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How a jesuit product turned a government into trappists

By Kevin Childs - posted Wednesday, 13 November 2013


Seldom has freedom of speech been under such an attack in Australia. This assault, however, does not come from anti-discrimination laws as the Murdoch brainwashing mob would have us believe, but from the Abbott Government's lockjawed approach to information.

From Scott ("See no boats") Morrison, to the hear-no-evil PM ("I have nothing to say on that") and his speak-no-evil Foreign Minister Julie ("Well, I am not at liberty to tell you") Bishop, this Government is taking an arrogant, high-handed approach to the right of the public to know what's going on. And they have no hesitation in dragging a presumably highly regarded military officer down with then as they do it.

While the right-wing commentariat fixates on trifling allegations that the Greens tried to silence Cardinal George Pell over therapeutic cloning and stem-cell research, Canberra's "nothing-to-say," rules go almost unnoticed.

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Almost that is, except for the Abbott cheer-squad masquerading as journalists at the American-owned national daily, who hold that Abbott's lack of public appearances will strike "the right chord with the public". Of course they dutifully wring their hands over whether Abbott's "excessive control and restraint on government actions" may give the Opposition a free kick and offer the perception of a do-nothing government.

Then there's the poor old model of a modern Major-General, Angus Campbell, trotted out by Morrison to give a robotic response: "I will not comment further in relation to on-water matters," three times in a row. At least he didn't have any difficulty remembering his lines.

But of course this is a disgraceful and insulting use of a military leader who must have more important and pressing business than to be a stand-up for Morrison's absurd stunt, codenamed Operation Sovereign Borders.

For those who may have missed it, here is an exchange from a Morrison-Campbell news conference It could have come from John Clarke and Bryan Dawe:

Journalist:Sorry, Minister, don't you think it shows a weakness in your leadership that you're constantly deferring to military officers to answer questions about your own portfolio?

Angus Campbell:I think I answered a question that is wholly within my responsibilities.

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Question:But it's the minister that is responsible for the overall operation.

Scott Morrison:Well, let me answer it for you as well. We don't comment on things that affect on-water operations.

Journalist:As I've just put to you, that - don't you think that, you know, it's a problem that you're the minister responsible for this entire operation...

Scott Morrison:Well, I don't agree with the presumption of your question.

Now we get it: the Minister is not responsible. It's poor old Campbell who carries the can (of worms).

The genius of Scott Morrison is revealed. Single-handedly he dumps the Westminster system of Ministerial responsibility. It would be unfair in the extreme to note that the on-water operations excuse simply doesn't hold water, but then that may be why a General was chosen for this gig rather than an Admiral, who may actually know something about water.

Dry-land Campbell, as we shall now know him, must pine for a quiet outpost in say, Afghanistan, where the chance of being shot or blown up by the Taliban seems preferable to the same being done to him by reporters.

One intriguing view on the Jesuit-educated Abbott's attempt at becoming a Trappist monk, and so assuming a vow of silence, is that it is a clever strategy because if refugees and boat people are ignored, the public will think the problem is solved. This is the view of behaviourial psychologist and Gruen Transfer panelist Adam Ferrier. So as Abbott strode, tight-lipped and eyes down past reporters asking him about the latest drownings at sea it did not, apparently, matter that he seemed utterly without compassion.

"All we see is all there is," Ferrier told ABC TV, in explaining how our brains work. Abbott, according to Ferrier, is insensitive, dogmatic and bullish, but he is also building hard-nosed credibility. Such a clever strategy "reinforces his brand," in adspeak.

The iron hand of Abbott extends to his ministers and backbenchers, who must clear any media outings with the PM's hardline apparatchiks. So again we have a callous cutting of freedom of speech and the right to know. But will it hold up?

Intriguingly, Ferrier believes that this "nonsense" won't last, not because the Ministers and others are devoted to free speech, but because they are showmen with big egos. This, to such psychologists, is because of the "mere exposure" effect. The more one is exposed something the more you like it, as shown by Kevin Rudd's devotion to TV appearances in a career initially given an enormous boost by, of all creations, breakfast telly.

While on the ABC and free speech, it is intriguing that it opens on-line column space to discredited Howard Minister Peter "Children Overboard" Reith. He was given a job to investigate fracking in Victoria and, surprise, surprise, found no problems. Reith apparently noted that the farmers are all happy campers, especially in Queensland. But, according to online comments, he may have overlooked his business connections with industries associated with energy supply or coal seam gas.

Then, again, he did defend the MPs' expense rorts sleaze as not a problem because they all work so hard. So that's all right, then.

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About the Author

Kevin Childs is a freelance journalist and author, and a member of the board of the United Nations Association of Australia, Victoria.

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Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

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