Tory Shepherd: After Christchurch, now we do the work

Fortunately, right-wing and Islamic terrorists have enough in common that we can use the same strategies to fight them. But we have to act fast, if we want to avoid another tragedy, writes Tory Shepherd.

Ronald Reagan believed an alien invasion could unite humanity — earthlings coming together to defeat the foreign enemy.

The sci-fi fan and former Hollywood actor — oh, and US president — discussed his theory with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev at the height of the Cold War and once raised it at the UN.

“I occasionally think how quickly our differences worldwide would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world,” he said.

The idea is so dreamy, so … Hollywood.

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But an alien invasion was not what ended the Cold War. And it’s unlikely a visit from alien Klaatu would settle the Middle East, and humanity’s history of uniting in the face of a common enemy is tattered (Well, if climate change hasn’t done it …).

Young women weep during a students vigil near Al Noor mosque. Picture: Carl Court/Getty

Prime Minister Scott Morrison, among others, is bubbling out nebulous messages of unity in the wake of the Christchurch massacre — this week he burst into a cover version of I Am Australian (I am, you are, we can all forget what I’ve said previously).

Maybe now is the time for warm, fuzzy platitudes. But tomorrow we need to more starkly identify the enemy and a path to stop them.

Fortunately, much of that work has already been done: and fortunately right-wing and Islamic terrorists have quite a lot in common. Enough that we can often use the same strategies against them.

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The lone wolves tend to be men who’ve been marinating in ideological bile spewed by extremists. But wait, there’s more. In fact there are reams of work done by experts, by intelligence agencies, by academics, to chart the path of radicalisation. Our own spooks regularly brief parliament on the threats at hand.

We cannot have this happen again. Picture: Marty Melville/AFP

There are studies about the impact of social media in amplifying messages of hate — so yes, Prime Minister, let’s go after the giants. It seems obvious that easy access to incredibly deadly weapons is an enabler, so let’s do that. There are studies that show stochastic terror — when ISIS puts out a generic call to arms to anyone listening, or US President Donald Trump effectively calls on people to take down journalists or Hillary Clinton — inspire individuals to act.

But online networks can go dark, people can use cars to kill, and the effort to stop leaders using inflammatory rhetoric is likely to fizzle.

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As the Federal Government itself has said, the most effective defence against terrorism is to prevent people from becoming terrorists in the first place — working with communities, identifying at-risk individuals. The sort of stuff that gets buried when you’re focused on hard words and harder laws.

We need evidence and reason to identify and stop the real enemy in a time when evidence and reason themselves have become alien.

@ToryShepherd

Originally published as Tory Shepherd: After Christchurch, now we do the work