ABC wasting our time on loudmouth David Hicks

REVOLTING in their arrant hypocrisy, the luvvie crowd — well supported by our ABC — has resoundingly demonstrated its preference for self-confessed terrorist trainee and ­amateur poet David Hicks to good news about the ­release of children from ­immigration detention.

At a lavish and well-lubricated human rights award ceremony at the Museum of Contemporary Art on Thursday, Hicks heckled keynote speaker Attorney-General George Brandis after Brandis concluded his address. Hicks later claimed that Brandis was a “coward” for not ­engaging him in debate. Here’s news for Hicks and his fans, the Attorney -General didn’t even recognise the loudmouth. Late yesterday, almost 24 hours after the event and despite the 24-hour news cycle the ABC spends so much money covering, Hicks outburst was still leading the ABC’s online website. It’s not so much a digital network as a network that gives good news the digit. Before addressing Hicks’ appalling record, it should be noted Brandis asked the audience to celebrate International Human Rights Day by noting that most of the 1992 children who were in detention when the Coalition came to office last year have now been released. This factual statement was greeted with a smattering of reluctant applause from about a dozen of the 400 or so in the angrily self-righteous crowd. Brandis went on to say all children detained on Christmas Island would be out ­before Christmas — to no applause. “All of the children in detention will have been released by the early months of next year and we will be back to where we were in November, 2007, when the number of children in detention was zero,” he said. “And of course the other number zero, which I think ought to be celebrated by all of us, is the fact that 2014 was the first year since 2008 in which we can confidently say that no children, and no adults, died at sea on asylum seeker vessels.” There was not a murmur from the mulish crowd, resentful a Coalition minister exposed the fact it was the disastrous policies of the Labor-Green-independent governments between 2007 and 2013 that were responsible for deaths at sea and the detention of children. There was not a whimper from a mob usually so ready to bray its unquestioning support for people such as Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs (one of last night’s award winners), who earlier this year falsely accused the government of using armed guards to maintain security at Christmas Island and falsely claimed that up to 10 women had attempted suicide while in detention, among other fabrications. Did our ABC expose Triggs? No. Did it include any of Hicks’ background in its bulletin-topping story? No. Instead, it not only gave Hicks headlines Wednesday and Thursday but it went back to Hicks’ lawyer ­Stephen Kenny on Thursday to get him to expand on his client’s humbug. Let me remind ABC ­Editor-in-Chief Mark Scott of Hicks’ little rap about ­beheading non-Muslims. “Mohammed’s food you shall be fed/To disagree, so off with your head/The Muslim world will be the next/To put this earth to its test.” Ho, ho, ho. Even ­­al- Qaeda this week issued a ­release asking its followers not to behead victims because of the bad publicity IS was receiving with its change or chop behaviour. Hicks, who converted to Islam before heading off to the subcontinent to pursue the jihadi life in 2000, is condemned by his own words written to his family — though sadly lacking from his vainglorious memoir. He joined and trained with Lashkar-e-Toiba, the group allegedly involved in training the perpetrators of the Mumbai massacre, after the World Trade Centre atrocities. He said: “I learnt about weapons such as ballistic missiles, surface-to-surface and shoulder-fired missiles, anti-aircraft and antitank rockets, rapid-fire heavy and light machineguns, pistols, AK47s, mines and explosives. After three months everybody leaves capable and war-ready being able to use all of these weapons ­capably and responsibly. “Slowly I am becoming a well-trained and practical soldier. If it is my time that is called martyrdom I will always fight for Islam. “The Christians and Jews are fighting the Muslims. As a practising Muslim with military experience I can go to help in any of those conflicts. Contacts are not a problem. Real jihad is possible, just like before in the prophet’s day where martyrs die with a smile on their faces and their bodies stay smelling of beautiful perfume for weeks after death. “One reward I get in being martyred — I get to take 10 members of my ­family to heaven who were destined for hell. But first I also must be martyred. We are all going to die one day so why not be martyred? “The Jews have complete financial and media control — many of them are in the Australian government. The Muslim world is ready for war but not the governments.” His words, not mine. Only sanctimonious and deluded luvvies could ­embrace a boastful trained terrorist and sneer at a ­government that is trying to rectify lethal and cruel ­policies of two lousy Labor governments.