Sharri Markson: We need to take a stand for our culture
Our political leaders need to stop the cultural vandalism of our new “cancel culture”, writes Sharri Markson.
Opinion
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Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews stared down the barrel of television cameras and barked at anyone who dared complain they couldn’t play a game of golf.
He tried to block partners who didn’t live together from seeing each other.
Our political leaders slammed Bondi Beach-goers and backpackers for breaching strict social-distancing rules, and yelled at shoppers for hoarding toilet paper and stockpiling groceries.
But then there was a bizarre change of attitude towards those engaging in the riskiest behaviour of all during a pandemic — a mass gathering in the form of a protest.
Our political leaders inexplicably lost their voice. There was no hectoring, lecturing or yelling.
Just mealy-mouthed phrases. No bans and virtually no fines.
Tens of thousands of protesters who deliberately flouted the rules have walked away smug and unpunished while cafe owners across the country nurse fines for having one or two additional people seated, in an economic environment in which they’re already struggling to survive.
The double standard is unacceptable.
With the exception of Gladys Berejiklian, who backflipped under pressure and went to court to try to stop the Black Lives Matter protest from going ahead, state premiers have taken a tentative and insipid approach to the rolling protests that now threaten to stretch into a second weekend.
There is one rule for most Australians and one rule for the protesters.
It’s even more difficult to stomach that the very same people who angrily demanded schools remain closed and the lockdown continue went on to justify the attendance of tens of thousands at a protest.
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann comprehensively understood the public sentiment about the protests from the outset.
He reflected the red-hot anger in the community on this issue when he described the protesters as “selfish”.
His overall point is that the states should impose the current penalties under the current rules.
That means the police need to start issuing fines or arresting protesters who stick their finger up to the law.
Cormann has also suggested withholding JobSeeker payments for those who attend protests.
There’s precedent for it in the No Jab, No Pay vaccination scheme in which welfare payments are withheld from parents who do not vaccinate their children.
The same principle applies with these protests. If you attend a mass gathering and put the health of others at risk, you lose JobSeeker payments.
It’s an idea that would have widespread public support.
Our politicians need to remember that the subject matter of the protests is irrelevant.
They shouldn’t disregard all health advice just because it’s a politically sensitive topic.
These protesters are breaking the ban on mass gatherings. They are breaking the law. They’re risking their lives along with everyone else’s.
Racism or the plight of refugees can be championed in many ways other than a protest, such as donations, petitions or emailing politicians.
George Floyd’s murder was horrifying and the struggle of black Americans and our indigenous people must be addressed, and urgently, but not in a way that risks more lives.
On Anzac Day, commemorations were held on front lawns around the country while services were conducted online.
The problem is, protest organisers seem to be looking for trouble. It seems to be less about the cause they claim to champion and more about provoking fights with police and with those in authority.
If the protests were about the supposed cause — saving the lives of indigenous Australians or refugees — then clearly they would not have a medically high-risk mass gathering.
Instead, they would stay home in order to save lives.
But we know now this movement is no longer about equality. It has become a terrifying global movement to get rid of the police, to destroy literature and entertainment, to tear down monuments and to censor free speech. Madness has taken hold around the world.
You can’t wipe out aspects of history that are disdainful or disagreeable, such as monuments, just as you can’t remove entertainment, such as the movie Gone With The Wind or Chris Lilley’s satirical work, from public consumption.
Where will this all end?
The move to retrospectively censor our history is insanity.
History is there to study, analyse, learn from and reflect on.
The lens we view it through changes all the time, but films and books and historical documents and monuments should not be destroyed.
Donald Trump is hardly the person to fear in our world.
The destruction of films and monuments are the precise tactics that have been adopted by evil, totalitarian regimes including the Nazis, ISIS and the Taliban.
Through these actions being repeated with a new vigour, and combined with efforts to remove the police, you can start to understand the environment in which dictatorships and unspeakable horrors arose.
It’s impossible to watch what is going on around the world without feeling a surge of anger and fear, particularly for our children and the world they’ll grow up in.
The protests, the cancel culture, the threat to destroy our arts, culture and history and the hypocrisy of the left on racism and free speech is counter to the elements that form the foundations of a safe, civilised, democratic society.
We need stronger language and a tougher law and order stance from our political leaders to stop censorship and anarchy from taking hold. The premiers do us a disservice.
We can only hope and pray that, just like the hysteria over the Australian bushfires, just like the anxiety over COVID-19, this cancel culture madness, too, shall pass.