their dog-whistling and fear-mongering about Marxism is driving people into the waiting arms of extreme right-wing parties such as One Nation. The 2017 Queensland election saw a 13% swing to One Nation, 20% in some areas, and most of that was from disenfranchised Liberal National Party voters. Ironically, One Nation struggled to win a single seat, and the swing to them took the LNP down as well.

While the LNP and One Nation try to blame Labor for this, part of it has to rest with the constant fear-mongering about Marxism which is resulting in people truly believing that extremists such as Hanson and Bernardi are the only way to innoculate society against it.

Masking the attacks on Labor and the Greens as an attack on neo-Marxism is disingenuous and dangerous. The real attack is on the people; on indigenous rights, workers' rights, refugees, Muslims. The scare-mongering is dividing the people against themselves. Workers are hating Unions, non-Muslims are hating Muslims, straight people are hating LGBTIQ people, non-indigenous Australians are demonising indigenous people ... and on it goes. Meanwhile, while the electorate's energy and passion is directed at hating others, the government continues to undermine the rights of us all, including attacking our freedom of speech and expression as we see with the incessant attacks on the ABC, SBS and now GetUp!

The right-wing may be scaring itself stupid with fear of the left and launching into paroxysms of rage with every claim of Marxism (neo or otherwise), yet the biggest threat is the slide towards the ultra-right-wing, where diversity is not tolerated or celebrated.

Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid's Tale, a dystopian novel of a theocratic USA, succinctly describes the demonisation of 'others', when she said, 'Heroes need monsters to establish their credentials. You need something scary to overcome'. The L/NP has been demonising others for years. It is the only way they can portray themselves as the heroes, the saviours of modern Australia.

It is this turning of Australians against each other by attacking human rights, that will usher in an end to the freedoms that Australia enjoys, and it is this that Australians should all be standing up against - as one!


References

1. The Sydney Morning Herald, Adam Gartrell, GetUp! readies for court battle over bid to link it to Labor and the Greens, 23 October 2017, http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/activist-group-getup-readies-for-court-battle-against-coalition-investigation-20171021-gz5nyg.html. Accessed 28 November 2017.

2. The Guardian, Patrick Wintour, Biggest crackdown on trade unions for 30 years launched by Conservatives, 15 July 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/jul/15/trade-unions-conservative-offensive-decades-strikes-labour. Accessed 28 November 2017.

3. The Australian, Greg Brown, Bill Shorten 'will turn us into Cuba', 27 August 2017, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/bill-shorten-will-turn-us-into-cuba/news-story/a8545f0f3045b68c6e63ab434803d0d2. Accessed 28 November 2017.

4. News.com.au, staff writer, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann slams Bill Shorten's 'communist' economic policy, 24 August 2017, http://www.news.com.au/national/politics/finance-minister-mathias-cormann-slams-bill-shortens-communist-economic-policy/news-story/d1134a0aa6f3b19ebc4f72f8cca2fcaf. Accessed 28 November 2017.

5. SBS,  Source: AAP, Shorten chasing politics of envy: Treasurer, 24 July 2017, http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/07/24/shorten-chasing-politics-envytreasurer. Accessed 28 November 2017.

6. The Sydney Morning Herald, Amy Remeikis, Bill Shorten the 'most dangerous left wing leader in generations', says Malcolm Turnbull, 12 August 2017, http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/bill-shorten-the-most-dangerous-left-wing-leader-in-generations-says-malcolm-turnbull-20170812-gxuug0.html. Accessed 28 November 2017.

7. The Sydney Morning Herald, Anna Patty, War on wages: Australians are working harder and going backwards, 5 August 2017, http://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace-relations/war-on-wages-australians-are-working-harder-and-going-backwards-20170803-gxoh9c.html. Accessed 28 November 2017.

8. The Sydney Morning Herald, Matthew Knott, Q&A fallout: Tony Abbott orders frontbench ministers to boycott ABC show, 6 July 2015, http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/qa-fallout-tony-abbott-orders-frontbench-ministers-to-boycott-abc-show-20150705-gi5olb.html. Accessed 28 November 2017.

9. ABC, Q&A, Royal Commission and Election Results, 27 November 2017, http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/txt/s4752801.htm, Accessed 27 November 2017.

10. ABC, Michael Bradley, The problem with evoking Marxism in the Safe Schools debate, 24 March 2016, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-24/bradley-marxism-and-safe-schools/7272764. Accessed 28 November 2017.

11. The Daily Telegraph, Mark Latham, From reason to radicalism: Gender fluidity, 31 May 2016, https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/from-reason-to-radicalism-gender-fluidity/news-story/832eb330f1e68c0af8ab37521dc402d7. Accessed 28 November 2017.

12. The Cairns Post, Julian Tomlinson, Marxism aims to destroy conventional society ... and it's happening every day, 29 June 2017, http://www.cairnspost.com.au/news/opinion/marxism-aims-to-destroy-conventional-society-and-its-happening-every-day/news-story/368944a48185fd9f208aca6cb8557a48. Accessed 28 November 2017.

13. SBS, Source AAP-SBS, Greens want to ban alt-right figure Milo Yiannopoulos, 28 November 2017, http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/11/28/greens-want-ban-alt-right-figure-milo-yiannopoulos. Accessed 28 November 2017.

14. Anti-Defamation League, Milo Yiannopoulos: Five Things to Know, https://www.adl.org/education/resources/backgrounders/milo-yiannopoulos-five-things-to-know. Accessed 28 November 2017.

15. Huffpost, Josh Butler, Pauline Hanson Says She's Never Said Anything Racist Ever, 29 March 2017, http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2017/03/29/pauline-hanson-says-shes-never-said-anything-racist-ever_a_22016461/. Accessed 28 November 2017.

16. ABC, Ashlynne McGhee, Cory Bernardi: Where does the Senator stand on key issues?, 6 February 2017, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-06/cory-bernardi-profile-who-is-he-and-where-does-he-stand/8244040. Accessed 28 November 2017.

Prime Puppet Malcolm Turnbull's 'Captain's picks'

Prime Puppet Malcolm Turnbull's 'Captain's picks'

In the couple of weeks since the double dissolution federal election, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has managed to display to the electorate that he is nothing more than a puppet of the Liberal Party's far-right.

Rather than being Malcolm in Charge, he is merely the Prime Puppet of the racist and bigoted right-wing who are more concerned with money and power than people or the good of the country.

The first big decision for Turnbull followed the harrowing Four Corners story on Monday, 25 July 2016, which exposed gross human rights abuses of juveniles detained in the Northern Territory 'corrections' system⁽¹⁾.

Northern Territory prison officials placing a juvenile prisoner, Dylan Voller, in a restraint chair and spit hood.

Initially, Turnbull's reaction appeared appropriate. He immediately announced a Royal Commission into the abuse⁽²⁾. However, amid calls for the Terms of Reference to include all state jurisdictions following similar allegations in Queensland and other states, Turnbull announced it would be restricted to the Northern Territory.

Overshadowing this restriction however, was the bombshell that Justice Brian Martin QC would head the Royal Commission. Martin has presided over a number of high profile cases and delivered what would appear to be some bizarre sentences. For instance, he described five white men as being of 'good character' after they went on a racially motivated crime spree in which they deliberately terrorised aborigines by driving their car over their camps and at the people. Their Klan-like behaviour culminated in them bashing to death 33 year old aboriginal man Kwementyaye Ryder⁽³⁾. Martin was so impressed by their 'good character' that the men received sentences ranging from 12 months to four years⁽⁴⁾. Clearly in Martin's interpretation of the law, the life of an aboriginal man is worth less than the 'good character' of five white killers.

Following the airing of the Four Corners program, Adam Giles, Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, removed the Corrections portfolio from John Elferink, however, Elferink retains a number of portfolios⁽⁵⁾ including being the Attorney-General which one would expect to be a pivotal position during the Royal Commission. The Northern Territory also counter-sued the boys who made the claims of abuse, over damage caused during an escape attempt. Amid uproar, Giles announced the lawsuit was to be dropped⁽⁶⁾.

Juan Mendez, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment, has written to the Australian Government for an explanation of the allegations of abuse in the Northern Territory. Mendez stated that while Australia was yet to respond, the footage he has seen could amount to torture or crimes against humanity⁽⁷⁾.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees stated that multiple international conventions may have been broken, including the Convention for the Rights of the Child and the Convention Against Torture. Given the severity of the allegations of human rights abuses, the UNHCR stated that the Royal Commission needs to be independent, however, it has emerged that the Terms of Reference were formulated in consultation with the Northern Territory Government; the very government under whom the alleged abuses occurred⁽⁸⁾. Compounding this lack of independence, there was no consultation with indigenous leaders before appointing Martin⁽⁹⁾.

The appointment of Martin sends the message that the racists in the Liberal Party are looking after their racist mates in the Northern Territory.

The second issue in which Turnbull showed that he was merely a puppet of the far right-wing, was in rejecting the nomination of Kevin Rudd for United Nations Secretary-General⁽¹⁰⁾. Julie Bishop, as Foreign Minister, was happy to endorse Rudd for the position, however, the extreme right-wing wanted to play politics and so their puppet Turnbull rejected the nomination at their behest, saying Rudd was unsuitable.

Cory Bernardi, right-wing extremist extraordinaire, clearly influenced Turnbull's decision⁽¹¹⁾. In a Tweet, Bernardi unbelievably made the statement that Turnbull was correct in stifling Rudd's personal ambition while boasting of his own appointment to the United Nations in a media statement which read:

• 'I welcome the Prime Minister's decision as it reflects the sentiments of a great many Australians. Our participation in international institutions is more important than an individual's ambition. While seeking to advance Australia's stature on the world stage, we've got to do what's right, rather than what's politically expedient. The Prime Minister has done exactly that today. I look forward to my secondment to the United Nations later in the year'.⁽¹²⁾

Pot/kettle, Cory?

Turnbull, a man who once led Australia's push for a republic, who supported marriage equality, who supported an emissions trading scheme⁽¹³⁾, a man who originally backed Rudd for the UN job⁽¹⁴⁾, is now kowtowing to the extreme right of the Liberal Party on all of these matters.

Turnbull's failed strategy of calling the double dissolution was aimed at clearing the decks in the Senate and ensuring that smaller parties and independents were removed. He now has a Senate that is less malleable than the previous one and which is comprised of the likes of Pauline Hanson whose xenophobic, fear-mongering politics are a fine match for the bigotry of the Liberal Party's extreme right-wing. If Turnbull thought that this election was going to make his job as Prime Minister easier, then he has been sorely mistaken.

Turnbull ascended to the nation's top job following a coup that deposed then Prime Minister Tony Abbott. This was not a popular decision within the Liberal Party's extreme right-wing, who considered Turnbull to be far too left-wing for their fascist ideology. Many voters with moderate or left-leaning political inclinations felt that Turnbull would be better for the country than the bumbling, fear-mongering Abbott. Yet within a few short months it has become abundantly clear that even though Abbott is on the back-bench, the right-wing is still in charge⁽¹⁵⁾ and Turnbull is but their puppet.

In both cases, the NT Royal Commission and Kevin Rudd's UN bid, Turnbull has been thrown under the bus by appearing to make Captain's Calls (as Abbott was fond of calling them), yet they are decisions that have been heavily driven by the right-wing faction of the Liberal Party.

With friends like these in his party, who needs enemies?

Turnbull will be lucky to survive a full term with his puppet-masters engineering his downfall.

Update 1 August 2016

Following uproar across the country, Brian Martin stands down from heading the Royal Commission 'in the public interest'. Prime Minister Turnbull has replaced him with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Mick Gooda, and former Supreme Court judge, Margaret White⁽¹⁶⁾. This would appear to present a more balanced and potentially less biased Royal Commission.

Supporting the perception of Turnbull being merely a puppet of his right-wing, it has now emerged that he rejected the advice of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade which found that Rudd was 'qualified for the job' and a 'better candidate than previous Secretaries-General'⁽¹⁷⁾.


References

1. ABC Four Corners, Caro Meldrum-Hanna, Mary Fallon, Elise Worthington, 'Australia's shame - The brutalisation of children behind bars', 25 July 2016.  http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2016/07/25/4504895.htm. Accessed 30 July 2016.

2. Al Jazeera, 'Australia: PM orders inquiry into juvenile prison abuse', 27 July 2016, http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/07/australia-pm-orders-inquiry-juvenile-prison-abuse-160726175327189.html. Accessed 30 July 2016.

3. Overland, Michael Brull, 'Top blokes, totally out of character: when five white men beat an Aboriginal man to death', 14 May 2010, https://overland.org.au/2010/05/top-blokes-totally-out-of-character-when-five-white-men-beat-an-aboriginal-man-to-death/. Accessed 30 July 2016.

4. New Matilda, Chris Graham, 'NT Juvenile Detention Abuse Royal Commissioner Needs No Introduction to Black Territorians', 28 July 2016, https://newmatilda.com/2016/07/28/nt-juvenile-detention-abuse-royal-commissioner-needs-no-introduction-to-black-territorians/. Accessed 30 July 2016.

5. ABC News, 'John Elferink sacked from Corrections in wake of Four Corners report; Adam Giles alleges culture of cover-up', 27 July 2016, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-26/nt-prisons-minister-john-elferink-sacked-after-4-corners-outrage/7661086. Accessed 30 July 2016.

6. Huffington Post, Eoin Blackwell, 'NT Government Withdraws $160,000 Law Suit Against Don Dale Teens', 29 July 2016, http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2016/07/28/nt-government-sues-torture-teens-for-160-000-in-damages/. Accessed 30 July 2016.

7. ABC Radio National, RN Breakfast, Ellen Fanning, 'Does abuse of children in juvenile detention qualify as torture?', 28 July 2016, http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/does-abuse-of-children-in/7667508. Accessed 30 July 2016.

8. ABC News, Timothy Fernandez, 'Four Corners: NT youth detention treatment may breach two human rights conventions, UNHCR says', 30 July 2016, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-30/nt-youth-detention-may-abuse-human-rights-conventions:-unhcr/7674532. Accessed 30 July 2016.

9. The Guardian, Calla Wahlquist, 'Indigenous leaders 'disgusted' they were not consulted on detention inquiry', 29 July 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/jul/29/indigenous-leaders-disgusted-they-were-not-consulted-on-detention-inquiry. Accessed 30 July 2016.

10. ABC News, Stephanie Anderson, 'Kevin Rudd: Malcolm Turnbull rules out nominating former PM for UN secretary-general job', 29 July 2016, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-29/kevin-rudd-un-secretary-general-bid-endorsed-by-malcolm-turnbull/7671542. Accessed 30 July 2016.

11. The Australian, Jared Owens, Joe Kelly, 'Cory Bernardi says Coalition should not support Kevin Rudd's UN bid', 20 July 2016, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-29/kevin-rudd-un-secretary-general-bid-endorsed-by-malcolm-turnbull/7671542. Accessed 30 July 2016.

12. Twitter, Cory Bernardi @corybernardi, 29 July 2016, https://twitter.com/corybernardi/status/758856175119020033. Accessed 30 July 2016.

13. New Matilda, Ben Eltham, 'Agile Government: Turnbull Has Notched 17 Backflips In Seven Months',  12 April 2016, https://newmatilda.com/2016/04/12/agile-government-turnbull-has-notched-18-backflips-in-just-seven-months/. Accessed 30 July 2016.

14. ABC News, Eliza Borello and Stephanie Anderson, 'Kevin Rudd releases letters claiming Malcolm Turnbull backed him for United Nations secretary-general job', 30 July 2016, https://twitter.com/corybernardi/status/758856175119020033. Accessed 30 July 2016.

15. The Age, Mark Kenny, 'Turnbull hamstrung by divided party even after the election', 29 July 2016, http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/turnbulls-wings-clipped-before-he-even-gets-airborne-20160729-gqgm1i. Accessed 30 July 2016.

16. ABC News, Anna Henderson, 'Mick Gooda, Margaret White named royal commission heads after Brian Martin stands down', 1 August 2016, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-01/brian-martin-stands-down-from-royal-commission/7677400. Accessed 1 August 2016.

17. SBS, 'PM rejected DFAT advice on Rudd's bid', 1 August 2016, http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2016/08/01/pm-rejected-dfat-advice-rudds-un-bid. Accessed 1 August 2016.

Church of the Poisoned Mind

Church of the Poisoned Mind

In the 1980s, British pop group, Culture Club led by the inimitable Boy George, had a hit song called 'Church of the Poisoned Mind'. It included the lyric:

Love is hard to find
In the Church of the Poisoned Mind

While the song was more of a love song than a critique of modern religion, the lyrics can certainly be applied to modern Christianity. The religious right has hijacked Christianity from being an inclusive, loving religion to one that is exclusive, hateful, spiteful and driven by greed.

Much of the modern church is a church with a poisoned mind.

The religious right treat abortion and homosexuality as the worst things in the world, they regularly vote for politicians who's primary focus is on the support of big business at the cost of the poor. They vote for politicians who wage illegal wars based on false claims. They vote and campaign for politicians who wilfully imprison and demonise asylum seekers.

It is these policies that are the biggest threat to family values, to the poor, to the downtrodden, to the vulnerable, to the persecuted.

Considering that many conservative politicians claim to be Christian, their treatment of refugees, the poor, the needy, is anything but Christian. Take Australia's abuse and torture of children for example. The United Nations has found that Australia's treatment of asylum seekers breaches the international convention on torture⁽¹⁾. Yet, both the Liberal and Labor parties continue to support the brutal and inhumane treatment of asylum seekers.

Christ said, "suffer the little children". This doesn't mean to make the little children suffer.

While the religious right is distracted with abortion and same sex marriage, children are being tortured and murdered by the very political policies they support. Conversely, less conservative churches, such as the Uniting Church, are protesting against the government's inhumane treatment of asylum seekers.

Abortion is a biblical issue that is younger than the McDonald's Happy Meal ⁽²⁾. As has been pointed out by The Christian Left, abortion was designed by the founders of the religious right in the 1970s to 'coalesce a right wing political movement' ⁽³⁾. It was instilled purely for political manipulation and not from faith.

While abortion maybe unsavoury for many, the religious right's concern for the child ends at child-birth. They oppose welfare, they oppose rises to the minimum wage, they oppose refugee resettlement, they oppose foreign aid but they often support war in third world nations. Each of these factors contributes to the reasons women choose abortion, each of these factors contributes to child mortality and each of these reasons are not consistent with the teachings of the bible that the religious right so voraciously claims to support. The bible teaches sharing, caring, peace and love. These are the things that the religious right either actively campaigns against or at best, pays lip service to.

Opposition to homosexuality is the other key issue that underpins the religious right's narrative and drives their political choices. Given that the bible is not the best role model for marriage, it is strange that the religious right declares that they support the biblical view of marriage.

Let's unpack marriage according to the bible:

Take your pick: rape, incest, polygamy, infidelity, sexual slavery, arranged marriages.

Yeah ... let's go with marriage according to the bible.

Same sex marriage is not going to ruin society. It is no threat to anyone else's marriage. Critics will often argue that it will destroy family values.

What does destroy families is the wilful imprisonment of children. The wilful imprisonment of fathers, mothers, sons and daughters without charge. The wilful demonisation of innocent people based on lies often perpetrated and perpetuated by the religious right in their blind support of politicians who pander to racism, xenophobia, fear.

What destroys family values is hate-driven ideology and slander. Something that a number of Christians are doing without thought of scripture commanding them to love their neighbour. instead, they're happy to spread lies about Islam or twist the words of the Quran in order to justify their own hate and fear. We're seeing an increase in attacks on Muslims and mosques reminiscent of Nazi Germany. Martin Niemöller, a German Baptist minister at the time, firmly blamed the church for the rise of the Nazis, because it tolerated the persecution of communists, the sick, the Jews⁽⁴⁾.

The religious right defends to the death the selfish and unbiblical ideology of capitalism. They believe the bible teaches them they can accumulate wealth without limit and that redistribution of wealth is theft.

Capitalism succeeds through exploitation. It is a fallacy that the rich earned their wealth from their own hard work. Most of the rich got rich through the efforts of people who slaved their guts out for little return: some not even being paid minimum wage. Workers contribute to the wealth of the company. It isn't theft to expect that wealth to be shared at least with those who contributed to it, whether they're the cleaner, checkout operator or the CEO. It is obscene that the executives are paid thousands times more than what their employees are paid. Some CEOs earn thousands of dollars an hour, while their staff barely make minimum wage.

For Christians to support this is anathema to the precepts of the bible. James 5:1-5 condemns the hoarding of wealth and the robbing of the workers through withholding of wages. Interesting then, that the USA's right wing so voraciously opposes lifting the minimum wage to a standard that it can be lived upon:

¹ Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! ² Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. ³ Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. ⁴ Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. ⁵ You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter.

Much of the Western world is built on the rape of the third world. Corporations are continuing to source their labour from low-income nations to avoid paying higher wages. This doesn't benefit the third world. It only serves to drive a wedge between the rich and poor, it increases poverty and child mortality.

The religious right campaigns for smaller government. It sees taxation as theft. Yet who is going to build the roads and bridges, the schools, hospitals, electricity generators? The west has seen a major drive towards privatisation. This may reduce the tax burden, but privatisation comes at a cost. It is a fallacy to expect competition to drive down prices when consumers are prisoners to the greed of the capitalists who control that competition. Corporations introduce user-pays systems to cover their costs.

Of course, the reality is that even with privatisation, the government doesn't reduce the tax it takes, so consumers are hit double:

Taxation by government and taxation by corporation.

One of the religious right's recent mantras is that government is evil. Yet again, the bible clearly states that the government is the minister of God to do good. Romans 13:1-7 states: ' ... the authorities that exist are appointed by God ... For he is God's minister ... For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God's ministers ... '

Dare to state that the Bible promotes Socialism and one will be lynched in some Christian circles. Yet the bible consistently tells us to share wealth.

The basic premise of Marxism is biblical. 'From each according to his ability, to each according to his need' is a summary of the bible which states, 'He who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack' (Exodus 16:18).

Acts 4:32-35 which speaks of the basic elements of communism - communal ownership and redistribution of wealth:

³² Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. .... ³⁴ Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, ³⁵ and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need.

The bible is opposed to capitalism, to the accumulation of wealth while others suffer. Luke 12:33 - 'Sell your possessions, and give to the needy'.

The racism, bigotry and intolerance that permeates the ideology of the religious right is borne of fear. If the religious right read their bibles they'd realise there is an antidote to the fear that consumes them, as stated succinctly in 1 John 4:18:

Perfect love casts out all fear 

Sadly, many in the religious right would rather reference the teachings of arch-capitalist and atheist, Ayn Rand, then reference the teachings of the Christ they claim to follow.

If the religious right is genuine in the love of Christ, they would do well to free and care for refugees, to share wealth and care for the poor, to share love and stop attacking Islam, to promote peace and stop voting for politicians in the mould of George W. Bush, Tony Blair and John Howard, who waged war based on lies and fear.

The religious right are happy to twist scripture to support their warped view of Christ, however it is all legalism. All they try to defend is anti-abortion (or pro-life as they misname it, as their concern ends at birth), anti-homosexuality, anti-Islam, anti-immigration. Their view of scripture is 'thou shalt not' rather than 'thou shalt'.

Right wing Christianity is all legality and no morality.

They care more for capitalism and greed than they do for people. They fail to care for the poor, for the refugee, for the least of these as the bible calls it in the parable of the Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25:31-45): inasmuch as you did it to the least of these, you did it to Me.

The religious right should ditch its poisonous teachings and embrace the socialist teachings of the bible, the teachings of love, peace, caring and sharing.


References:

1. Human Rights Law Centre, 'UN finds Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers violates the Convention Against Torture', 9 March 2015, http://hrlc.org.au/un-finds-australias-treatment-of-asylum-seekers-violates-the-convention-against-torture. Accessed 14 February 2016.

2. Patheos, Fred Clark, 'The "biblical view" that's younger than the Happy Meal', 18 February 2012, http://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2012/02/18/the-biblical-view-thats-younger-than-the-happy-meal. Accessed 14 February 2016.

3. The Christian Left, 'Abortion', 2 February 2015, http://www.thechristianleftblog.org/blog-home/abortion. Accessed 14 February 2016.

4. 'Of Guilt and Hope, by Martin Niemöller', document and analysis by Harold Marcuse, http://www.history.ucsb.edu/faculty/marcuse/projects/niem/Niem1946GuiltHope13-16.htm. Accessed 14 February 2016. This page provides the following quotation from Martin Niemöller:

'When Pastor Niemöller was put in a concentration camp we wrote the year 1937; when the concentration camp was opened we wrote the year 1933, and the people who were put in the camps then were Communists. Who cared about them? We knew it, it was printed in the newspapers. Who raised their voice, maybe the Confessing Church? We thought: Communists, those opponents of religion, those enemies of Christians - "should I be my brother's keeper?" Then they got rid of the sick, the so-called incurables. - I remember a conversation I had with a person who claimed to be a Christian. He said: Perhaps it's right, these incurably sick people just cost the state money, they are just a burden to themselves and to others. Isn't it best for all concerned if they are taken out of the middle [of society]? -- Only then did the church as such take note. Then we started talking, until our voices were again silenced in public. Can we say, we aren't guilty/responsible? The persecution of the Jews, the way we treated the occupied countries, or the things in Greece, in Poland, in Czechoslovakia or in Holland, that were written in the newspapers. … I believe, we Confessing-Church-Christians have every reason to say: mea culpa, mea culpa! We can talk ourselves out of it with the excuse that it would have cost me my head if I had spoken out. … We preferred to keep silent. We are certainly not without guilt/fault, and I ask myself again and again, what would have happened, if in the year 1933 or 1934 - there must have been a possibility - 14,000 Protestant pastors and all Protestant communities in Germany had defended the truth until their deaths? If we had said back then, it is not right when Hermann Göring simply puts 100,000 Communists in the concentration camps, in order to let them die. I can imagine that perhaps 30,000 to 40,000 Protestant Christians would have had their heads cut off, but I can also imagine that we would have rescued 30-40,000 million [sic] people, because that is what it is costing us now'.

We either learn from history or we are doomed to repeat it

We either learn from history or we are doomed to repeat it 

 - by Guest blogger, Willz

Its 1919. Germany is in chaos after four years of war that ended in a humiliating defeat and surrender. The German economy crippled by a heavy handed armistice requiring punishing reparation payments to the allies. The German soldiers were dumbfounded how they were defeated when they weren’t even fighting on German soil . Feeling angry and betrayed the returning soldiers were looking for someone to blame. Amongst them a young Adolf Hitler, bitter about the armistice and Germany's humiliating surrender … then a stranger hands him a leaflet blaming the Jews. The hatred is given direction and a man grows into a monster…in the name of patriotic nationalism the Nazi party is born. In 1933, Hitler arranged for the Reichstag building to be burned in a false flag attack so that blame could be laid against the enemies of the Reich: the Jews and Communists. He called an emergency meeting of Reichstag and the term 'your either with us or against us' was first coined, bullying his way into power with a lie.

The persecution of the Jewish people begins in 1933 with attacks on Jewish shops. Jews are forced out of jobs in newspapers and the civil service. Germans are actively encouraged to boycott Jewish businesses.

1934 - Jews are banned from having health insurance while propaganda claims that Jews murder Christian children.

1935 - the Nuremburg laws are passed. Jews are stripped of German citizenship and are not allowed to marry non-Jews or have sexual relations with non-Jews.

1936 - Jews are banned from all professional jobs.

1937 - Jews are excluded from politics and government positions.

1938 - 'Night of the broken glass'. 100 Jews murdered. 20,000 Jews sent to concentration camps. Synagogues and Jewish homes burnt. Jewish shops trashed and Jews are forced to pay for the damage. Jews banned from schools cinemas and public places Jewish businesses forced to close.

1939 - Germany occupies Czechoslovakia and invades Poland. All Jews forced to wear a yellow star.

1940 - Germany invades Holland, Denmark, Belgium and Norway. Persecution in these countries begins. Auschwitz opens. Warsaw ghetto sealed off 400,000 Jews inside.

Starving children sitting on the pavement in the Warsaw ghetto. 

Yard Vashem Photo archives

1941 - Germany invades the USSR. Killing squads organized to kill Jews wherever they find them in Russia. Gassing of Jews at Chelmno starts.

1942 - gassing of Jews expanded into Balzac, Sobibor, Treblinka and Auschwitz. Mass deportation of Jews to Auschwitz begins.

1943 - as the war starts turning against them, the Nazis attempt to conceal the death camps.

1944 - Hungarian Jews forced on a death march to Auschwitz.

1945 - Russian troops liberate Auschwitz. British and American troops liberate camps in western Germany.

When General Eisenhower first saw the death camps he ordered every soldier to look and ordered a camera crew to film the camp inmates. At the time he stated 'in time to come people will try to deny this ever happened but we will have proof'. He also ordered every citizen of Gotha Germany to tour the nearby concentration camp. After seeing the camp, the Gotha mayor hanged himself.

The Nuremberg trials ran from late 1945 till 1949 to prosecute Nazis for war crimes. Three of the top Nazis, Hitler, Himmler and Goebbels escaped trial by committing suicide. 21 senior Nazis were hanged for crimes against humanity and many others received various years in jail depending on the severity of their crimes.

During the trial Goering was asked how they coerced the German people into another war. He stated 'The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country'.

In closing arguments the lead prosecutor said that we must be ever vigilant that we never let this happen again. A psychiatrist was heard to comment, 'evil is the complete lack of empathy'. The second war to end all wars was finally wrapped up.

But what has all this talk of fascism got to do with Australia?

We’ve never had fascism in Australia, right?

Wrong!

Fascism has been part of the political landscape in Australia since the great depression of 1929 to 1933. You see, fascism is a direct result of the failure of capitalism. When capitalism fails, as it did during the stock market crash that triggered the Great Depression, it results in fascism. From 1931 to 1932, 130,000 (out of a population of 6 million) were members of far right wing paramilitary groups, such as the New Guard, composed primarily of people who had the most to lose when the capitalist system collapsed, such as doctors, dentists, lawyers, wealthy graziers, factory owners and businessmen.

The New Guard formed in 1931 with 36,000 members. It was a fascist organisation that physically attacked union, ALP, unemployed and communist meetings. Its leader, Eric Campbell, visited Italy and Germany and established close relations with fascists there.

New Guard leader Eric Campbell at a meeting in Sydney 1932

Menzies, Australia’s longest serving prime minister was glowing in his praise of Nazi Germany. In 1938, when federal Attorney-General, he visited the country and enthused about the 'really spiritual quality in the willingness of Germans to devote themselves to the service and well being of the state'.

1937. William Mackay, the NSW police commissioner, established the first Police Boys Clubs. They were modeled on the Nazi labor youth battalions, which he admired because they 'subordinate the individual to the welfare of the nation'.

Fast forward to 1975 when the Racial Discrimination Act was passed in federal parliament overriding inconsistent state legislation under the 'external Powers' section of the Australian Constitution. This Act was left largely intact and unchallenged until 2013, when the most right-wing fascist government to ever govern Australia was elected. Suddenly the fascists were calling for the Act to be watered down. They wanted the freedom to make racial slurs and get away with it.

Proclamation of the Racial Discrimination Act

Repealing Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act was an election promise borne out of the case of columnist and Abbott confidante Andrew Bolt, who was found guilty of breaching it in two articles he wrote about light-skinned Aboriginal people in 2009.

The changes the fascists wanted would leave Australians with no protection against racial vilification. The comments by the Attorney-General, Senator Brandis, that 'people have the right to be bigots' shows how racist this government has become.

Tony Abbott's pledge to 'stop the boats' was central to his election campaign, and immediately after the election he and Immigration Minister Scott Morrison appointed then Deputy Chief of Army Angus Campbell to take charge. The policy involved secrecy about what was happening on the high seas, a continuation of offshore detention, and reviving the practice of turning refugee boats back.

But this policy has come at a price: riots have broken out at an offshore detention center on PNG's Manus Island, resulting in the death of an asylum seeker, and the Government was forced to bring a group of asylum seekers to Australia after a High Court ruling. Reports also continue to emerge of mental illness and brutality in detention centers. Rape and pedophilia are rampant.

There is no need for Abbott to subdue the mainstream press in Australia as they are already on his side. Dissenters such as the ABC are ridiculed and have their funds cut.

It is now an offense to report anything going on at offshore detention centers, with penalties of up to two years jail for anyone convicted under this law.

The new national security laws make it an offense to travel to a designated area of 'terrorist activity' without a valid reason. Anyone traveling to these area can have their citizenship cancelled on the say so of the Immigration minister without having the opportunity to defend themselves in a court of law.

There are also plans for legislation to compel phone and internet companies to retain customers' metadata.

Muslims in Australia make up only two per cent of the population but are copping a huge amount of racial discrimination, yet the government is silent about it, indicating that they either support the racism or don’t care; this government is killing multiculturalism in this country.

The rise of right-wing fascist groups in Australia should be alarming everyone. Frighteningly, there no objection from the federal government as these hate groups multiply and grow like a virus. Groups such as Boycott Halal in Australia, Restore Australia, United Patriots Front, are made up of white supremacists calling for discrimination against Muslims. Some threaten violence against Muslims based on religion.

Sydney Morning Herald

Sydney Morning Herald

The Reclaim Australia movement held rallies around Australia recently to try and spread their vicious lies and bigotry. Although they were outnumbered by anti-racist protesters everywhere they went, the racists were well protected by the police and allowed to spew their vile racism. Some of the openly Nazi-inspired bigots openly displayed Nazi symbols and tattoos which shows what they really are: 'White Supremacist Nazis'.

Sydney Morning Herald

Meanwhile in Canberra our government keeps talking up Islamic terrorism, further isolating the Muslim community and inspiring the white supremacists to be bigger, bolder and more violent. The term 'Team Australia' is the same flawed 'us and them' rhetoric used as an excuse to drag Australia into an illegal invasion of a sovereign nation, Iraq, based on lies which left it in a mess, ripe for the rise of terrorist groups like Isis.

In closing, I would like to say that I am confident Australia will not slide into the abyss of gassing those deemed undesirable like Germany did in the Thirties. However, I am becoming more and more concerned with the increasing violence against Muslims while the Government remains silent on the issue and continues fear campaigns. Australia of 2015 is starting to look eerily familiar to Germany in the 1930s.

It’s up to the decent people of Australia to stand up and say enough is enough, that we don’t tolerate hate, fear and discrimination here.

We must turn back the tide of fascism before its too late.

Freedom from fear and bigotry

'Freedom and justice cannot be parceled out in pieces to suit political convenience. I don't believe you can stand for freedom for one group of people and deny it to others'. - Coretta Scott King


The rise in Islamophobia has seen a number of hate crimes perpetrated against innocent Muslims. The bigots who protest against Islam often claim they are defending Australian values and that our ancestors didn't fight in the various wars for the country to be overrun by Muslims.

What many of the bigots don't realise is that our ancestors fought alongside other Australians' ancestors, who were Muslim or indigenous or Jewish or atheist, in order beat fascism. You know, the fascism that attacks people of differing religions, races or opinions and either imprisons them or kills them ... or both. The type of fascism that spreads lies and innuendo blaming other groups for economic or social woes. The type of fascism that demonises others.

Abuse and discrimination of others isn't new in Australia. Indigenous Australians have suffered it for generations. European migrants, such as the Italians, Greeks and Spanish, experienced it. Asian immigrants suffered it. Now, the latest targets are asylum seekers and Muslims.

The current government is doing plenty of blaming of others and plenty of demonisation of minority groups to further their popularity. They're manufacturing threats that accuse asylum seekers arriving by boat and Muslims in general (whether born here or immigrants) of increasing the risk of terrorism and crime, stealing jobs, wanting to 'destroy our way of life' or any other lie of the moment.

With such a horrid future awaiting Australians if these 'threats' are allowed to flourish, the government rides in like a knight in shining armour to rescue the bigots in distress by passing laws that strip everyone's freedom. The government is fueling fear and hatred to create policies aimed at one thing: ensuring votes from the fear-stricken.

The ignorant bigots blindly accept these harsher laws, these moves to a fascist state in order to 'protect our way of life', believing the lies that claim freedom abounds only if there are enough laws to protect it. They don't see the blatantly obvious drive for power behind these laws.

This move to fascism is exactly what our ancestors fought against.

John Adams, one of America's founding fathers and its second president, stated 'Liberty cannot be preserved without general knowledge among the people'.

In order to ensure that Australians don't have this general knowledge, that they don't question our leaders' lies, the government has attacked the media by slashing the budgets of ABC and SBS, slashing education and university funding and slashing science budgets. However, in an act straight out of the dark ages, funding of priests has increased.

The Abbott government is replacing scientists and teachers with priests.

Many people are happy to blindly accept the lies of the government and its efforts to dumb down society, without questioning its actions or challenging its claims in order to 'protect our freedom'. They are confusing freedom with security.

General Eisenhower explained the difference between the two:

'If you want security, go to prison. There you're fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking ... is freedom'.

It is an insult to invoke the memory of dead diggers in conflicts past to justify racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia or any other hate crime. Even though most of Australia's previous wars were fought for imperialist objectives, the soldiers who fought and died believed they were doing so in the name of freedom. Not freedom to hate, but freedom to live in peace.

The government has implemented harsh changes to 'anti-terrorism' legislation that predominantly target Muslims, and the Migration and Maritime Powers legislation which discards the human rights of asylum seekers and promotes torture and imprisonment without charge of innocent people, including children. This might give a sense of security to bigots, but it destroys freedom. Increased laws do not mean increased justice.

Coretta Scott King, wife of Martin Luther King Jr, succinctly summed up the link between freedom and justice with a message that should be heeded by all politicians: 'Freedom and justice cannot be parceled out in pieces to suit political convenience. I don't believe you can stand for freedom for one group of people and deny it to others'.

The biggest threat to our freedom is not Islam or asylum seekers, but fear. The second Secretary-General of the United Nations, Dag Hammarskjöld recognised this years ago: 'Freedom from fear could be said to sum up the whole philosophy of human rights'.

Fear is a two-edged sword. There are those, such as asylum seekers, who genuinely fear persecution. But then there are those who fear those who are being persecuted. This is the category within which many of Australia's bigots reside. It is their fear that is manipulated by the government to justify laws persecuting the persecuted.

While bigotry attracts voters to fascist policies it also acts as a distraction. While the people are running around fear-stricken and attacking others, they aren't focussing on what the government is doing. This makes it much easier for the government to not just implement fascist policy, but also to unleash neoliberalist policies on society and the economy which make the rich richer and the poor poorer.

The mettle of a government is shown by its treatment of the most vulnerable. This government, in fostering bigotry and fear for political convenience, has shown itself to be amoral and not worthy of claiming to 'defend Australian values'.

Open the borders, close the camps, free the refugees

On 28 February 2014, hundreds of people gathered at a rally in Brisbane to protest against Australia's detention of refugees, particularly following the murder of Iranian refugee, Reza Berati, at Manus Island on 17 February 2014.

The rally kicked off in Queen's Park, under the austere gaze of Britain's colonialist Queen Victoria. Ironic given Australia's colonialist expansion into neighbouring countries to establish Gulags for the unwanted and ostracised asylum seekers who arrive by boat in our waters.

The rally was organised by the Refugee Action Collective, with other campaigns run by Socialist Alternative, Socialist Alliance and the Greens. Speakers included Sam Watson, aboriginal affairs activist, Andrew Bartlett from the Greens, and Ali, an asylum seeker who spent 13 months on Christmas Island and four months in a Brisbane immigration detention centre before being allowed to settle in Australia. There were also speakers from Labor for Refugees, Queensland Supporters for Democracy in Iran, and of course the Refugee Action Collective.

The speakers all highlighted the need for a more compassionate and humane approach to welcoming asylum seekers to Australia. The gathering then marched around the CBD, up George Street, along Adelaide, down Edward, along Charlotte St, back up George St to Queen's Park, noisily chanting 'Free the Refugees', 'Hey Abbott, we're talking to you, close Manus Island, close Nauru', 'Sack Morrison' and 'Open the borders, close the camps, free the refugees'. At various points the rally stopped so that people in the CBD could hear the message about why we were protesting and to encourage others to take up the cause. Photos taken at the rally are at the bottom of this article.

The military-run attack on asylum seekers with the grandiose title 'Operation Sovereign Borders', shows just how low Australia has slumped in human rights. Even human rights abusers, China and Iran, are criticising Australia. While it's a bit rich for either of those two nations to criticise anyone else over human rights, it shows just how much damage Operation Sovereign Borders, and for that matter former Prime Minister Gillard's 'PNG solution', has done to Australia's legitimacy. Who is Australia to lecture any other nation on human rights when it is committing gross human rights abuses itself. While the majority of Australians live in comfort and can afford the luxury of supporting xenophobic policies, the government is horrendously treating the most vulnerable of the world's people; people who have fled persecution for a safe country that is a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention.

The main-stream media is awash with ill-informed opinion on refugees. For instance, the claim that the UN Refugee Convention says that refugees must seek asylum in the first country they come to. To validate this argument would mean to look at which is the first country they come to who is a signatory the UN Refugee Convention. Oh, look, it's Australia! Between Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Iran, refugees who flee east will not encounter any signatory to the Convention until they hit ... wait for it ... Australia.

Then there is the argument that under the Labor government, thousands of refugees died at sea so the LNP policies have saved lives. Technically, this is true ... as far as we know. However, the Liberal government's secrecy means that we don't know if anyone has drowned. Operation Sovereign Borders hasn't stopped people arriving in Australian waters, although, it has prevented most, if not all, reaching Australia's shores as the Navy either turns the boats around or shoves the asylum seekers in life-boats and pushes them back to Indonesia.  Hundreds of asylum seekers have faced this callous treatment since the Liberal Party came to power only five months ago.

If Australia was so concerned about asylum seekers, it would not be imprisoning them indefinitely, denying them water, information, decent accommodation and a future. The LNP boasts that no asylum seeker has drowned attempting to reach Australia.What a straw-man claim that is! So they don't drown in our waters, but we are actively trying to return them to their country's of origin in which they will face persecution, torture, imprisonment and for many, death.

Operation Sovereign Borders is not about saving lives.

Manus Island and Nauru are not 'processing centres' as the government would have us believe. In the last 12 months not one asylum seeker held in detention has been processed. Earlier this week, Liz Thompson, former migration agent on Manus Island, blew the whistle on the lies the government is telling the asylum seekers. Disturbingly, the most telling description of the true aim of the Australian government's use of Manus Island, was her comment, 'It's not designed as a processing facility, it's designed as an experiment in the active creation of horror to deter people from trying'.

Again some are propagating the idea that refugees arriving by boat in Australian waters are 'illegal'. Australia's Migration Act does declare people who arrive in Australia by sea as 'unauthorised maritime arrivals'. This doesn't mean they are illegal. In fact, under Australia's rule of law, all people are innocent until proven guilty. Not one asylum seeker has been charged with entering the country illegally, so indefinite detention without charge is a breach of the presumption of innocence.

Besides if Australians are so concerned about the rule of law, then refer to Article 31(1) of the UN Refugee Convention⁽¹⁾ to which Australia is a signatory, which states:

The Contracting States shall not impose penalties, on account of their illegal entry or presence, on refugees who, coming directly from a territory where their life or freedom was threatened in the sense of article 1, enter or are present in their territory without authorization, provided they present themselves without delay to the authorities and show good cause for their illegal entry or presence.

Further to this is the refoulement principle in Article 33(1) of the UN Refugee Convention⁽¹⁾:

No Contracting State shall expel or return ("refouler") a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.

Yet, the Australian government is trying to force refugees held in detention centres, to sign documents that would return them to their country of origin. This is refoulement and is a breach of international law.

In fact, the United Nations has warned Australia that it is guilty of almost 150 breaches of international law in relation to its treatment of asylum seekers. The UN described Manus Island as Australia's Guantanamo Bay⁽²⁾.

There are a number of things Australia can do if it really wants to humanely address asylum seekers:

• Stop funding governments who are the cause of human rights abuses, such as Sri Lanka. Within weeks of coming to power, Prime Minister Tony Abbott provided Sri Lanka with a Navy vessel to round up people fleeing persecution. Instead, Australia should have been pressuring Sri Lanka to stop the persecution⁽³⁾.
• Increase the refugee intake. Australia is not over-populated, has plenty to share and refugees have shown themselves to be productive members of the community. Remember our own national anthem: 'For those who've come across the seas we've boundless plains to share'.
• End the off-shore detention, bring all detainees to the Australian mainland and process their claims. Emphasis on 'process'; don't indefinitely detain them without hearing the claims that they are trying to make as described above in Article 31 of the UN Refugee Convention.
• End the lies being told to asylum seekers. 
• Treat asylum seekers as people. Remember the old adage, 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you'.
• Provide asylum seekers with sanctuary from persecution.
• Provide asylum seekers with a future in Australia.
• Become a good example of how a humane country treats and protects the most vulnerable. 
• Encourage other nations to improve their human rights and to become signatories to the UN Refugee Convention.

Back to the national anthem:

In history's page, let every stage 
Advance Australia Fair.

Australia is supposedly the land of the 'fair go'.  There is nothing fair about how we treat asylum seekers. Our national anthem is becoming a hollow, meaningless statement as Australia continues down this path of xenophobic persecution of people seeking our protection. This is a shameful stage in our history.

References:

1. United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, adopted 28 July 1951, entered into force 22 April 1954, http://www.unhcr.org/496365eb2.pdf, accessed 1 March 2014.

2. International Business Times, Reissa Su, 27 February 2014, http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/540887/20140227/asylum-seekers-australia-guantanamo-bay-immigration-manus.htm#.UxEXbvmSy3s, accessed 1 March 2014.

3. Amnesty International, Sri Lanka: UN report must be call to action on war crimes investigation, 25 February 2014, http://www.amnesty.org.au/news/comments/34013/, accessed 1 March 2014.

Photos of rally for refugee rights, Brisbane, 28 February 2014

Sam Watson

Ali

Labor for Refugees

Queensland Supporters for Democracy in Iran