Andrew Bolt: Anti-Adani protesters and Sea World dolphin show disrupters are licensed bullies
The activists who this week disrupted Labor leader Bill Shorten and the Sea World dolphin show have two things in common — showing what fun you can have as a licensed bully and spoiling fun for everyone else, writes Andrew Bolt.
Andrew Bolt
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The activists, who at the weekend disrupted Labor leader Bill Shorten and the Sea World dolphins, show what fun you can have as a licensed bully, spoiling fun for everyone else.
On Saturday, protesters from Justice for Captives invaded Sea World. Two jumped into a pool, forcing dolphin shows to be cancelled.
“Animals are not entertainment,” one of their banners read, a claim disputed by most dog lovers, as well the Sea World audience, which booed them.
“Dolphins belong in the ocean,” read another banner. “Captivity is cruel.”
It is? In fact, plenty of scientific evidence shows bottlenose dolphins tend to live longer in captivity than in the wild, without guaranteed food, vets and protection from sharks.
Nor is training these social animals to perform for food inherently cruel.
Indeed, when activists forced the release from an aquarium of Keiko, the killer whale which starred in the “Free Willy” movies, $20 million was spent to teach him how to live in the wild, yet he immediately dashed to a fjord in Norway, where he spent his last year with humans, being fed and played with.
Maybe the activists have better arguments, and sorting out such differences peacefully and with reason are what the media, courts and parliament are for.
But for activists, it’s more fun and effective to just jump in a pool and close the show.
They may claim the high moral ground in doing so, but they are still just bullies.
Take the anti-coal extremist who today disrupted Shorten’s speech to Labor’s conference to the jeering of the audience, which just wanted him to shut up.
Same with the protesters who next stopped Shorten by demanding we stop detaining illegal immigrants.
We’ve had this debate at every federal election this century. Labor reached its own decision after much debate. The activists lost.
They don’t have to now agree with Labor’s decision, but should at least respect the process: debate and vote. They should try it.
Instead, they chose force, forcing Labor officials to use force themselves by dragging the protesters away.
Don’t excuse them by saying they meant well. Bullying is what bullies do.
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