The failure of ‘Yes’ to control its militant wing

THE militant left has hijacked the marriage equality debate in frightening fashion, writes Miranda Devine. This is the big story of the postal plebiscite.

Marks of militant left wing or antifa groups discovered inside a Petersham warehouse.

THE squatters living in a derelict warehouse in Petersham were polite enough when told to move out.

Greg Colbran, the development manager from Deicorp, bumped into them in May as he went to lock up the building at 297 Trafalgar Street in preparation for knocking it down to build a new home for the Petersham RSL club across the road.

Neighbours say the squatters had been in the building for several weeks.

“This is private property. What are you doing here?” Colbran said to the young adults who had set up camp inside a building that for many years had been the headquarters of the “New Mardi Gras”, and, more recently, the Psyklonic visual effects company.

But the squatters gave Colbran no trouble when he told them to leave, so he didn’t give it another thought, and never saw what they had done to the walls.

The demolition team moved in so soon afterwards they found fresh eggs still in a fridge, and 13 chairs and two couches arranged in a circle as if for a meeting.

But what they also discovered on the walls were the classic marks of militant left wing or antifa groups — with an LGBTIQ bent.

Inside the Petersham warehouse before it was demolished.

There was disturbing wall “art” depicting a police car engulfed in flames and a masked Antifa type holding a Molotov cocktail.

Another wall was painted red with the words “F**K MARRIAGE, WE WANT REVENGE!” in black, and a transgender symbol.

On another wall was written: “You only gave us rights cos we gave you riots! QUEER POWER”.

There was a red and black banner reading, “Queers Against Cops, Capitalism & Homonationalism.

The building since has been turned into a pile of rubble, but it gives fresh insight into a phenomenon that appears to have blindsided the Yes side of the same-sex marriage postal plebiscite, as public support wanes.

The militant left has hijacked the debate in frightening fashion.

Last weekend, protesters stormed the Melbourne launch of the Coalition for Marriage, chanting “Crucify Christians” and unfurling a banner which read: “Burn Churches not Queers”, complete with a red Anarchy symbol.

More from inside the Petersham warehouse.

We’ve seen violence and expletives directed at Catholic students manning an “It’s OK to Say No” stall at Sydney University. We’ve seen No campaign corflutes vandalised in systematic fashion. We’ve seen celebrated Fairfax columnist Benjamin Law threaten on twitter to “hatef**k all the anti-gay MPs”. We’ve seen the tragic car bombing of the Australian Christian Lobby headquarters in Canberra.

So much for “love is love”.

The intimidation has a hard edge peculiar to the “Yes” side, and it’s no good to insist it’s only from fringe-dwellers, or that there’s fault on both sides, when it’s clear that the militant anarchist left has a vested interest in the outcome, and woe betide Australia if they don’t get what they want.

The failure of the “Yes” campaign to control this militant wing is the big story of the postal plebiscite.

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And it has implications for all those virtue-signalling politicians and companies fooled into thinking they would enhance their brand by leaping aboard the Marriage Equality bandwagon.

The extent of their superficial grasp of the issue to which they have hitched their fortunes is laid bare in 38 replies received by Labor MLC Greg Donnelly to a letter he sent to more than 100 CEOs signed up to the Yes campaign

With a background in workplace relations, Donnelly wrote on behalf of employees concerned about job security if they did not agree with their bosses’ activism.

He asked whether an employee’s failure to support the company’s same-sex marriage policy would prejudice advancement opportunities.

The companies who responded used remarkably similar language.

IAG: “has a proud history of supporting diversity and inclusion in the workplace… We consider our position on the important issue of same sex marriage to be aligned with this.”

Commonwealth Bank: “We have long believed that diversity and inclusion are strengths to be celebrated.”

Dow Chemical: “has a long a tradition and strong corporate values of supporting diversity and inclusion in the workplace... Marriage equality is clearly on the continuum of rights that all people deserve”.

The militant left has hijacked the marriage equality debate in frightening fashion.

QBE: “recognises the value of a diverse workforce and we believe diversity and inclusion is essential for a strong, successful company”.

Telstra: “We support diversity and inclusion because they have long been the hallmarks of our business”.

APRA: “is guided by an Inclusion and Diversity strategy… [which] refers to the acknowledgment and acceptance of differences including, but not limited to, gender, ethnicity, race, ability, sexual orientation and age.”

Bankwest: “We believe that diversity and inclusion are strengths to be celebrated”.

Westpac: “We have supported Marriage Equality for many years as part of our Diversity and Inclusion approach as it is an important issue for many of our people.”

Bank of Queensland: “is a firm supporter of diversity with its workplaces… the issue of marriage equality is basic right everyone deserves”.

Mastercard: “Diversity and inclusion are important issues for MasterCard… Our support for diversity and inclusion extends to a diversity of beliefs.”

Google: “I want to strongly reiterate that equality, respect, diversity and inclusion are not only important to Google but also to me personally.”

None allayed Donnelly’s workplace concerns. All cited the “diversity and inclusion” mantra, but did not explain why changing the definition of marriage was essential to that cause.

They have not thought through the consequences of their corporate virtue-signalling, nor considered the possibility it will come back to bite them, as the dark side of the rainbow emerges.