Ann Wason Moore: ‘China is undoubtedly a worry, Chinese in Australia are not’
Our Chinese-Australian citizens and residents have had a tough enough time dealing with Covid-fuelled racism, Ann Wason Moore writes.
Opinion
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OPINION
THIS is a little awkward. Or should I say AUUKUS?
Perhaps it’s cynical to say, but if finding a common enemy gives our country some common ground, I’ll take it.
And 20 years after September 11, it seems we once again stand ‘shoulder to shoulder’ with our old mates the USA and UK against an international threat.
And, I have to admit, it feels good.
Because I don’t know how much longer all of our nations can stand the uncivil cold wars ripping through our populations, with the domestic chasms between the left and right, between pro and anti-vax, between generations and genders grows wider by the day, fed by Covid fear.
It’s a precarious position, but perhaps pulling focus on an international issue will finally put an end to our infighting.
Which is why the creation of AUUKUS, a trilateral security partnership aimed at confronting China, could be the disturbing answer to a fevered prayer.
Because, as horrific as the September 11 terror attacks were – and not to mention the mess of the 20-year war in Afghanistan and the unjustified invasion of Iraq, the silver lining was the sense of unity it fostered.
Remember on that very night, when the World Trade Centre was reduced to burning rubble, how US members of Congress, many holding small American flags, stood on the Capitol steps and spontaneously sang “God Bless America” – Democrats and Republicans stood side-by-side in solidarity.
Simultaneously, the UK’s then-Prime Minister Tony Blair famously said that Britain would ‘stand shoulder to shoulder with our American friends in this hour of tragedy’.
Less than a month later, our own then-Prime Minister John Howard, who was in Washington DC as the attacks unfolded, invoked the ANZUS treaty – the first and only time in history – which states if the US or Australia is attacked, the other country will step up as its ally.
As an Australian-American living in England at the time, it felt like all of my worlds – or at least my countries – had been brought together to stand together.
All three nations, and all of their people, were united in grief, tragedy and anger.
Yet 20 years later, it seems each nation is at war with itself.
God forbid we should ever see such terror attacks again, but certainly we need to stop seeing each other as the enemy.
Enter AUUKUS.
Announced jointly by US president Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and our PM Scott Morrison, AUUKUS has been presented as the next critical step in an old alliance.
Of course, that sweet sense of unity was slightly undone when President Joe Biden completely forgot the name of Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison … aka ‘that fella down under’.
Talk about awkward. I mean, AUUKUS.
Regardless, Australia is a crucial player in this team, a fact made evident by the extraordinary announcement that the US will share its military secrets to help Australia build nuclear-powered submarines.
While none of the three leaders mentioned China by name, the initiative is clearly a response to China’s expansion in the South China Sea and increasing aggression towards Taiwan.
“We need to be able to address both the current strategic environment in the region, and how it may evolve, because the future of each of our nations and indeed the world, depends on a free and open Indo-Pacific enduring and flourishing in the decades ahead,” said President Biden.
In this ever-argumentative world, it seems the one thing our three countries – and their disparate people – can agree on, is: we need to talk about China.
But while it might feel good to be united once more, even if only against a common enemy, it does make me feel slightly unsettled.
Our Chinese-Australian citizens and residents have had a tough enough time dealing with Covid-fuelled racism, I’d hate to see that spike yet again because of our foreign policy.
China is undoubtedly a worry, Chinese in Australia are not.
Let’s not confuse the two and turn this moment of unity into yet more ‘us’ and ‘them’.
That’s far worse than awkward. It’s bigotry.
There is no such thing as a mandatory vaccine – September 10
So stand down protesters, truckies, politicians and (depressingly) even the police … because, once again, you’re sorely mistaken.
The truth is, absolutely no one in the country will make you inject anything into your body. You will always have, and have always had, freedom of choice.
What you do NOT have is freedom from consequences.
Only you can choose whether or not to get vaccinated. But you cannot choose how people, businesses and the government will respond to your choice. So while the language we use is that, for example, Qantas will make Covid vaccinations mandatory for all its workers, the more honest way to phrase this is that Qantas workers can choose whether they want to be employed or not.
TURMOIL AS HEALTH STAFF THREATEN TO QUIT OVER VAX MANDATE
Alan Joyce is not going to be chasing down every one of his Qantas employees, needle in hand, to jab them in the arm whether they like it or not.
Instead, they face the choice of whether to get immunised or not, of whether to work or not. No one has to have the vaccine, but everyone must make a choice and accept the consequences.
In fact, if anyone in Australia has the right to protest for freedom, it should be the vaccinated themselves.
After all, we are the ones who are not allowed the freedom to choose our consequences.
Sure, we have an almost 98 per cent probability of protecting ourselves from a Covid death, and slightly less for protection against serious illness, but until the vast majority of this nation’s population is also vaccinated, we cannot at all protect our children … nor our livelihoods.
NO EXCEPTIONS FOR BORDER WORKERS WHO CAN’T GET THE VACCINE
Until 80 per cent of us do the right thing, we are all in danger.
Every extra day we must wait to reach that vaccination threshold is another day we stand to lose it all – our businesses and plans to lockdown, our children’s health or even lives to the virus. So anti-vaxxers, stop thinking about your own freedoms, because you have plenty. Instead, think of others for a change.
And while you’re at it, stop trying to convince the rest of us to believe in your stupid conspiracies.
By all means, indulge in your fake science and alternative facts, but please, won’t you just once help stop the spread of something?
From letterbox drops to comments on community pages to unsolicited text messages from raving idiot politicians, what is the objective in pushing this misinformation anyway?
Is it a mission to rally the sheeple to the anti-vax cause? If so, why do you need such an army? Or is it just important to let the world know where you stand? A form of un-virtue signalling.
The fact is, you’re free to go ahead and believe your lunatic opinions, no one is stopping you. You’re free to go ahead and not get vaccinated. Once again, there is no such thing as a mandatory vaccine.
But if you care about precious freedoms, why not consider mine? If you won’t help free our country from lockdowns and illness, can’t you at least allow me to be free from hearing you blabber? Stop spreading your lies across my social media feed, my phone and my life.
It makes me wonder just what has happened to Australians.
Whatever happened to our laid-back way of life, to the sanctity of mateship? Our Diggers would die in the trenches for each other, but you won’t get a shot to save your neighbour, let along yourself. Whatever happened to our “she’ll be right” attitude and our ability to just get on with it?
For God’s sake, we live in a country where voting is compulsory, where just about the only place you can smoke is in your own home, our culture is going along to get along.
Does everyone like it? Hell, no. But we live with it, mostly without complaint, because it’s just the right thing to do. This country believes in the common good – that’s why we have Medicare, that’s why we have welfare.
Believe me, I’ve lived in a country where individual freedoms are valued above all others, and it’s not working out so well right now.
So, mate, go ahead and make your own personal choice when it comes to the vaccine. But don’t you dare complain about the consequences.
In fact, it’s time to stop talking about mandatory vaccines altogether. Instead, let our language reflect the reality: the anti-vax are actually pro-consequence. It truly is their choice.
And that’s the truth.
Possible solution that could end state border wars
September 12, 2021
This is borderline crazy.
Ever since the dawn of time, or at least the dawn of daylight savings time, the imaginary line splitting the Gold and Tweed Coasts has been the source of endless headaches … and now, the source of deep heartache.
Despite decades of state border disruptions, impracticalities and absurdities, what have we actually done about it?
While I could write a laundry list of all the ways that NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has let down both her state and ours, I will give the Blues credit for the one thing we lack: a cross-border commissioner.
Yet a Queensland counterpart to this position is something that former Currumbin LNP MP Jann Stuckey called for way back in 2017, when Covid was a nightmare yet to be imagined.
Now in 2021, any argument that Queensland does not require such a position has been proven false due to the absolute failure of our two state political leaders to come to any sort of agreement on how to solve border issues in both the long and short-term.
The imaginary line that runs between Coolangatta and Tweed Heads has become the plaything of the Premiers, with each engaging in a tug of war for political pointscoring.
Neither side wants to be seen as giving an inch, whether it’s moving border checkpoints or extending the definition of an essential worker, but it’s our people and our families who are paying the price from the states’ stubborn standpoints. They are caught in the middle and being crushed to death by the Great Wall of Coolangatta.
Which is why we need a mediator. Such as a cross-border commissioner.
While this role should be a government appointment, it should be neither a political position nor party-aligned.
Indeed, the purpose of the cross-border commissioner, as per the nsw.gov.au website, is to: “advocate for cross-border communities, advise the NSW Government and champion better cross-border outcomes for people, businesses, and government agencies”.
It’s a big job, which is why those of us who have been following the border debacle now know the NSW Cross Border Commissioner by name – James McTavish.
Poor old Mr McTavish has been doing his damnedest to find the best outcomes for the Tweed and Gold Coast regions, but it’s like he’s playing tennis by himself. Without someone on the other side, it’s pointless.
The truth is that if we had two cross-border commissioners they would find strength in numbers, along with the ability to apply pressure to their own state’s politicians.
Right now, any recommendation that Mr McTavish makes has to be on his shoulders alone, and that’s a heavy burden. As any child knows, life is so much easier when you have a sibling to blame.
The absence of a Queensland cross-border commissioner is somewhat indicative of the absence of care when it comes to our border communities. It’s a bad situation which has only become worse.
In fact, just two years ago, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian failed to renew the Statement of Principles and Priorities for Cross-border Collaboration 2016-19.
The agreement was established in 2011 by former premiers Anna Bligh and Barry O’Farrell to resolve cross-border issues including regional economic development and delivery of services for people on either side of the border.
According to the premiers.qld.gov.au website: “The Statement takes into consideration the unique working and living arrangements of people living close to the border and continues a long history of cross-border collaboration between New South Wales and Queensland.”
The website goes on to explain that while the agreement has expired, “the Queensland Government is currently working with the New South Wales Government to renew the Statement of Principles and Priorities for Cross-border Collaboration.”
However, that sentence is closely followed by a footnote stating that the web page was last updated and reviewed on June 22, 2020.
Given the current state(s) of affairs, that’s a little bit pathetic.
RIP cross-border collaboration: 2011-2019.
Surely now is the time to resurrect not just this agreement but to birth a whole new forum for collaboration in the shape of Queensland’s own cross-border commissioner.
It’s nothing less than what we deserve.
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