Photo: Liberals Helping People Smugglers Prior To Election By Giving Information On How Many Boats Have Arrived!
“Language is a virus from outer space!” William S. Burroughs
“Speech was given to man to disguise his thoughts.”
– attributed to Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord by Barrere in “Memoirs
Language has always interested me: Its ambiguity, its beauty, its capacity for creating meaning, its capacity to deceive.
So even before the Tony Abbott we’re implementing the promise we made, not the one you thought we made, I’ve always listened carefully to what was being said. And it doesn’t take much listening to notice a distinction between Turnbull’s announcement that they won’t be taking the increase in the GST to an election, and a promise that they have no intention to increase it…
And, as I’m sure of you are going to say, one can have no intention to do something and, well, things change, so you can change your mind. Surely.
Unless you’re Julia Gillard.
But I was particularly intrigued by the language of some of the people defending Cardinal Pell after the recent leak about the police investigation.
For example, after Cardinal Pell issued a statement saying that the allegations were “without foundation and utterly false”, I couldn’t help but wonder if allegations could ever be “without foundation” and “utterly true”, or “with foundation” and “utterly false” or anyone of the many combinations. It made me wonder whether Pell was suggesting that there was no basis to the accusations, or whether he was suggesting that there was no investigation and that the whole thing had been made up.
Then when Archbishop Denis Hart told us that the allegations do not reflect “the man I have known for more than 50 years”, I couldn’t help but think that a character reference is no real refutation of the accusations.
He added: “It is very disturbing and concerning to read reports based on leaks to the media that Victoria Police has been investigating allegations of abuse against Cardinal George Pell for the past year and that his first knowledge of these allegations has come from those media reports.”
So when Hart went on to call for an investigation into the leak, it seemed to confirm to me that there was, at least, an actual police investigation and that stories of one weren’t just some fiction created by someone with the aim of causing “maximum damage” to Pell’s reputation, as Hart had suggested.
And speaking on behalf of the Melbourne Archdiocese, Shane Healy told us that there had never been a finding against Pell under the victim compensation scheme. Which one would think would be fairly obvious, as surely if there were a finding against him, he wouldn’t have been allowed to continue in his position. I noted that he didn’t say that there had never been an accusation against Cardinal Pell.
Yes, yes. You’re right, of course. This is trial by media. It’s wrong. What people say or don’t say isn’t the issue. We should allow justice to run its course and one shouldn’t read too much into what various people say. Particularly people who aren’t part of the investigation and would have no idea about a person’s guilt or innocence.
It’s like all those who doubt the doctors who informed us that Cardinal Pell was too ill to travel to Australia. There was a rather snide backlash from some suggesting that the doctors were just doing it to protect Pell.
As if the doctors wouldn’t know when it was dangerous for people to travel. As if doctors would do the wrong thing. We can trust doctors. Unless they’ve put people on a disability allowance – then we need to have their opinion checked by another doctor.
Speaking of doctors, isn’t it terrible how those doctors in Queensland are attempting to subvert the will of the government by refusing to release that baby. Asha, or whatever her name is. It’s got nothing to do with her health. They just don’t want to release her to travel back to the purgartory of a detention centre.
I use the word purgatory deliberately because people are calling it hell, which is inaccurate because hell is eternal suffering, whereas purgatory is that place where you wait until you’re purified enough to be moved on to a better place.
No, the asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus just need to stay there until they’re purified enought to be settled somewhere else. I hear that there are negotiations going on with Malaysia and The Philippines and Indonesia.
You remember Malaysia, and the Malaysian solution?
Remember Scott Morrison telling us that it was clear that protection for the refugees didn’t exist there.
Yep, that’s sort of place that we need as a deterrent!
This may be harsh, but unless we send a clear signal then babies’ll be coming here all the time and the drownings at sea’ll start all over again.
It’s only by putting her in danger that we can discourage people from undertaking the possibly dangerous voyage where they may drown, but that’s not a sufficient deterrent so we need something stronger like making sure they never get to settle in Australia even when they’re born here.
Politics!
P.S. Breaking news of rumours about a deal to allow Baby Asha and family to move to community detention in Brisbane. Either this is a trick to get the protesters to move away, or else it’s another example of the government backing down at the first sign of resistance.
