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The hounds are off the leash and it is your fault, Scott

In 2011, when Scott Morrison urged the shadow cabinet to capitalise on the electorate’s growing concerns about “Muslim immigration”, “Muslims in Australia” and the “inability” of Muslim migrants to integrate, he was rebuked by senior colleagues.

Deputy leader, Julie Bishop, and the former immigration minister Philip Ruddock, strongly disagreed with the suggestion, pointing out that the Coalition had long supported a non-discriminatory immigration policy and saying it was not an issue that should be pursued.

But Morrison, seeing it as a vote winner, pushed on.  And Peter Dutton picked up the baton and eagerly ran with it, expanding the vilification to include second and third generation Lebanese Australians, African Australians and anyone else who offended his worldview of white supremacy and Christian domination.

Creatures like Pauline Hanson and Fraser Anning crawled out from under their rock, emboldened to once again parade their ignorant bigotry and racism – something that was soundly rejected decades ago when Pauline was sent packing the first time.

Hanson, Anning and George Christensen have all willingly addressed far-right rallies organised by convicted criminals, leading us to the ugly scenes we witnessed at St Kilda Beach yesterday.

So excuse my cynicism when Scott Morrison took to Twitter to tell us “I thank Vic police for their efforts dealing with the ugly racial protests we saw in St Kilda yesterday. Intolerance does not make Australia stronger.  Australia is the most successful migrant country in the world. This has been achieved by showing respect for each other, our laws and values and maintaining sensible immigration policies. Let’s keep it that way, it makes Australia stronger.”

Far from being strong on national security, you are jeopardising it by alienating and marginalising groups in our society.

You unleashed the hounds, Scott and you did it for cynical political advantage.  And now we are reaping what you sowed.

If you care about a safe Australia, we must send this mob of shit-stirrers packing.  Get back under your rock and let decent people work together for all Australians.

34 comments

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  1. DavidR

    Pauline Hanson is the Queen of Australian racism, John Howard rose to her challenge when he led the charge waving the racist flag in a desperate, and successful attempt to win the 2001 election. No leader of either party has been willing to stand against the subsequent slide into the cesspit of racist antagonism epitomised by the unAustralian thugs on St Kilda beach. Scott Morrison’s racism is not outstanding, like much of what he does, it is a narrative of many politicians who are not prepared to stand up for the values that have made Australia great.

    The thugs want us to go o their website, lets do it and tell then what we think of them.

  2. Baby Jewels

    I am so sick of these hypocrites trotting out the “Australia is the most successful migrant country in the world. ” If that’s the case, then God help the rest of the world. I came here in 1969 and was shocked at the level of racism back then and if anything it’s worse and getting rapidly out of hand now. All the LNP PMs have trotted that ridiculous, embarrassing and patently false statement out, when it suited them. They make me sick.

  3. New England Cocky

    Actually Kaye Lee I have it on usually good authority that this Melbourne group of Australian Nationalists are really closet members of the Liarbral Party in training to create chaos for the benefit of Benito Dude’s re-election as “Saviour of Australia” from migrants of all non-British persuasion. Sort of like the Blackshirts of 1930s Weimar Germany.

    Perhaps we could export Toxic RAbbott back to the UK for treason against the Australian people, just like the present Prakash matter.

  4. Diannaart

    I don’t suppose having an election, like now, before January 26, is remotely possible?

    Australia Day; day of white colonial dog whistles for fascists and the repugnant politicians of expediency.

    Someone wake me up in June, when all this is over.

  5. MikeW

    Just been on the Bolt blog, don’t know why I torture myself, a few us there trying to post facts and figures to the right wing nut jobs but I think we are wasting our time.
    Just came back here for some sanity.
    Thanks Kaye Lee.

  6. Pamela

    So well said Kaye

  7. Kaye Lee

    Diannart,

    Too late for a January election. They have to dissolve parliament, get writs issued, and then hold an election between 33 and 58 days after that. Even if he dissolved parliament on the first day back in February, that would then clash with the NSW election. I think we are stuck with them until May but that will get here quicker than you think.

  8. Kaye Lee

    Kronomex,

    From your article….

    “The “Reclaim St Kilda” rally was organised by convicted criminals Blair Cottrell and Neil Erikson, who arrived with independent senator Fraser Anning.”

    I am flabbergasted. I knew he turned up but to travel with those thugs????

  9. Diannaart

    Kaye Lee

    My question was rhetorical 😋

    Besides I want to vote those lying firkers out of office and I don’t want to miss that.

  10. Kaye Lee

    A little history on the delightful Mr Anning…..murder, slavery and theft made his family wealthy…what a pedigree

    Anning is the great grandson of Charles Cumming Stone Anning, a British pastoral squatter who came to the Australian colonies in the mid 19th century to acquire landholdings. In 1862, Charles and several of his adult sons established the Reedy Springs property north of Hughenden. The family soon expanded their claims by forming the nearby properties of Chudleigh Park, Mount Sturgeon, Charlotte Plains and Cargoon. All this land was occupied at the time by various Aboriginal clans and subsequent frontier conflict occurred as the Annings forcibly took control of the land from the local people. In response to the spearing of cattle, Charles and his sons would ride out with firearms, attack Aboriginal campsites and capture young boys who had survived in order to use them as labour on their cattle and sheep stations.

    In 1865, the Annings employed W. R. O. Hill, an officer in the paramilitary Native Police, to be their station manager at Reedy Springs. Hill, who had experience in warfare against Aboriginal people, wrote in his memoirs that at Reedy Springs the “only wise thing to do on seeing a black was to shoot and shoot straight”. Frank Hann, another pastoralist in the region and who regularly participated in extrajudicial punitive raids on Aboriginals, described in his diary in 1874 how he saw “Anning just come back from hunting blacks”.

    Fraser Anning’s grandfather Francis “Frank” Albert Anning spent much of his time at Reedy Springs but also bought into further properties such as Wollogorang, Savannah Station and Compton Downs. At Wollogorang in particular, Frank Anning had to surround his hut with wire mesh to prevent spear attacks and was knocked unconscious by a waddy in another incident. One of Frank’s sons was W. H. (Harry) Anning who took up the Wetherby property and whose wife gave birth to Fraser Anning in October 1949.

  11. Christina Heath

    Baby Jewels I agree with your comments about racism and I also think it is getting worse. I moved to a small country town some years ago, which is in the homophobic Michael McCormack’s electorate. For a few years, I ran a small business and was shocked at the level of racism amongst some of my clientele. In many cases, so-called Christian stalwarts of the community, advocating that the ‘boat people’ should be drowned at sea. Recently my partner and I were urged to ‘run over the Arabs’, a young Muslim woman and her two children (one in a pram) as we were shopping in the town. The person who made this comment was a highly regarded community member (not by me) and unfortunately he is not isolated in his views.

  12. whatever

    One of the skinhead organizers said African youth were “77% more likely to commit home invasions”

    Very primitive grasp on the basics of logic, maybe he should just go back to school.

  13. Matters Not

    Fraser Anning entered the Senate after attracting nineteen (19) first preference votes. Elbridge Gerry would be in awe. (As an aside – Gerry was not originally pronounced with a J as it is today.)

    The original gerrymander, and original 1812 gerrymander cartoon, depict the Essex South state senatorial district for the legislature of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts. … When mapped, one of the contorted districts in the Boston area was said to resemble the shape of a mythological salamander. … Gerrymander is a portmanteau of the governor’s last name and the word salamander.

    One wonder how many of the 19 votes the Senator will lose by his latest actions? But perhaps it matters not. What wonderful electoral arrangements we have in Australia. Why – even those who can’t attract votes can still win a prize. What could be fairer than that? Why wasn’t Jim Molan invited?

  14. Diannaart

    Kaye Lee

    The Fanning history – an argument against eugenics?

  15. Andrew Smith

    I’d blame Howard more than Hanson since he’d been toying with racist rhetoric in the ’80s; he simply reclaimed his territory from Hanson late ’90s. Further, our mainstream media, led by Murdoch, became obsessed about strategy round identity and creating more antipathy towards all things non European so that it has become mainstream (at least among politicians and media).

    It has been used as a supposed electoral tactic in the US where GOP were persuaded to adopt similar (by anti-immigration networks of John Tanton) so that voters will think Democrat equals ‘immigrant’ as a wedge (like Tampa was); more an ideology informed by eugenics (Tanton, an admirer of the white Australia policy) coined the expression ‘passive eugenics’.

    However, the Cafe con leche Republicans warned their colleagues that the GOP would become unelectable once demographics had changed further:

    The Tanton memo and restrictionism among US Republicans

    They were correct, Tanton’s networks went onto influence Breitbart, alt right, Fox News, MSM, evangelicals etc.; several Tanton associates are or have been in Trump’s White House.

    Now, the issue for Labor is they did not avoid the wedge, low point was having a minister’s portfolio named according to fossil fuel/Club of Rome construct ‘sustainable population’ (another, ‘carrying capacity’ has been cited by both ScoMo and Abbott) and dealing with bigots amongst its own Labor supporters.

    Hopefully, think Vic election represented some voter fatigue with dog whistling. Labor can take note of the PM’s comments about deploring racism but silent on Senator Anning, and many other contradictions, when it comes to an official campaign to expose the deplorables of the LNP (and it’s MSM spruikers, if not spruikers for LNP, trying to ‘kill Bill’).

  16. Kaye Lee

    On the day before the St Kilda rally, Anning posted this on Facebook….

    “My prediction for the outcome of tomorrow’s “rally” is the black African’s who have been terrorising innocent beach goers won’t turn up.

    These grubs only hunt in packs like stalking jackals, if the numbers are equal they won’t be seen anywhere.

    They are disgusting cowards who only prey on the weak. Bashing elderly women in places of worship, carjacking innocents and invading peoples homes.

    More Australians need to forget political correctness and take a stand as the police and government are seemingly doing nothing.

    It’s up to everyday Aussies to take back our country!”

    Now I am no legal expert but that looks very much like inciting people to take the law into their own hands through violent means. I have reported him to facebook and would encourage others to do likewise.

  17. Kyran

    I don’t suppose you recall that scene in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ where Atticus is required to demonstrate his marksmanship to put a rabid dog down, do you? An interesting aside is that his skill as a marksman was something he hid from his children, considering it a skill he wished they would never need.
    Having witnessed and experienced violence many times, it is never something I would attempt to justify under any circumstance. A wise man I had the good fortune to meet was a sensei, his dojo a community hall and his students the most eclectic group you could imagine. Gender, religion, age, ethnicity were all left at the door. He finished each session with the observation, “If you have to resort to violence, you have already lost.”
    Putting the rabid dogs down is something that is already happening, metaphorically speaking. These narrow minded thugs get more than enough airplay, not just from our politico’s, forever eager to justify their pathetic existences, but our media, also eager to inflate their worth through outdated techniques in pandering to mob rule and sensationalism.
    So stupid are these people they would even invade Christian churches in the event they sympathised with others. Fr Rod Bower’s services have been invaded on at least two occasions.
    And anus wants to decry that sort of behaviour as unacceptable. What a joke this fool is.
    There have been demonstrations by tens of thousands of Australians that disappear from the news feed after a few hours, or maybe a day. Whether it be our youth, our workers, advocates for a just society. These thugs rarely manage to garner more than a few hundred ‘supporters’, yet are guaranteed days of coverage by a media desperate for relevance.
    There is little doubt that any time oxygen is given to their flickering candle-like flame, other mindless thugs are emboldened. Thankfully, there are more people prepared to call this knuckle dragging stupidity out, quietly and peacefully.
    Alpha Chang is but one. His dignity and courage makes the politico’s, their media sycophants and the knuckle dragging thugs disappear in a haze of irrelevance.
    Today’s story, from The G, is not just an isolated voice screaming into the wind. It is a harmony, made all but symphonic by the comments section.

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jan/04/curtis-cheng-son-alpha-parramatta-fighting-hate-tolerance

    The baying cacophony of the hounds are simply a discordant distraction, thankfully diminishing. The chief knuckle dragger has been trying to incite the St Kilda problem for a while now, even picking fights where none existed.

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-29/st-kilda-clash-far-right-activists-target-young-men/10673088

    That was a precursor to yesterday’s attempt.

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jan/05/far-right-and-anti-racism-groups-face-off-in-melbourne-flashpoint

    Naturally, Newscorpse aren’t the only bunch trying to make an issue out of something most of us regard as sooooo last century. In addition to nightly news broadcasts trying to make colour a feature of ‘crime reporting’, you have the usual specialist yahoo’s, standing by with their cans of petrol in the event a flickering candle can be made a conflagration, even if only illusory.

    https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/jan/04/a-current-affair-accused-of-inciting-violence-in-melbourne-race-war-story

    Scummo declared last year annus horribilis, obliterating it from his ever so miniscule mind. Perhaps he will invoke the same fervour when declaring that this year’s horrible anus won’t be funded by his parliamentary expenses to attend a hate fest of knuckle draggers.

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jan/06/scott-morrison-criticises-ugly-racial-protests-but-fails-to-condemn-fraser-anning

    Onward Christian soldiers, hey Scummo? These dogs have had their day.
    Thank you Ms Lee and commenters. Take care

  18. Kaye Lee

    I have heard Alpha Cheng speak quite a few times now and have been enormously impressed. He is an inspiration.

  19. Kaye Lee

    Just to add salt to the wound, Senator Anning is charging taxpayers $2852.80 for his return flights to attend the St Kilda Beach rally.

    I will be making some calls about that tomorrow.

  20. paul walter

    Andrew Smith, we are way together on this one, has been a sorry era actually going back to the mid nineties with also, the rise of the Murdochites and shock jocks. Think also the reaction from the right to Marbo and Wik and what has followed since.

  21. Kronomex

    Now Anning is going to get the taxpayers to pay for his St. Kilda trip –

    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/fraser-anning-to-bill-taxpayers-more-than-2800-for-flights-to-st-kilda-rally-20190106-p50pub.html

    “…the publication of images showing activists making Nazi salutes and in one case holding a helmet with Nazi insignia, Mr Anning denied it was a far-right event.” Is he bloody kidding? He’s also accusing the “left-wing media” of misrepresentaion. They were just ordinary people protesting the African gang violence. I’m going to close off here because my utter contempt for this object is rising too fast.

  22. Diannaart

    Kronomex

    From the same webpage,

    …Senator Anning said at the rally: “I think this is the start of something bigger. The revolution will eventually start. People have had enough of these people and they have got to be sent back to where they came from.”

    The revolution? Against whom? People for peace, harmony, mutual respect, freakin’ living together and getting on with life instead of spreading hate?

  23. Kaye Lee

    Have a look at this posted by the moron that Anning arrived with.

  24. David Bruce

    Great article and comments! So now I think I would like to come back as a kurdaitcha man, so much work to do!

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurdaitcha

    Interesting to read the following:

    In 2004, Indigenous Australians who disagreed with his policies ritually cursed the Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, by pointing a bone at him…

  25. Matters Not

    Re:

    Senator Anning is charging taxpayers $2852.80 for his return flights to attend the St Kilda Beach rally.

    Really? Did Anning say that – or did Murphy assume that? Perhaps it’s worth pointing out that when taxpayers fulfil their legal obligations by paying tax two outcomes are possible. If the MMT advocates are on the money, then that tax is immediately destroyed – thus no tax money is available to pay anybody. Further, anyone who understands the basics of the law will know that when you pay a legal debt, the money is no longer yours. You can’t then decide on what it will be spent; how much will be spent; when it will be spent; and to whom it will be spent.

    So simple really. Even Anning understands that. Thus he doesn’t bill the taxpayer. That would be stupid on a number of grounds. First, he wouldn’t know how to bill the taxpayer (individually or collectively). And he’s not alone. Second, he wouldn’t know where to send the claim. Again he’s not alone because he does what each and every MP does – he bills the government. (He’s not stupid. He is not like journalists, commentators and the like.) He knows what works. It’s the government that has the money and it’s the government that must pay.

    Having received Anning’s claim, there might be some debate about whether the government will create new money or whether they will draw down the monies (legally) demanded and paid by a range of others. Regardless, the taxpayer has moved on – no longer involved. At best, citizens (not taxpayers) will make a decision every three years or so as to whether the government spent wisely, or not, the monies it raised.

    Anning is doing what the government authorises. And it’s the government that must be held accountable. It’s not rocket science. Someone should reveal this apparent secret. Perhaps Murphy could do it – make it frontpage. Why there might even be a Walkley in it.

  26. Kaye Lee

    Somewhat pedantic and not exactly accurate IMO MN.

    Ignoring the MMT angle for the moment, if a politician charges the government for spurious things then there is most certainly an opportunity cost to the community. Was it a legitimate use of public funds? Could the money have been better spent?

    Senators are entitled to fly business class for official engagements. Anning said he was doing this on the basis that criminal gangs of African background were an issue in Queensland as well as Victoria. Yet Alan Tudge (yeah I know he is a fool) said “The interesting thing, though, is that there isn’t the Sudanese problem in NSW, nor in Queensland, despite the fact that there is a similar-sized Sudanese population in Sydney, so to me that says it’s actually a law-and-order problem right here in Victoria.”

    “My presence at the event should in no way be considered an endorsement by me of the views of other speakers or attendees,” Anning said.

    So if he doesn’t agree with the other speakers, and there has not been an identified problem in Queensland, what did he hope to learn on this study tour to a state he does not represent? What official business was he conducting? I am not sure that the government actually does “authorise” this.

  27. Matters Not

    Re:

    then there is most certainly an opportunity cost to the community

    There’s usually (if not always) an opportunity cost. The point is in this instance – it’s the government that gets to decide (and only the government). The power resides with the government (assuming legality) and therefore in the short term at least, accountability must be sheeted home to the decision maker.

    One thing’s for sure, it’s not the taxpayer with the power. At best, the taxpayer is simply a spectator.

    Where is the inaccuracy? Leave the ought considerations out of it.

  28. Kaye Lee

    It is not up to the government to approve expenses. We have an Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority.

    “Members have obligations in relation to the use of public resources, including the requirement to use those resources for the dominant purpose of conducting parliamentary business and the requirement to ensure value for money. Contravention of a member’s obligations may result in a penalty of 25% of the value of the public resources.

    IPEA may give a ruling determining that conduct relating to a travel expense or travel allowance was or was not in accordance with this Act. ”

    Note the term “public resources”.

    https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2017A00037

    Not sure about your references to “Murphy”. I was reading an article by David Wroe.

    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/fraser-anning-to-bill-taxpayers-more-than-2800-for-flights-to-st-kilda-rally-20190106-p50pub.html

  29. Matters Not

    My rather long, rather detailed response just failed. Nevertheless I will post again in the morrow.

    (Also my posting name and email address has also failed to come up automatically.)

    What’s going on?

  30. Kaye Lee

    Not sure MN. That kind of stuff is beyond me.

  31. Zathras

    This sort of event is indeed a legacy of the Howard era.

    We were once a more tolerant egilitarian society but after the politically inspired Tampa incident and the children overboard lie manufactured to win back votes that drifted to One Nation we have become a divided society where racists and extremists have become emboldened.

    All that happened was that the anti-Asian campaign became replaced by a more contemporary Muslim menace and the fear of being “swamped” shifted to the new target. Now the decade-old anti-African strategy has been rolled out again on the heels of the endangered white African farmer myth.

    Howard could and should have shut Hanson down straight away but now the genie is out of the bottle it will taken another generation to put it back where it belongs.

    What is Anning – a Senator elected to represent Queensland – doing in Victoria anyway?

  32. corvus boreus

    What was an Phon/Katter/Indi senator from Queensland doing at a violent crypto-fascist demonstration n Victoria?
    I suspect the reason Fraser Anning attended the racially focused protest was to utilise free media exposure and notoriety to build a base following in the benthic underbelly of political extremism and racist bigotry in Australia, some personal brand recognition amongst the frothing mouth-breathers who think that PHON are too rational and moderate in their policy proclamations.
    Hopefully such folk represent a very small demographic, but they are undoubtedly much more numerous than the 19 people who actually voted for Anning on his own ‘merit’.(below the line), .
    For the rest of us, we can take Anning as a cautionary tale in the dangers of lazy above-the-line party box-ticking when making our choices for the people to represent us in the federal senate.

    On the subject of the media impresarios actively seeking to normalise extremism into the mainstream, here is a revealing snippet;
    A vitriolic lawsuit between Max Markson and Damian Costas, two promo-pimps involved in the profitable importation of provocateurs like Yiannopolis, Southern and Farage, as well as the failed attempt to give terrorist organiser Gavin McInnes a podium on our shores.
    A twisted tale of missing money and criminal consorting.
    https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/celebrity/private-sydney-markson-sparks-up-in-court-in-dispute-with-penthouse-publisher-20180906-p5026e.html

    Ps, Matters Not,
    I can sympathise with your pedantic/picky/precise differentiation between taxes paid and funds drawn from the public purse.(I too am a stickler for linguistic precision), but sometimes we need to give a little situational latitude.
    For example, when talking of archery, people often refer to the ‘firing’ of an arrow.
    This is an erroneous transfer of a term explicit to gunpowder firearms, and inapplicable to normal archery.
    The correct verb for an projecting an arrow from a bow is to ‘loose’.
    However, if my neighbours came into my house screaming ‘some psycho is firing arrows at our house!’ I would hope that my first priority would not be to correct their diction.

  33. SteveFitz

    Rubbing his hands in glee – Wow, look at that, it works exclaims Scott Morrison. Far-right political strategy is fearmongering. If you don’t have a threat, create one. Get the police involved and the government is seen as the great protector of society. Thanks Scott you pathetic moron and, thanks Kay Lee for exposing how low this government will go.

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