Saturday, 30 March 2019
Quote of the Week
“People generally
conform to the mores of their society, and if they believe racism to be
acceptable they are more likely to behave in a racist way. Racist concepts are
kept alive through communication of racist viewpoints and social mediation and
the use of racist scapegoating as acceptable aspects of political debate. Where
there is ‘social permission’ to be racist, racism is a permissible way of
releasing frustrations and aggression. Conversely, discouraging racist
attitudes and behaviour is likely to cause racism to decrease.” [Tamsan
Clarke, February 2005, RACISM, PLURALISM AND DEMOCRACY IN AUSTRALIA: Re-conceptualising racial vilificationlegislation]
Labels:
Australian society,
racism
Tweet of the Week
New Zealand today fell silent in honour of the mosque attacks' martyrs. Thank you PM @jacindaardern and New Zealand for your sincere empathy and support that has won the respect of 1.5 billion Muslims after the terrorist attack that shook the Muslim community around the world. pic.twitter.com/9LDvH0ybhD— HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) March 22, 2019
The Sydney Morning Herald, 23 March 2019:
The world's tallest
building has been lit up with a giant image of New Zealand Prime Minister
Jacinda Ardern embracing a woman at the Kilbirnie mosque in Wellington.
Friday, 29 March 2019
Pauline Hanson’s One Nation sought US National Rifle Association support for a social media campaign during the 2019 federal election campaign and millions in political funding from gun lobby & Koch Brothers
Pauline Hanson's One Nation (PHON) political party currently only has two members in the Australian Parliament and they sit in the Senate.
PHON wants to hold the balance of power in the Australian Parliament after the May 2019 federal election.
In order to gain the required seats in the House of Representatives, in September 2018 the party was secretly promising to subvert Australia's gun laws in an attempt to gain millions from the powerful US gun lobby to assist its federal election campaign.
Al Jazeera, YouTube, 25 March 2019:
A
three-year Al Jazeera investigation into the U.S. gun lobby has uncovered an
effort by an Australian political party to seek millions of dollars in
political funding while offering to soften strict, anti-gun laws in Australia.
Al
Jazeera’s Investigative Unit used concealed cameras to track ‘Pauline Hanson’s
One Nation’, a right-wing, anti-immigration party, as representatives travelled
to Washington, D.C. to hold meetings with the National Rifle Association and
other lobby groups, as well as the energy giant Koch Industries.
One
Nation’s Chief of Staff James Ashby was accompanied on the U.S. visit by Steve
Dickson, the party’s leader in the Australian state of Queensland and a
candidate in upcoming Australian elections. Ashby and Dickson were recorded
seeking up to $US20 million for their election war chest while promising to
soften laws, put in place following a massacre in Australia in 1996.
The
strict Australian gun laws have often been condemned by the NRA.
Al
Jazeera approached all the groups and individuals featured in this programme.
Despite there being a federal legislated ban on foreign political donations since November 2018 the Al Jazeera video footage clearly shows that just weeks after this ban was put in place Pauline Hanson and One Nation were still considering seeking support from the US gun lobby and the Koch Brothers.
Having been publicly exposed One Nation now denies it had any intention of watering down national gun laws.
However, it is clear from the Al Jazeera video that One Nation was promising to open doors for the National Rifle Association with the aim of assisting that exact purpose, because it believed that any significant increase in One Nation representation in the Australian Parliament after the next federal election meant it would have the government "by the balls".
The video also reveals that it was canvassing the possibility of concealing any funding it might receive from the US gun lobby by arranging for the NRA to create and pay for a social media campaign for One Nation's benefit in the lead up to the May 2019 federal election, as well as using the Koch Brothers' network of companies to hide the source of any donations they might make.
After initially pleading intoxicated bragging while in the US Pauline Hanson's Chief of Staff then had this to say.
"You're best buddies with Al Jazeera, ABC." and "You're a very rude man." James Ashby get aggro with the ABC. #qldpol #auspol pic.twitter.com/3SkB3JfiUk— David Marler (@Qldaah) March 26, 2019
Prior to these revelations Australian Prime Minister and Liberal MP Scott Morrison had refused to rule out the Liberal Party preferencing Pauline Hanson's One Nation ahead of The Greens and Labor at the federal election.
He partially walked back from this position and announced that the Coalition will be placing PHON below Labor on how-to-vote cards in all states and territories except Queensland. However he would not commit to putting PHON last.
So it is looking as though One Nation may possibly get a third member into the Senate.
WARNING TO QUEENSLAND VOTERS
Note:
According to The Guardian on 7 March 2018 Australian gun lobby groups spent more than $500,000 helping minor right wing parties, including One Nation, win seats in the Queensland state election in 2017.
According to ABC News on 27 March 2019 the Australian gun lobby has donated $1.7 million to political parties since 2011 and now per capita spends as much on political donations and campaigns as the US National Rifle Association (NRA).
He partially walked back from this position and announced that the Coalition will be placing PHON below Labor on how-to-vote cards in all states and territories except Queensland. However he would not commit to putting PHON last.
So it is looking as though One Nation may possibly get a third member into the Senate.
WARNING TO QUEENSLAND VOTERS
Pauline
Hanson’s One Nation Queensland official and Senate candidate in 2019 Steve Dickson has a dream voters should
be aware of:
“I’m going to be in one
of those drug dealing mansions on the beach. I’ll hire it for a month. The ones
that are 25 rooms and the chef and everything. We’ll drink and shoot the s**t [out]
of everything down the water. Machine guns and everything. That’s my dream….And
we can protect ourselves just in case” [Steve
Dickson in How to Sell a Massacre Part
2, You Tube 27 March 2019]
According to The Guardian on 7 March 2018 Australian gun lobby groups spent more than $500,000 helping minor right wing parties, including One Nation, win seats in the Queensland state election in 2017.
According to ABC News on 27 March 2019 the Australian gun lobby has donated $1.7 million to political parties since 2011 and now per capita spends as much on political donations and campaigns as the US National Rifle Association (NRA).
According to The Sydney Morning Herald on 27 March 2019 the number of firearms in Australia is
dramatically higher than before the Port Arthur massacre that killed 35 people,
raising fears the gun lobby’s efforts to relax national restrictions are
bearing fruit. Pre-Port Arthur in 1996 there were est. 3.2 million firearms in
Australia, the post-Port Arthur gun buyback under theAustralian
National Firearms Agreement saw that number reduced to est, 2.5
million but by 2017 firearms held in the private hands had risen to 3.6 million.
Gun ownership
per capita has fallen reportedly since the Port Arthur massacre, with gun
number increases since 1997 reflecting the fact that multiple guns are now being
held by individuals. The highest numbers of gun owners appear to be in rural/regional northern
and central NSW. Grafton and environs is an area with 7,930 registered guns, spread across the collections of 2,043 owners, with
one individual owning 91 registered firearms according to The Daily Examiner on 12 April 2016.
Despite the
rise in gun possession since 1997 the number
of homicide incidents involving a firearm decreased by 57 percent between
1989-90 and 2013-14. Firearms were used in 13 percent of homicide incidents
(n=32) in 2013-14. In 1989-90 it was 24 percent (n=75) of incidents,
according to Crime
Statistics Australia.
By
2016 the overall number of firearm deaths from all causes in Australia stood at 247 for that year which was
a firearm death rate of 1 in 100,000 down from a rate of 3.4 deaths per 100,000 in
1990.
Thursday, 28 March 2019
“Every year, the world's five largest publicly owned oil and gas companies spend approximately $200 million on lobbying designed to control, delay or block binding climate-motivated policy”
Forbes, 25 March 2019:
Every year, the world's
five largest publicly owned oil and gas companies spend approximately $200
million on lobbying designed to control, delay or block binding
climate-motivated policy. This has caused problems for governments seeking to
implement policies in the wake of the Paris Agreement which are vital in
meeting climate change targets. Companies are generally reluctant to disclose
such lobbying expenditure and late last week, a report from
InfluenceMap used a methodology focusing on the best available records
along with intensive research of corporate messaging to gauge their level of
influence on initiatives to halt climate change.…..
The research also found
that the five companies listed support their lobbying expenditures with a
financial outlay of $195 million annually for focused branding activities which
suggest they support action against climate change. The most common tactics employed
are drawing attention to low carbon, positioning the company as a climate
expert and acknowledging climate concern while ignoring solutions. The report
said that the campaigns are misleading the public given that the companies
listed continue to expand their oil and gas extraction activities with only 3%
of spending directed to low carbon projects. Both Shell and Chevron rejected
the report's findings and reinforced their commitment to reducing greenhouse
gases and addressing climate change.
Since 2013
these tactics appear to have been quite successful in shaping the political
debate within the Liberal and National parties in Australia.
One again the Liberal-Nationals Coalition goes into a federal election campaign without a genuine climate change policy or a viable energy policy.
The fact that the fossil fuel industry made political donations to the Coalition of an est. $270,717 in 2016-17 and the top 10 fossil fuel donors gave a further est. $512,261 in 2017-18 can not be ruled out as a factor in the continuing absence of genuine climate change policies on the conservative side of politics,
The fact that the fossil fuel industry made political donations to the Coalition of an est. $270,717 in 2016-17 and the top 10 fossil fuel donors gave a further est. $512,261 in 2017-18 can not be ruled out as a factor in the continuing absence of genuine climate change policies on the conservative side of politics,
Cometh the rain, cometh the cane toads
Cane Toad eggs & tadpoles Image: The Conversation, 31 August 2011 |
The Daily Examiner, 25 March 2019, p.13:
With a solid drop of
rain falling in the coastal area of the Clarence Valley last Friday night, cane
toads will be taking up this much overdue opportunity to reproduce their kind,
much to the disappointment of those who are working hard to control this pest.
Landowners can help by
simply inspecting their dams, ponds and any temporarily flooded areas for toad
spawn (long strings of eggs that do not float and resemble jelly shoes laces)
or toad tadpoles (typically jet black in colour and seen ‘grazing’ in shallow,
warm water schooling in tight schools or clusters).
The consistent effort of
CVCIA volunteers and increasing effort by landowners at Micalo Island has seen
numbers of toads plummet over the last three seasons and this season to date
round-ups have collected an average of 328 toads compared to 397 and 764 in the
2017/18 and 2016/17 seasons, respectively.
The best time to inspect
such water bodies is during daylight hours when the sun is high and visibility
into the water is at optimum levels and anyone who believes they have found
toad spawn is encouraged to remove it immediately while other signs of toad
breeding should be reported to either Clarence Landcare on 66435009 or CVCIA
Landcare on 0477616210 or email scott@cvcia.org.au.
This Friday night CVCIA
Landcare’s effort will return to Yamba Golf Course where volunteers will meet
in the southern car park at 7.30pm and any interested persons are most welcome
to come along.
Adult Cane Toad Rhinella marina Image: Australian Museum |
Labels:
Northern Rivers,
noxious pests
Wednesday, 27 March 2019
Taking the xenophobic temperature of the NSW Northern Rivers region
These quotes below give an indication of what Pauline Hanson's One Nation political party (PHON) believes and acts upon.
Given the chance,
Pauline Hanson's One Nation will initiate a referendum to amend this race based
section of the Constitution. …We must rid ourselves of Native Title and just as
laws are made by and for the people so can they be amended…. Under One Nation
policy the issue of Aboriginality would no longer exist as benefits by virtue
of race would no longer exist. [Pauline Hanson, Longreach Speech,
11 September 1988]
I and most Australians
want our immigration policy radically reviewed and that of multiculturalism
abolished. I believe we are in danger of being swamped by Asians. [Pauline
Hanson, First Speech in Australian Parliament, excerpt, 1996]
The indigenous
population is experiencing boom growth in Australia. One only has to be
recognised as an Aboriginal community to be accepted as an Aboriginal.
Identifying as an Aboriginal has definite financial advantages, as
Aboriginality allows them to claim a share of the booty of the native title
scam as well as various other publicly funded perks not available to other
Australians. [Pauline
Hanson, Hansard, 2 June 1998]
Pauline Hanson has
compared Islam to a disease Australians need to vaccinate themselves against…..
"Let me put it in this analogy - we have a disease, we vaccinate ourselves against
it," she said on Friday. [The
Sydney Morning Herald, 24 March 2017]
The number of Muslims in
Australia doubled in the decade from 2006 to 2016 through immigration and the high
numbers of children born to Muslim families. If we do not draw a line
in the sand against immigration from Islamic countries, the influence of
Muslims in this country will continue to grow and Australia will continue down
the path of Islamisation. [Pauline
Hanson, Hansard,
17 August 2017]
Mark Latham could
be forced to pay out more than $100,000 in legal costs and damages after
agreeing to settle defamation proceedings brought against him by the ABC
journalist Osman Faruqi. Faruqi, a former politics editor of pop culture site
Junkee and a former Greens candidate, launched his libel action last year after
the former leader of the Labor party accused him of “aiding and
abetting Islamic terrorism” and fostering “anti-white racism in Australia”. The
comments were made across Latham’s Outsiders webpage, YouTube, the Rebel Media
webpage and a post on Facebook.
[The
Guardian, 26 November 2018]
One Nation NSW would force DNA tests on every
person claiming Aboriginal heritage to qualify for government assistance. NSW One Nation
Legislative Council candidate Mark Latham said the policy would weed
out "the blond-haired, blue-eyed Aboriginal". [Mark
Latham, 9
News, 12 March 2019]
Outlaw the new Left-wing
discrimination against men, boys, Christians and white people… [Pauline
Hanson’s One Nation, 10 Point Plan,
March 2019]
We’re not even allowed
to own guns in Australia for the self-protection of women….It’s insane. We’ve
been importing all these Muslims into Australia….Some really dangerous people. They are just breaking into people's homes with baseball bats and killing people. Basically, stealing everything they own. Gangs. Our county's going into chaos. [Pauline
Hanson’s One Nation Qld party official Steve
Dickson, YouTube, 26 March 2019]
Because there is little hard information and, what exists is not readily available, it is notoriously difficult - if not impossible - to work out the number of people who hold xenophobic or racist world views in any given population.
However, the NSW Legislative Council election on 23 March 2019 does open a window on that part of the Northern Rivers population who are 18 years of age and older and registered to vote in state elections.
The window exists because although no candidate from the far right, nationalist, Pauline Hanson’s One Nation stood for election to the NSW Legislative Assembly (Lower House) in the four Northern Rivers state electorates, PHON had 17 candidates standing for election in the NSW Legislative Assembly (Upper House).
State-wide PHON had received 220,847 votes or 5.93% of all 3.72 million Upper House ballots recorded as of 22:58 pm on 26 March 2019. [See: https://vtr.elections.nsw.gov.au/home]
So how did the Northern Rivers region fare in relation to the state percentage of voters who
were willing to support xenophobic and racist ideology only eight days after an
Australian was arrested for a murderous terrorist attack on worshippers in two
mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand?
In the Ballina electorate 1,713 voters
cast their first preference for Pauline Hanson’s One Nation in the NSW
Legislative Council – 3.66% of all Upper House ballots cast in that
electorate.
While the Clarence electorate saw 3.441 voters
cast their first preference for Pauline Hanson’s One Nation in the NSW
Legislative Council – 8.94% of all Upper House ballots cast in that
electorate.
And in the Lismore electorate 2,556 voters
cast their first preference for Pauline Hanson’s One Nation in the NSW
Legislative Council – 5.69% of all Upper House ballots cast in that
electorate.
At the same time in the Tweed electorate 1,933 voters
cast their first preference for Pauline Hanson’s One Nation in the NSW
Legislative Council – 6.76% of all Upper House ballots cast in that
electorate.
These figures appear to support the contention that there is a sub-population in the Northern Rivers region which is markedly ethnocentric and willing to vote for an openly racist political party.
This willingness has helped to elect former federal MP Mark William Latham as One Nation's first member of the NSW Parliament. He sits for a maximum term of eight years in the Upper House which will provide him with the protection of parliamentary privilege for some if not all of his frequently divisive nationalistic ideological statements.
Given that in past years a number of academic papers discussing the geography of racism have identified "Northern" NSW, the "North Coast", "Mid-North Coast" and "Richmond-Tweed" as having a relatively high number of markers for ethnocentrism and/or racism, one has to wonder if this current support for an openly racist political party represents more than just the ongoing existence of xenophobia and racism in Northern Rivers communities - that perhaps it might represent a widening acceptance and further entrenchment of such attitudes across the valleys.
This willingness has helped to elect former federal MP Mark William Latham as One Nation's first member of the NSW Parliament. He sits for a maximum term of eight years in the Upper House which will provide him with the protection of parliamentary privilege for some if not all of his frequently divisive nationalistic ideological statements.
Given that in past years a number of academic papers discussing the geography of racism have identified "Northern" NSW, the "North Coast", "Mid-North Coast" and "Richmond-Tweed" as having a relatively high number of markers for ethnocentrism and/or racism, one has to wonder if this current support for an openly racist political party represents more than just the ongoing existence of xenophobia and racism in Northern Rivers communities - that perhaps it might represent a widening acceptance and further entrenchment of such attitudes across the valleys.
The Great Australian Ugliness: how supporters of conservative political parties act on polling day
so at lunchtime I stopped at an IGA this is in the semi-rural seat of Hawkesbury on the very fringe of north-west Sydney and it has all these fridges and freezers stacked with south Asian food dahl and curries and samosas. The man at the counter is maybe 60yo wearing a turban— Ingrid M (@iMusing) March 25, 2019
A few hours later I am back on duty and the man from the IGA in the Sikh turban and his wife (I assume) who is also wearing clothes from her culture arrive and the Liberals and SFF who are all sitting together say go home Mohammad hahahaHAHAHA— Ingrid M (@iMusing) March 25, 2019
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