PM calls out cancel culture and identity politics

In major speech, Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Australians are more than just the boxes they tick.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has made a rare foray into the culture wars, giving a vigorous defence of the need to maintain the dignity of the individual while taking direct aim at the current fad of cancel culture and identity politics.

Speaking at the United Israel Appeal Donor Dinner in Sydney last night, Mr Morrison said: “At the heart of our Judaeo-Christian heritage are two words — human dignity.

“Everything else flows from this.

“If you see the dignity and worth of another ­person you’re less likely to disrespect them, insult or show contempt or hatred for them, or seek to cancel them, as is becoming the fashion of some,” he said, in an address that drew on sources as ­diverse as the Book of Psalms, the British Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks and the American president Theodore Roosevelt.

Scott Morrison speaking earlier this week in Sydney.

Describing the individual as the basis of community, as opposed to government or the marketplace, Mr Morrison said “appreciating human dignity also fosters our sense of shared humanity’’.

“This means that because we are conscious of our own failings and vulnerabilities, we can be more accepting and understanding of the failings and vulnerabilities of others,” the PM said.

“In a liberal democracy, human dignity is founda­tional to our freedom.

“It restrains government, it restrains our own actions and our own behaviour, because we act for others and not ­ourselves. This is the essence of morality.”

But, he warned this freedom was undermined by identity politics when “we … define each other by the boxes we tick or don’t tick, rather than our qualities, skills and character”.

“You are more than your gender, your sexuality, your race, your ethnicity, your ­religion, your language group, your age,” he said.

Protesters throwing a statue into a river as part of a “cancel culture” ritual.

“All of these contribute to who we are and the incredible diversity of our society, and our place in the world. But of themselves they are not the essence of our humanity.

“When we reduce ourselves to a collection of attributes, or divide ourselves on this basis, we can lose sight of who we are as individuals, in all our complexity and wholeness. Throughout history, we’ve seen what happens when people are defined ­solely by the group they belong to, or an attribute they have, or an identity they possess. The Jewish community understands that better than any.”

Mr Morrison’s speech represents a departure from his previous desire to steer clear of culture war issues, something that had disappointed many in his conservative base who have hoped for more leadership against the growing trends of cancel culture and identity politics.

In 2017, Mr Morrison said freedom of speech “doesn’t create one job” and has also said in the past he did not want to fight culture wars.