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At some point, though it’s hard to pinpoint precisely when, the language of supposedly civilised public discourse started to become imbued with a dark malevolence. Given the long history of American influence on pretty much all things culturally Australian, it seems inevitable that Maga’s violent and abusive rhetoric would make its way into our politics. And it’s pretty fair to say the current US president has led the western populist way when it comes to saying out loud the ugly and violent things that might once have remained internal.
Yes, the frog of public expectation has boiled pretty quickly in recent years, to the point where the land of the free must now debate the hideous whys and wherefores of the Trump administration’s proposal to turn execution into livestreamed public entertainment . Is it any wonder that the hard Australian populist right has picked up on the vibe that thinking your violent thoughts aloud – and aiming them at political opponents – has somehow become de rigueur? There’s a couple of prime – if exceedingly ugly – examples to parse in almost as many days.
Let’s begin on Monday this week and work backwards. Monday – that was when a federal Liberal National MP from Queensland, Angie Bell, talking about the fracas over the tax office’s acceptance of credit card payments, said that small business minister, Anne Aly, and the prime minister should be “stoned in the square” . Here is exactly what Bell – forced to withdraw the comments – said in parliament: “This minister and this prime minister should be absolutely shamed and stoned in the square.” For the uninitiated, this comment connotes – deliberately or otherwise – the communal squares in places where people (usually women) have been publicly executed by stoning .
In a social media response to Bell’s comments, Aly made plain the potential implications of such violent rhetoric: “I don’t usually comment about these sorts of things but I feel like I have to. This past week alone I’ve had 19 death threats on my social media. And in the past I’ve had death threats that are couched in that exact same language: stone her.” She continued: “We are a country that proudly stands against violence against women and against regimes that use brutal methods like stoning against women.
This is not just something that we should just turn away from. It is racist. It is misogynistic.
And it should never have been said.” Which begs the question: if elected officials and other public figures reckon it’s OK to enunciate such brutal intent against opponents, might some unidentified others in the public square feel licensed/enabled to do likewise – or worse? Just asking. Bell later conceded she’d used a “poor choice of words” and confirmed deputy Liberal leader Jane Hume’s claim that the Liberal National MP had “reached out” to Aly.
Bell also said Aly’s comments amounted to “deflecting” – which is kind of tantamount to the classic footy player’s – “if-I’ve-offended-anyone’’ – qualified apology-cum-double-down. Hume, meanwhile, said that while Bell’s comments were maybe a bit “clumsy” they amounted to “a storm in a teacup”. The queen of personal political invective , Pauline Hanson, meanwhile urged everyone to “just calm down” over Bell’s comments that were simply “made in the heat of the moment”.
Well we’re all good then. Say what you like in the heat of the political moment. Then move right along.
Or perhaps let’s go back to last Saturday’s opening of the Australian Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). The term “conservative” was used pretty loosely for this jamboree of the hard political right. But then again, a fair bit of the language bandied around was also less than conservative and liberally seasoned with personal invective.
Take the opening warm-up speech of the CPAC chair, Warren Mundine, in which he decorously revved up the net-zero-hungry crowd with a lash at the energy and climate change minister, Chris Bowen. Mundine reportedly said that Bowen’s name alone gave him “chills” while recounting his visceral reaction to encountering the minister in Canberra. “I looked at him [Bowen] and my body language gave me away,” Mundine said.
“My mate had to grab me to say, ‘It doesn’t go well on your CV if you murder a federal minister.’” It’s great – just in case you need one – to have on hand a mate who can remind you of such niceties. Anyway, the audience guffawed at this little gag about murder and the minister. Which goes to show, perhaps, that there’s a broadening political marketplace – maybe more than just at the darker edges of the public square – for such outlandish rhetoric.
At least under the banner of conservatism. Paul Daley is a Guardian Australia columnist
Source: The Guardian
