On citizenship
Barry Welch writes: Re. “Turnbull’s Aussie values theatre a dud remake of Howard’s original” (yesterday). If supporting genital mutilation is to be a barrier to Australian citizenship, the question of male genital mutilation for religious purposes as well as the abhorrent female genital mutilation must come into the mix. In that case Jesus Christ , himself a Jew, wouldn’t get an Australian jersey.
On journos who sued for defamation
Mr Kenny, along with the sort of conservatives with whom he agrees, believes that insults and bigotry directed at people of all stripes are only hurtful if the targets are so weak that they are unable to man up and take it. Objecting is just a confirmation of the critique against them.
So, it was not an unreasonable assumption on the part of the Chaser boys to believe that Mr Kenny meant what he said about free speech, and would accept a layered criticism for what it was. Of course, instead, Mr Kenny claimed to be deeply hurt.
They missed the point that the argument was never about free speech. The goal that commentators like Mr Kenny are all about is removing from the public space opinions with which they disagree.
News Corp, for which Mr Kenny works, is assiduous in persecuting people who dare to put their heads above the parapet and challenge the views of that organisation. It may have come as a surprise to citizens who expressed an opinion on Q&A to find that News Limited journalists then investigated their background and published any private information that might diminish them. The most obvious example of this is their treatment of Gillian Triggs, their publication of very personal details of her family life, and their obvious rage that she did not disappear under their withering and extraordinary persecution.
The vehicles for the objection of Mr Kenny and the right are two-fold. Firstly the objection to section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, and secondly, the disparagement of any objection to their agenda as just political correctness.
In the first case, they reference the QUT students and Bill Leak as examples of the appalling consequences of section 18C. This is the first time in living memory that News Corp has stood up for the rights of students to free speech. Mr Leak drew racist cartoons, but was upset at being called out for that, rather than manning up as generally required by News Limited of other folk. Then he died, confirmation on the part of Mr Kenny and his running dogs that section 18C must be repealed.
Mr Kenny argued in a recent debate that the decommissioning of an obsolete coal-fired generator in South Australia that had run out of coal was an example of political correctness. Enough said.
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