Queensland MP George Christensen has thrown his two cents worth into the debate about marriage equality issuing the following warning to Tony Abbott:
“The party policy to retain the definition of marriage as contained in the Marriage Act is supported by the majority of Liberal and National MPs and senators and I’d say many of them would hold the view that this is what our party stands for.
To many it would be both bizarre and a slap in the face to our grassroots members to suggest that the conservative parties adopt a policy which says we don’t have a stance on marriage and everyone can be a free agent and vote how they want.
The party membership didn’t like being ignored on the ETS and they won’t on this one either.”
Aside from the hubris of an inexperienced backbencher issuing veiled threats to the Prime Minister, and the fact that the government have already broken more promises than I can list, Christensen is courting danger by inviting attention in this area.
As editor of a student newspaper, he published a series of virulently racist, anti-semitic, homophobic and woman-hating rants back in1998.
On one page, Christensen expressed concern that new versions of the Bible were “removing accusations that the Jews killed Christ.”
On another page, he tells jokes about AIDS:
“A homosexual walks into the Doctor’s office, sobbing. ‘Doctor, Doctor’, he says ‘ think I’ve got AIDS. ‘Well,’ replied the Doctor, shocked ‘Who gave it to you?’
‘I dunno, says the homosexual. ‘I haven’t got eyes in the back of my head.’
He doesn’t restrict his venom there either. In an article about the Hollywood actor Will Smith he expressed his thoughts on women:
Most Aussie men often try to crack onto good-looking women and neglect the not-so-good looking (read fat) ones
Perhaps it’s the intelligence of women or, rather, the lack of it?
My thoughts: the truth is women are stupid and that’s that. So on behalf of you, me and the guy that’s shrugging his shoulders in bewilderment after reading his sister’s copy of Dolly, let me just say: Will Smith, you’re lucky God gave women no bloody brains.
Other contributions express concern about the special privileges being bestowed on Aborigines, the transgendered, republicans and so on. He is even critical of former Prime Minister John Howard for being a sell-out to aboriginal interests. He argues that there is an Australian system of “apartheid” which benefits Aborigines through land rights, Abstudy and so on.
After this was revealed during the 2010 election campaign, Christensen apologized. Kerry O’Brien interviewed Tony Abbott who brushed it off as adolescent silliness and defended Christensen as a good candidate.
Gay group, the Coalition of Equality, accepted Christensen’s apology:
“If he has apologised for that particular publication and he’s willing to recant the fact that they were not in the best of taste, and he apologises for them, then I think we should let bygones be bygones and move forward,” he said.
“[We should] make sure that we do understand what is acceptable and suitable comment in regards to gay and lesbian people in Australian.
“We have to accept that what he says now on face value is a sincere and heartfelt apology.
“If in the future, it turns out not to be, I’m sure there will be words said at that point, and embarrassment caused to him.”
But George seems impervious to embarrassment.
Right from the start his tenure was questionable as he had failed to resign from his position on the Mackay Regional Council before the election, putting himself at risk of high court action because of the constitutional ban on “officers of profit under the crown” being elected to federal parliament.
Coming from generations of cane farmers, in 2012 Christensen launched an attack in parliament on the National Health and Medical Research Council which he accused of demonising the sugar industry through their new food guidelines. The strong defence of the sugar industry earned Christensen the title of “sugar plum fairy”.
George hates environmentalists with a passion. In September 2014 he labeled Greenpeace and other environmentalists as terrorists, stating that they are “gutless green grubs” for opposing the expansion of the Abbot Point coal terminal in his electorate. In a speech to Parliament, Christensen said “the greatest terrorism threat in North Queensland, I’m sad to say, comes from the extreme green movement”.
In January this year he posted on his Facebook page a cartoon depicting Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk naked on a wrecking ball, crashing through a wall with the words “Abbot Point Coal Terminal jobs” written on it.
When criticised, he defended his actions saying “Some people need to get a sense of humour I think it’s pretty pathetic to fake outrage at a cartoon that’s satirical just to score political points.
“Taking the mickey especially out of politicians has always been a strong part of the Australian culture and I think we should all just lighten up and have a laugh sometimes because as a nation we’re losing our sense of humour to political correctness.”
Unsurprisingly perhaps, George is also in favour of the death penalty. In May 2011, he refused to back a motion condemning the death penalty and instead told federal parliament he supported the death penalty “for terrorists and for those found guilty of the most heinous of crimes – murder of a child, particularly those involving rape, murder of an elderly person or a person with disabilities, again particularly those involving rape.”
And when it comes to Muslims, George really fires up.
He started off slowly with the live trade export ban, blaming Islam for the torture of cattle in Indonesia and saying it wasn’t the concern of Australian farmers.
He ramped up in the wake of the 2012 Sydney anti-Islam film protests, launching a public attack on those taking part in the demonstration, saying those who broke the law, other than himself, should “jump on the first plane and head back to where you come from because that stuff is just simply not on in this nation.”
In 2013, Christensen was the only federal MP to attend a rally featuring controversial Dutch politician and anti-Islam campaigner Geert Wilders during his tour of Australia. Christensen said he supported Wilders’ view that “people of dual citizenship who act in a way that is contrary to the values of this country and engage in extremist violence should have their citizenship stripped and be deported.”
Last year George tweeted “We shouldn’t tolerate sharia law in Aust and the burqa/niqab shouldn’t be worn in public.”
In November 2014 Christensen claimed in an online opinion piece that Halal certification was “outrageous” and a “religious tax.” He also claimed that it is “entirely feasible” to think some halal certifiers could be financing groups such as Hamas or the Muslim Brotherhood.
When the #illridewithyou campaign was created to counter potential anti-Muslim sentiment in the wake of the Sydney siege, Christensen took to Twitter calling it a “pathetic left-wing black arm band brigade campaign” that casts “Aussies as racists who will endanger Muslims”.
He elaborated further on his public Facebook page.
“So Twitter has erupted with a typical politically correct, left wing response to the Sydney siege with these hashtag campaigns #weridetogether & #illridewithyou going viral,” he wrote.
“These campaigns falsely portray Aussies as thugs who terrorise Muslims and, in doing so, create victims where there are none.
“How about we just focus on the real victims of the Sydney siege (who, in my view, are more heroic than the left-wing twitter clicktivist keyboard warrior army combined): Katrina Dawson and Tori Johnson.”
So, in summary, George appears to hate Jews, Muslims, Aborigines, republicans, environmentalists, gays, transgender, women, and anyone who says we should cut down on sugar.
And the scary part is that he is feeling increasingly empowered to thrust his views upon us as our government continues its lurch to the extreme right.
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Mon Dieu, Sacre Bleu and various other phrases that would apply to this right wing nutter. Do the voters who elect these clowns actually listen to what they are espousing? If they don’t they get what they deserve, if they do this country is in a heap of trouble both nationally and internationally. Mind you he fits right in with the current backward thinking of the present so called governments redneck pandering.
OMG where do we dredge these relics up from and who actually votes for them. That is the sad part, people actually VOTE FOR THEM!
George Christensen – ticks all the boxes, don ‘t ‘ee? Proof of what a diet high in sugar can do for a man.
I wonder how Georgie boy explains the plethora of success women have across every facet of human endeavour. Luck?
Big tits?
Kaye Lee
…and when they sag?
😉
February this year….
“I have more confidence in getting impartial advice from Green Left Weekly than from Gillian Triggs,” the Queensland backbencher George Christensen told the Australian on Friday.
Christensen chairs the House of Representatives social policy and legal affairs committee which has had early discussions about terms of reference for an inquiry into allegations of “systemic bias” in the commission.
“She has effectively sidelined herself and the HRC from having any credibility with the Abbott government. If she wants to do the right thing by the commission and have their views listened to by the government again, she needs to tender her resignation,’’ he said.
I am so pleased that Christensen is heading a committee calling for an inquiry that he has already decided the outcome of. The absolute incongruity of someone like Christensen criticising Gillian Triggs leaves me speechless. She has more intelligence than the entire government front bench, more integrity than the entire parliament, and more resilience and fortitude than a worm like Christensen could even aspire to.
The nutters are out in force on Senate Select Committee of Wind Turbines this morning. Infra sound latest buzz word. On line from Melbourne. Audio.
What is true, listening to some of victims, they are indeed making themselves sick.
After reading, I see no evidence that turbines are causing infra sound. Seems we find it everywhere in the environments, Busy roads a good place.
Good for George the people in his electorate are stupid.
“Big tits?”
Ah so that’s how George won his seat!
http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/samesex-marriage-not-inevitable-conservatives-warn-tony-abbott-20150608-ghivd0.html
http://www.news.com.au/national/george-christensen-backs-drug-tests-for-the-dole-says-mps-should-face-them-too/story-fncynjr2-1226939593405
He also advocates drug testing for the dole. And famously suggested, in answer to complaints about unemployment benefits that we should just hop on a jet and tootle off to China and see how bad they’ve got it over there!
A true statesman our Georgie Porgie!!
And then there is this little gem…http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/liberal-mp-george-christensen-has-gone-a-little-tutu-far/story-e6freuzi-1226080236474
Queensland politicians are a real worry. The Queensland Young LNPs recommended to the state conference that they bring back cracker night, have random illicit drug testing for long term unemployed and welfare recipients, as well as removing Australian content quotas for free-to-air television.
Young LNP state president Hermann Vorster said “I think more than anything this is about sending a message that we don’t necessarily subscribe to the notion of the nanny-state. If something is safe and can be done in a reasonable way and it is in keeping with reasonable expectations, then I guess we ask, as the Young LNP, why not?”
Well Hermann, you may want to ask your Federal member George Christensen what is unsafe or unreasonable about marriage equality. It seems to me the ultimate in “nanny state” (Is that the only phrase Young Liberals know?)
I’m embarrassed about Christensen being my federal member, what as he done for my electrate is nothing sweet nothing, hearing him on the local airwaves is unbearable to say the least, Mackay is in a morbid state at the moment job losses/ consumer confidence at a lowest of lows/ ,housing/ rental/ sugar industry/ tourism at its lowest point when will this Lnp government start to govern for all aussies not just for the big end of town
Kaye. I note you used the term “inexperienced backbencher”.
I believe the phrase you were looking for was “self-absorbed, obnoxious, opinionated, ignorant arsehole”.
“when will this Lnp government start to govern for all aussies ”
I think the jury is already in on that one …
When hell freezes over … and with climate change the way it is, that means NEVER.
And yet …(sarcasm alert) … the highly informed and intelligent aussie voter still votes for them .
Lending weight to the old saying …You get the government you deserve … or 50% of us do anyway.
Anomander – you are just too polite. You could have added ‘Humpty Dumpty in a tie’. In the photo above, Tony is in serious danger of being crushed if George trips on the hallowed carpet. Have you ever seen such a sour face?
Isn’t it remarkable how many right-wingers who espouse extremist/sexist/ racist/you-name-it-ist views suddenly recant said views with hand on heart when they attain office and people start to become aware of what low-life the electorate actually voted for.
To the people of the electorate of Dawson,
Are you satisfied that this bigoted moron offensively flapping his florid jowls is your region’s representation to the nation?
There are certain dangers in being ‘governed’ by people either too stupid or opportunistic to make any attempt to deploy proper and accurate language.
George C reckons people peacefully opposing things like the sludging of the Great Barrier reef are ‘terrorists’.
Similar has been stated about people disseminating factual information about unethical and destructive practices by corporations if it potentially impacts upon their profits, which was described as ‘economic terrorism’.
This is juxtaposed with attempts to allow bypass of judicial process and allow disenfranchise, without scrutiny or appeal, of citizenship for those the government defines as ‘terrorists’.
Hypothetically, this could lead to summary deportation for stating that a brand of junk food is unhealthy, or that you do not think irreplacable ecosystems should be destroyed.
I really do not like where we seem to be heading.
Transgender not transgenders, please correct that typo
Looks like the Nazis who didn’t end up in Brazil, made it to Queensland and procreated. And the taxpayer is actually paying for these horrible individuals to sit in Parliament?
George reminds me of the Candy Man, sugar = love, this fool of a man is the perfect example of why we should cut down on sugar 🙂
For this kind of person, it seems to be reasonable to run a completely “negative” campaign at the next election. Ask people to put this moron LAST. Sometimes, a “bottom up” approach, where you remove the dirt from the bottom first, might be more meaningful.
Christensen – a clinical case of arrested development.
The LNP provides a safe haven for so many gormless figures like this creep. He’s up against a lot of very serious competition in Abbott, Pyne, Abetz (OMG!!!) and Dutton – oh, let’s not forget that buffoon Brandis.
Nothing matters, it really does.
I don’t know where the hell these idiots come from though I am sure this is due family indoctrination and class structure. That someone could be such a fool and get so far is certainly disturbing. The bile that came from the first questioner directed towards Julian Triggs on Q & A was a pretty horrendous indication of the raw hate and anger that drives these miscreants.
This lot seem to have just rushed to the US Tea Party call without the slightest thought or reason other than pure greed and a sense of privilege and elitism.
The sense of self-righteousness and brute vilification driven by anger and hate hate is truly disturbing.
This has become a real class war and the sooner the media openly recognise it the better.
Dear me Murdoch has a lot to answer for and the sooner the better.
More rat-sack need though I hope we don’t run out of supplies.
I really respect Cornel West he is saying what the left in Australia should be saying yet they hide behind their fallacious forked tongues.
We are in criss and the silence is getting really worrying.
Shame we need an American academic and social activist to come and tell us the facts while the opposition play red-rover with the electorate.
And what about this gentle suggestion on Q & A that under the right conditions (good lord no one knows what any of the conditions are) Labor is open to signing the TPP while is a complete betrayal of their historical base, tradition and the prime axioms of democracy.
Meanwhile Ruddock skates over the SDIS as stating no one has used it except tobacco companies in Australia, which is a lie, knowing full well that the real process starts when twenty odd countries sin up to this piece of garbage.
Maybe I am being over reactive however there is just too much buddy buddy bipartisanship between the L-NP and Labor.
As George Carlin points out: “Bipartisan usually means that a larger than-usual deception is being carried out.”
Cornel West: Australia is on the path to US-style fascism
Any country that connects mass surveillance, corporations, big money and even bigger government is in trouble, says the American academic
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jun/09/cornel-west-australia-is-on-the-path-to-us-style-fascism
What a thoroughly repulsive man. How do people like this get elected?
Georgy porgy, mud in your eye
Corpulent bully, belongs in a sty
Slagged for stupidity, tries not to cry
Exposed for sheer bigotry. still wonders why.
George is upset about halal certification, calling it a religious tax. We have the choice whether to buy products or not George, unlike school chaplains where I apparently have no say in your decision to waste a quarter of a billion dollars of our money.
“What a thoroughly repulsive man. How do people like this get elected?”
Because we live in a country where people are so disinterested in the politics that impacts almost every part of their life, that many of them don’t even decide who to vote for until they get to the polling booth.
Christensen was a moron when I was living in CQ and he grew to extreme disgrace with every year. He is the type of ignoramus that Abbott uses as an attack dog. Why? Because he ferments hatred within the LNP voters ranks against people that Abbott wants denounced. And so the muck raking expands to fever pitch.
Christensen is the typical bluster and bad wind from which no good can come.
http://www.vexnews.com/2010/08/george-christensen-lnp-candidate-in-dawson-thinks-the-jews-killed-christ-and-doesnt-think-much-of-women-gays-or-aborigines-either/
Christensen might be an attack dog for the Tea Party, but I remember when the Abbott was attack dog for Howard of Tampa fame, and look where he is now. These bow-wows get advancement from the herd of LNP sheep who are probably intimidated by them. It is evident what sort of armband this lot wears.
Great read Kaye,again.Though this post makes me ill to think my hometown has fallen so low as to vote for such vermin.I can not type his name as it starts with christ,how missleading,also unsuprising to read that he states he is also catholic.No wonder all these neanderthals hate anything or person,particular female.To many things to list eg: gay,protestant ,whoever,as I said, the list is unfathonable.How in Aus.,have so many voters been so uninterested to let a government like this have even have the slightest chance of success.
The same blithering idiot who, on April 30 2013 said (in the Daily Mercury, our local rag) that while he didn’t agree with gay marriage,”I think that marriage is something that really transcends politics and politicians and belongs to the people of Australia, and the people of Australia should decide.” He’s as well known here in Mackay for foot-in-mouth disease as Abbott is to the rest of the country. He was only elected due to the backlash against Labor that gave us the current donkeys we have in parliament now & also because Tim Mulherin had announced his retirement, not because he is actually any use. The first time he was openly criticised for some stupid remark made after the election, his mummy abused everyone for it. Didn’t take long for most people to realise what they’d done after that. He’s another one-termer, thank heavens. My great-grandmother was a Christensen & I truly hope this twit is no relation. That would be humiliating.