Australian prime minister SmugMo is a Trump disciple.
Consistent with the ongoing conservative strategy that ‘Australia is not like America, so there should be no anti-racism protests here’, Australian prime minister Morrison stated today that “there was no slavery in Australia.’
This statement is incorrect.
Although slavery was never legal in Australia, in practice convicts, Indigenous Australians and Pacific Islanders were all victims of forced labour. Slavery was never legal, but it was in widespread practice, denied by the politicians, enforced by the police, and ignored by the judiciary.
The nonsense ‘logic’ of SmugMo’s argument reminds me of the claim that Australia was never, and could not be, invaded and occupied by whites, because the land was terra nullius (It was a principle sometimes used in international law to justify claims that territory had no local occupiers and may be acquired by a state’s occupation of it).
Despite the fact that indigenous people could be seen. Of course!
Er, but so not terra nullius!
Why would SmugMo make such a ridiculous claim??
There are two broad reasons for it:
Either SmugMo is ill-informed, uneducated, or ignorant (not aware of the facts),
Or he is being intentionally deceptive, perhaps driven by ideology, he is aware of the truth, the facts, but rejects it, and seeks to re-write history with a narrative consistent with his ideological views.
In either case, we are talking about the prime minister of Australia.
And he is either ignorant and uninformed, a fool, or an ideologue and a cynical manipulator.
God help us.
He rails against Fake News. Yet he speaks Fake News.
The George Floyd murder, the right to protest, and police above the law.
The current protests in America reflect decades of racism by the police, and decades of inaction by politicians.
The George Floyd murder was not an isolated example, and nor are the protests a knee-jerk reaction, but a culmination of generations of institutionalized racism, of unaccountable police misconduct and political indifference.
The citizen has a right to protest, and a right to respond with violence where violence has been used against them. To deny citizens that right is to say the citizen must always be a victim, must always be powerless and subservient, must always be obedient and uncritical, must never hold to account incompetence, ignorance, or malfeasance.
How have the so-called authorities responded to the protests?? Do they acknowledge that an underlying problem exists? Do they propose to address those issues by action and solution?
No, the so-called authorities respond with threats against the protestors, and obfuscation as to reasons for the protests –denial and lies. In doing so, the so-called authorities clearly show themselves to be the enemy –they deny what is obvious, reject accountability, and are entirely disinterested in fixing what is broken. Indeed, we have the absurdity of the so-called authorities bringing in the army to enforce denial and lies! If reason, evidence, and argument, or even goodwill and in good faith, and a sense of justice and fairness, cannot force the so-called authorities to address the issues, what is one left to do??
And remember, without a video of the murder, the so-called authorities would have ignored the case, as has happened on many occasions previously. Neither evidence and reason, nor fairness and compassion, sway the so-called authorities. Given that, protest is unavoidable, and violent protest understandable.
I am white, and I am an Australian. I support the black protests in America. And, as indigenous Australians continue to be patronized or ignored by racist governments — for example, 16 times more likely to be jailed than whites, and 17 times more likely than whites to be killed by police or die in custody– I would support similar black protests in Australia.
‘Better to die on your feet than live on your knees.’
https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/30/us/minnesota-police-actions-public-anger-trnd/index.html
And then there’s footage of a NSW police officer using excessive force in the arrest of a 16yo indigenous youth (but no charges were laid against the youth).
NSW Police Commissioner Fuller said the police officer was just “having a bad day. ” (But if I’m caught speeding by only 1 klm/h over the speed limit, tho I’m having “a bad day”, does the police officer give me a speeding ticket? Yes!).
“There were words exchanged between them, which caused the constable to react and whether or not that reaction is appropriate is subject to that investigation,” Assistant Commissioner Willing said. (The constable plainly over-reacted, clearly acted inappropriately. The police officer needlessly escalated the situation.).
Police investigating police?? Oh ok, I’m sure then we have the outcome of the investigation before the investigation begins! The investigation must be INDEPENDENT.
Denial and lies, denial and lies! The person is not fit and proper to be a police officer, and should be held criminally liable, charged with assault. Are the police above the law?? Note the two female police officers present who aided and abetted the assault; neither of them said anything to the male police officer regarding his conduct, nor attempted to intervene –I suspect that if the male police officer kicked or stomped on the head of the handcuffed youth, they still would have said nothing, and done nothing! Indeed, if there was a claim of excessive police force, they would have lied and denied that, and worked to cover it up! Are the police above the law? In regards to the many hundreds of indigenous deaths in custody in Australia, and despite evidence that something disturbing and untoward occured in the vast majority of these cases, and evidence of an apparent cover-up –records not made, records having being altered, records lost– not even one police officer has faced even one criminal charge. Really??
Redfern Legal Centre solicitor Samantha Lee said she found the video “excruciating” to watch.
“Not only is this police conduct unacceptable, but it is downright dangerous,” Ms Lee said.
“This is a use of force in a scenario where force should not have been used.”
Ms Lee said the matter could be taken up in a criminal court, or become the subject of a civil case against the police if force was deemed to be unreasonable.
She said the conduct was damaging not only to the young person involved, but for community relationships in general.
“Aboriginal young people in particular are disproportionately policed not only in NSW but across Australia,” Ms Lee said.
“They are a very vulnerable crowd and it’s time that this particular type of police practice is put to an end.”
But Samantha, you do not understand, the so-called authorities always respond with denial and lies . . .
denial and lies!
threats and unaccountability!
It must be said, by every measure I have seen, indigenous Australians are in a far worse position than black Americans –whether that be life expectancy, education levels, rate of chronic illness, rate of unemployment, rate of imprisonment, rate of death by police and in custody, or whatever. The facts are clear and proven, and the evidence should be undeniable.
It is only a matter of time before the world turns its attention to the fetid denials of white Australia in regards to the ongoing racism against our indigenous people.
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