Akerman: Dangers of division caused by placing partisan party politics over good of the people
Australians are being divided by the federal government as it places partisan party politics before the good of all the people, writes Piers Akerman.
Opinion
Don't miss out on the headlines from Opinion. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Rampaging rioters across Britain have highlighted the twin dangers of two-tier policing and the spread of misinformation.
The same triggers exist in Australia at state and federal levels.
We experienced the impact of both during the Covid lockdowns, with Victorians suffering the most but Queenslanders and NSW residents not far behind. Victoria remains a basket case, disgraced by the spiteful Pell prosecution, hobbled by citizens suffering from long-term Stockholm syndrome, and lacking an effective opposition. Queenslanders appear to have woken from their stupor and seem set to evict their long-serving Labor government.
When it comes to two-tier policing, there is no more striking example than the malicious pursuit of and misapplied justice meted out to the late Cardinal George Pell. Anyone in any doubt about this grievous miscarriage of justice should read the opinion of the High Court.
Victoria Police pleaded for evidence to mount a case against their target, then ginned up shoddy charges and, with the help of the state courts, secured a conviction that led to the cardinal’s imprisonment. The High Court, barely concealing its criticism for the Victorian judicial process, unanimously found that, without exception, all the allegations were inadmissable.
Most recently, pro-Palestinian protests featuring masked individuals spewing hate speech and waving the flags of proscribed terrorist groups, have attracted no charges from state or federal police. Labor is too focused on appeasing Muslims in key states to challenge Islamists demanding the genocide of the Jewish people. Little wonder that members of our Jewish community are experiencing unprecedented fear in Australia.
The Albanese government has overseen massive divisions in a nation that previously enjoyed an international reputation for racial harmony, even though policies dealing with Aboriginal people remained rooted in the disastrous separatism of the Whitlam era. Covid was responsible for the dissemination of widespread disinformation, much of it from so-called experts, such that it fuelled a dangerous anti-vaxxer movement disregarding the benefits of childhood vaccinations for polio, measles and whooping cough.
It is also somewhat extraordinary that Foreign Minister Penny Wong last week signed a memorandum of understanding with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to fight global misinformation when she is the most prolific producer of misinformation domestically. Her remarks about former Air Chief Marshal Binskin’s report following his fact-finding mission to Israel after the unfortunate attack on a World Central Kitchen convoy were disgraceful.
She wilfully misrepresented the event, omitting to mention crucially that the aid group contravened its own policies in employing armed guards who were mistakenly identified as Hamas members, and she failed to acknowledge the gracious manner in which the Israeli Defence Force fully co-operated with Binskin.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s denials that the Reserve Bank was concerned about government spending were jaw-dropping. His claim that the Voice referendum was not about a makarrata despite spending millions on exactly that was just as baffling.
The riots in the UK were in large part an expression of the frustration felt by a huge part of the community at the disconnect between them and a government pandering to minorities. It is obvious the Albanese government is just as deaf to the majority who voted against the quasi-apartheid propositions in the Voice proposal smashed in last year’s referendum.
Australians, brought together by the successes of our Olympians, are being divided by this government as it places partisan party politics before the good of all the people.
Got a news tip? Email weekendtele@news.com.au
More Coverage
How union’s attempts to hold the city to ransom went off the rails
In pushing the wages dispute to breaking point, the RTBU has now lost all bargaining power it may have had to secure a better deal, writes James O’Doherty
The alarming truth about Trump’s shot at Zelensky
Vladimir Putin is the dictator responsible for the war in Ukraine, but not according to Donald Trump. Tom Minear argues there is a worrying reason for his offensive crack on Volodymyr Zelensky.