Socialist Alternative withdraws violent Tony Abbott cover
THE Socialist Alternative seems to have done Tony Abbott a huge favour - even his haters are defending him over this ‘uncool’ image.
The Socialist Alternative has withdrawn its newspapers featuring a violent image depicting Tony Abbott getting his throat cut following a public backlash.
The image was accompanied by the headline “One cut we'd like to see” and was on the front page of its paper Red Flag.
The organisation posted the image last night on its Facebook page, prompting more than 200 comments, most of them negative.
One user said: “Oh ... not cool. I’m no fan of the LNP — policies, parties, associates or leader — but this seems unnecessarily violent.”
Another said: “dreadful picture. DO NOT CONDONE violence to anyone. Even Abbott. You LOST me off this page and as a supporter.”
The Socialist Alternative released a statement this morning saying it would withdraw the cover, citing “legal concerns”.
“The razor was and is clearly metaphorical. Just as cartoons that depict Bill Shorten knifing Julia Gillard in the back are not suggestive of an actual physical attack but merely are visual representations of perceived betrayal, so the razor in both our cover and the original poster suggest that the prime minister should be cast aside,” the statement said.
“However, due to legal concerns, we are withdrawing it.
“But while we are withdrawing the cover, we make no apology for our hostility to this government and their supporters in the right wing press.”
The organisation said the artwork drew inspiration from Michael Callaghan’s classic 1977 poster “Give Frazer the Razor”, which today hangs in the National Gallery.
The poster was prompted by Malcolm Fraser’s decision to block supply, leading to the dismissal of the Whitlam Labor government in 1975, which inspired the rallying cry “Give Fraser the razor!”.
The phrase was “chanted by demonstrators in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane at mass rallies and strikes for years to follow.
“The slogan appeared on placards, posters, and graffiti. It was even set to music,” the Social Alternative said.
“Tony Abbott’s budget, and the Liberal plans for slashing welfare and cutting wages, is far worse than anything that Frazer carried out when prime minister.”
“It is the height of hypocrisy to make a song and dance about an allegorical newspaper cover, while defending a government which just last week announced that it wishes to deport asylum seekers who have anything less than a 50/50 chance of being tortured or persecuted if they are returned to their “home country”.
“The difference between this threat of actual violence and an allegorical cover could not be plainer.”
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