Leftist loudmouths take us down year of the rabbit hole

Anger, false prophesy, rudeness, self-indulgence, hyperbole, narcissism and fake news set the mood in the media in 2023.

ABC presenter Antoinette Lattouf. Picture: Instagram

On New Year’s Day 2023, morale was high; the Year of the Rabbit forecast a period of peace and wellbeing. Alas, it was not to be. Anger, false prophesy, rudeness, self-indulgence, hyperbole, narcissism, memory lapse and fake news, along with a lack of self-awareness, prevailed in this valley of tears. Month by month in the media.

JANUARY. On Sky News, Melbourne deputy lord mayor and Labor Party functionary Nicholas Reece asserts fellow panellist Rita Panahi “forgot to take her tablets”. In short, he disagreed with her. Nine newspaper columnist Nick Bryant writes that a conversation with his mother-in-law five years before brought home to him “the gradual decline of Australia Day”. Left-of-centre creative director Dee Madigan blames the patriarchy for the fact “you can’t claim TV makeup on tax”. Ignoring that many blokes wear makeup on TV.

FEBRUARY. Jane Caro advises readers of Sunday Life that “unless you die young, all of us will get old”. Chris Taylor, one of the Chaser Boys (average age 48½), declares that being a team captain on the program Would I Lie to You? is a bit like having “an enormous amount of power over something that is profoundly silly and inconsequential”. He compares the role with “being the CEO of Sky News”.

MARCH. The Age and Sydney Morning Herald chief political correspondent David Crowe suggests Greens leader Adam Bandt has become the real leader of the opposition. Soon after, ABC RN Breakfast presenter Patricia Karvelas asks Liberal Senate leader Simon Birmingham: “Has Adam Bandt effectively replaced Peter Dutton as opposition leader?” On ABC’s Q+A, Antoinette Lattouf declares “Australia still has networks or programs that look like a neo-Nazi wet dream”. Meanwhile, an ABC trade union operative urges staff at the taxpayer-funded public broadcaster, who are working from home to come to the office so they can go out on strike.

APRIL. On Q+A, lawyer Teela Reid announces: “I don’t usually agree with white men but I agree (with British playwright David Hare) – abolish prisons!” For his part, Hare proclaims: “Not to allow Palestinians to speak in this country is just repellent.” Which suggests he knows as much about freedom of speech in Australia as he does about the need for prisons. The overwhelming majority of journalists condemn Dutton’s decision to advocate a No vote in the referendum to place an Indigenous voice in the Constitution. David Crowe compares Dutton’s decision to that of a pilot accelerating towards the ground. The Guardian’s Josh Taylor characterises the late artiste Barry Humphries as a mere “product of his time”. That’s all, apparently.

MAY. Sun-Herald journalist Peter FitzSimons issues a challenge – locate “anyone who would welcome a big or small (nuclear) reactor nearby”. Apparently, he is unaware of the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor located across Sydney Harbour from his abode. In The Saturday Paper, former Liberal MP Julia Banks refers to “the ignorance of some of the so-called leaders of Dutton and Morrison’s ilk” – implying they are out of touch. This is the same Ms Banks who declared in 2018 she could live on $40 a day.

JUNE. The ABC makes Andrew Probyn, its Canberra-based political editor, redundant. ABC executive Justin Stevens describes Probyn as a “fantastic journalist”. In time, David Speers becomes the ABC’s Canberra-based, wait for it, political lead. He’s also fantastic. Crikey editors Sophie Black and Gina Rushton publish a grovelling apology at having to “unpublish” an article by leftist comedy writer Guy Rundle. Which is quite amusing in itself.

JULY. Laura Tingle tells Insiders viewers she “was left speechless” on learning of the Robodebt royal commission’s findings. Except for the fact she “had to say something”. Novelist Richard Flanagan writes in The Monthly that attacks on the Yes case have been “as precise as a musket shot, as lethal as poisoned flour”. Overlooking the fact the leaders of the No case are Indigenous Australians.

AUGUST. Dark Emu author Bruce Pascoe, who identifies as Indigenous but has yet to name one Indigenous grandparent, has his work depicted in The Dark Emu story and shown on ABC TV. It is criticised by well-regarded anthropologists Peter Sutton and Keryn Walshe, neither of whom are political conservatives. Marcia Langton retorts that Sutton’s argument belongs to the “Bonga, Bonga” school of anthropology. She does not state where this is located. The Daily Telegraph reports retired leftist journalist Mike Carlton has been seen on Whale Beach swimming sans swimmers. He tells the paper to “f..k off”.

SEPTEMBER. Nine columnist Niki Savva states “some Liberals opposing the voice believe the tenor of the campaign will assure Peter Dutton reaps no reward if the referendum fails”. So, he is a loser whether he wins or not. Bruce Wolpe, an outspoken critic of Donald Trump, claims what took place at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 could never have occurred in Australia. He overlooks the violent attacks on Australia’s Parliament House on August 19, 1996 led by groups of trade unionists protesting against the Howard government. Police were injured and the front door smashed. In January this year there was a violent attack on Old Parliament House.

OCTOBER. In the referendum on October 14, the No case prevails by 60 per cent to 40 per cent. Immediately, the left intelligentsia accuses the toiling masses. ABC presenter Jonathan Green declares: “What the f..k; how can you say no?” The Guardian’s Katharine Murphy bemoans: “Lost in a fog of conflict and misinformation, we failed an empathy test.” Former Nine journalist Mark Kenny confesses: “I feel so disheartened; I feel I don’t know my country; or rather that I suddenly do.” Asked about the author of this missive, 60 per cent of Australians say they don’t know the now ANU professor.

NOVEMBER. News emerges that fine actor and eco-catastrophist Cate Blanchett has demolished a stone cottage on the Cornwall coast to construct a so-called “eco-home” with five bedrooms and a pool. Nine journalist Latika Bourke diminishes Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price by describing her as “the right’s new darling”. Chris Oliver-Taylor, the ABC’s recently appointed content tsar, says the ABC does not have enough staff from a diverse background. The hyphenated-name guy presents as a middle-aged white bloke. By the way, he has shown no interest in political diversity.

DECEMBER. Israel critic Louise Adler obtains a soft interview on 7.30. Adler, director of the taxpayer-funded Adelaide Writers Week, uses the platform provided by the ABC’s leading current affairs program to complain she is “being silenced”. Really. Jenna Price advises Nine newspaper readers “the ABC is constantly harassed by News Corp commentators who for all I know get bonuses every time they demean the public broadcaster”. She provides not a skerrick of evidence.

And so, the year ended with an ANU academic chasing a conspiracy theory down a rabbit hole.