James Morrow: Don’t buy Burke’s flag-draped excuse for backyard citizenship blitz

Tony Burke may claim that his mass citizenship drive was about nationhood, not votes, but Labor’s record tells a very different story, writes James Morrow.

Patriotism, as the old saying goes, is the last refuge of a scoundrel.

First uttered in 1775 by the English author Samuel Johnson, the phrase wasn’t – as many who use it today – an attack on true patriotism or love of country.

Instead it was a poke at politicians who opportunistically cloak themselves in patriotism to get their way. In particular William Pitt, First Earl of Chatham.

Which brings us to the case of Tony Burke, minister for home affairs and also member for the western Sydney seat of Watson.

By now the story of his flicking the switch on the citizenship printer is well known.

Labor, on the nose across suburban Sydney, has been minting new Australians with the right to vote at the next election by the thousands at massive ceremonies at venues like Olympic Park.

Federal Minister Tony Burke at the citizenship ceremony at Sydney Olympic Park. Picture: NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

As my Daily Telegraph colleague James O’Doherty reported Tuesday, large numbers of these new citizenships were handed out to people who live in marginal electorates like Parramatta, Werriwa, Reid and Bennelong where the Liberals are hoping to convert anger over Labor fecklessness and the cost of living into seats.

Now, Burke and the rest of the Albanese government have claimed that these mass citizenship ceremonies were a matter of efficiency.

Federal Minister Tony Burke at the citizenship ceremony at Sydney Olympic Park. Picture: NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

It was just about clearing a “backlog” of citizenship applications, you see (though local western Sydney mayors say they have heard of no such thing).

The appearance that this was all just a stitch-up to politicise this most important day for new Australians was underlined by revelations the minister asked that the ceremonies take place during a scheduling “window” when he could attend.

Which brings us to what may be the most laughable part of this whole saga.

Namely, Burke’s assertion over the past weekend that anyone who was criticising this citizenship blitz in his own backyard was, somehow, not being patriotic.

“I’m not fast-tracking it,” he said Saturday.

“What we’ve had is a huge backlog of people … I just say to the people who are complaining: have a bit of patriotism about this.”

Things must be looking grim if Labor, which made attacking the link between citizenship ceremonies and Australia Day – can’t have people feeling too patriotic on the day they make it official, after all – one of its first priorities on taking office is now wrapping itself in the flag to shield itself from this scandal.

This is not, mind you, to suggest that Burke himself is not a true blue patriot.

For all we know, the minister may spend every Australia Day hanging giant flags on the front veranda of each of his six properties while sinking bitterly cold Resch’s silver bullets listening to Barnsey and Ganggajang.

An Australia Day citizenship ceremony in January. Picture: Michaela Harlow

But for Burke, in his role as a minister for the Labor Party (which has always had a hayfeverish allergy to anything smacking of national pride) to defend himself and the government he is part of with an appeal to patriotism is, well, a bit rich.

Indeed, it may even be getting into 1st Earl of Chatham territory.

Burke may be suffering a convenient case of amnesia, but readers will remember that Labor and the left are the side of politics that has never seen an appeal to patriotism or national sovereignty from the right that it hasn’t immediately rubbished.

In 2001, when John Howard made the perfectly reasonable assertion that Australia “will decide who comes to this country”, then-opposition leader Kim Beazley called it a “political fix” and the whole mood of the left was that the Liberals were opportunistically wrapping themselves in the flag.

Later, Tony Abbott’s invocation of “Team Australia” during debates over anti-terror laws and stripping citizenship would become the cue for eye-rolling across the entire left of the political spectrum.

One hardly has to scour the historical record to find instances of the left blanching at anything that might be considered traditionally patriotic – the sort of stuff they believe is best left to the Americans.

So, here’s a suggestion for Tony Burke and Labor for what it’s worth.

If they are really concerned about dealing with backlogs, perhaps they should do something about the 91,828 people who are according to the government’s own statistics still in Australia despite having been knocked back for asylum.

Or for that matter the more than 82,000 migration and asylum cases being contested by foreigners abusing the system to stay in the country.

But this would require a bit of spine, rather than simply posing for photos at citizenship ceremonies.

And for Labor, there just aren’t as many votes in that.