By Dr Stewart Hase
Good leaders know that what they say influences people. This is particularly true for political leaders because they have followers that share the same biases. We saw this in spades with Trumpism. But politicians can also influence others, the swinging voter: the person in the middle.
Scott Morrison decided this week to model his contempt for Indigenous Australia by criticising the stand by Cricket Australia to drop the term Australia Day in their promotions for the Big Bash League. Then he managed to demonstrate his complete misunderstanding of history by noting that January 26th wasn’t particularly flash for the first fleeters either. Not only missing the point that these first arrivals marked the beginning of genocidal behaviour that, arguably, continues today, but also demonstrating his complete indifference to Indigenous peoples.
And Morrison has form when it comes to his insensitivity, his inbuilt racism. In 2020 he dismissed the notion that there was no slavery in Australia. Here he conveniently rewrote history. More recently, Morrison spoke out against racism towards Chinese in Australia, wanting to protect the economy but not a word about racism towards our own people. Are we indeed, one and free? He also took the Trumpian line that criticised the Black Lives Matter protests in the USA as driven by left wing extremists rather than the victims of institutionalised racism. But at that time, he was still wanting to appease Trump and the right establishment.
Cricket Australia has shown leadership and, coming from a position of power, set out to influence its followers, to attack the racism that is, unfortunately, alive and well in Australian culture. Scott Morrison lost an opportunity as he did when the Wallabies sang the first verse of the National Anthem in a local Indigenous language before playing Argentina last year. Instead, he chose the easy option, to cower to the right wing in his own party, to follow his baser instincts. Scotty from marketing!
So, is Morrison’s behaviour a lack of leadership, which seems likely given his stance or lack of it on so many issues, or is it a demonstration of his and the right-wing intolerance, insensitivity and racism towards our own Indigenous peoples? Perhaps he is simply appealing to his base and it is all about votes. Whatever the case, history will not be kind to him when it judges his performance. Or is it all three. I suspect it is the latter.
Stewart is a psychologist with a special interest in how people adapt and also learn. He’s written widely in these areas. He continues to consult, and annoy people who misuse power. Twitter: @stewarthase
This article was originally published on No Place For Sheep.
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It’s Howard all over again.
Not even an original turd.
Morrison did not demonstrate his misunderstanding of January 26, he dog whistled deliberately to all the racists he actively courts
Patriotism may be the last refuge of the scoundrel, but it’s pretty much the first recourse of the con artist.
Interesting how often one hears Captain Cook and/or the First Fleet (and/or Anglo Saxon ‘values’ vs. Moslem) cited in conversations as history that demands positive or patriotic feelings.
One can imagine it targets older end of demographics, and it has had some success when a sister in law on a trip described piles of old rocks i.e. navigation markers of old explorers and/or pioneers, as ‘stunning’ like a religious shrine?!
Personally the issue is how it bypasses or nudges away other deserving narrratives and stories whether indigenous or other ‘immigrants’ versus ‘real Australians’……
This filthy, fascist, fraud, Morrison the Moronic misfit, the liar from the shire, the pathetic superstitious holder of fiction and falsehoods, this pox politically, this pervert socially, this turd beyond the capacity of the anus of Anabolic amplitude to manage, this loaded sausage of shitheaded shyster shonky shambling shame, this national lying disgrace, this pot of contrived political poo for the dung beetles to consume. all that nourishing racism, xenophobia, devious dickheaded drongo dreary dullness and deviation from honesty, integrity, truth, decency, a figure of absolute monumental crap in situ, a figure of derision to anyone honest, a Midden of misfit malevolence and monumental merdery, the symbol of a nation in criminal decline, a figure of filth, foul fulminations, as honest as the length of a cockroaches festering erection, a symbol of all the criminality, corruption, cronyism, capitalist crude crap driven cornering, cringeing crapulous catastrophic cavernous country f——g careless clabberous cretinous coynting clapped out coprophagous calamitous catastrophic cloacalanity you have ever seen, this nation stuffing, egof—–g dud drongo named Morrison, the P M, the shitskulled sham and shameful shire FRAUD. More of the truth will follow…
Is the move by Cricket Australia, to avoid using the term Australia Day, Cancel Culture or Political Correctness ?
When they took Edward Coon’s name off the patented cheese processing product he had invented in the US in 1926 I wondered was that political correctness ?
I hear that Spotted Dick – a classic English dessert has been renamed to avoid embarrassment. The traditional pudding has been given the title Spotted Richard, after UK council bosses feared the original name might cause offence.
I can’t vouch for this but it seems about right : A UK recruiter was stunned when her job advert for ‘reliable’ and ‘hard-working’ applicants was rejected by the job centre as it could be offensive to unreliable and lazy people.
And the there is this : some US schools now have a ‘holiday tree’ at Christmas, rather than a Christmas tree.
Even our dirge of a national anthem has been tweaked so as not to offend anybody . The first line used to read Australia’s sons let us rejoice for we are young and free. But sons had to be replaced by Australians all and then Scomo replaced young and free with for we are one and free.
Problem is we then go on to say For those who’ve come across the seas We’ve boundless plains to share which clearly is offensive to everybody.
So, are we all getting excessively politically correct or is it a manifestation of cancel culture and where will it all end ?
Terence, it all ends in blah, the levelling of IQ to its lowest common denominator as seen in politicians and journalists.
Read Orwell’s ‘1984’ or watch ‘Idiocracy’. All aboard. No thinking allowed. Juggling 2 or more concepts at a time? Forget it.
Slo MO is a total fuck wit, simples!