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The aftermath of the Marches in March have been too much for right wing commentator Chris Kenny’s gentle soul to take, and he’s walked away from the ugliness of the lefty-dominated Twitter. 

Profane, violent and sexist, these attacks usually emanate from anonymous or fake accounts. Both ends of the political spectrum dish it out but, given Twitter's strong green-Left bias, the slurs from the Left dominate, shouting down voices from the Centre Right and spreading the sort of personal hate we saw in the March in March protests last weekend.

Those placards about killing or retrospectively aborting Tony Abbott were shocking to see on our streets but such sentiments would hardly raise an eyebrow on Twitter.

Mr Kenny, like so many right wing figures before him, has proven that he just doesn’t know how to use social media. He was, until a couple of days ago, a frequent tweeter, and because his position is so staunchly pro-Coalition and anti-Labor/Greens, the response to his tweets was often strongly worded…and worse.

That’s Twitter for you.

He’s certainly not alone in being the target of some nasty treatment, but rather than walking away, why wasn’t Mr Kenny managing his Twitter feed? As soon as anyone indulged in unacceptable (as defined by Chris Kenny himself) tweeting, he has the facility to block them. Even Paul Murray, his conservative colleague at Sky News Australia recommended that he stop complaining and just block the offenders. That he didn’t do that strikes me as bizarre. He did not have to endure Twitter abuse; no-one does.

Piers Akerman, Chris Kenny, Alan Jones, Andrew Bolt

 In fact, there are plenty of left-leaning people on Twitter who are ready to engage in polite, reasoned debate - albeit with a little gentle mocking thrown in. Most high-profile conservatives, including Andrew Bolt, Alan Jones, Ray Hadley and Piers Akerman, don’t tweet. Chris Kenny was one of the few, and Australian political Twitterati will be diminished without his input.

It’s awkward to make an unbiased comparison with commentators from the left, as they don’t exist en masse. David Marr doesn’t tweet, although Mike Carlton does. Labor politicians are largely comfortable in the Twittersphere, yet Coalition politicians are discouraged from using Twitter. This imbalance could be why Mr Kenny perceives a Twitter bias favouring the left, and cutting himself off from the collected wisdom and flavour of day to day political tweeting is denying himself valuable insight. It’s not a socialist echo-chamber; ten minutes visiting the #auspol hashtag is all the proof he would need.

Mr Kenny’s Twitter rejection is all too reminiscent of the recent threat by Andrew Bolt to quit his career as a conservative commentator after Professor Marcia Langton blamed him, on QandA, for driving an aboriginal academic away from public life. Professor Langton later clarified her comments, and an apology was issued by the QandA programme for airing the comments.

But Bolt, the Australian conservative defender, used his column to have a mighty sook. It was a piece of psychological manipulation designed to whip his fans into a froth of protective fervour. 

And when Attorney-General George Brandis hotly insisted I was not racist, the ABC audience laughed in derision. Not one other panellist protested against this lynching. In fact, host Tony Jones asked Brandis to defend “those sort of facts” and Channel 9 host Lisa Wilkinson accused me of “bullying”.

That immediate reaction from the QandA studio is similar to the cadence of Twitter. The ABC audience did laugh and the panellists didn’t protest at the idea of Andrew Bolt being anything but racist – that should tell Andrew Bolt something about how he is perceived by an audience that identified itself as 48% Coalition and 48% ALP/Greens.

Of course Bolt didn’t quit, and I expect to see Chris Kenny back on Twitter sooner rather than later. After all, he hasn’t deleted his Twitter accounts, he hasn’t deleted his tweets, and despite this week’s decision, Chris Kenny enjoys the interaction, the profile, the discussion.

Compassionista versus Chris Kenny

According to Chris Kenny, the single reason 1200 terrified people died en route to Australia on rickety vessels belonging to people smugglers, is the lack of moral fibre of the left. Specifically, it’s down to the spineless attitudes of a bunch of lefty wusses he’s called ‘The Compassionistas’ in his blog. 

Apparently, the Compassionistas can’t see the dangerous imbalances in the people smuggler’s model, and are in favour of issuing an open invitation to the world’s most desperately hopeless souls, creating an inundation of refugees that would swamp our precious land.

Chief Compassionista is Jessica Rudd, who wrote in her new Brisbane Times column yesterday of her escape from the near-solid toxic air of Beijing, and spoke of kindness and compassion and the very Australianness of being welcome.

I have a fair idea why Mr Kenny had to invent a new label to describe these bleeding heart lefties – they are imaginary. Mr Kenny can’t see the difference between 1200 people who died at sea on their way to Australia, and one man, Reza Barati, who died while in our care on Manus Island. Therefore, those of us requesting an explanation for Mr Barati’s death are “moral poseurs” – a description I assume is somewhere in the realm of Chardonnay Socialist.

Mr Kenny wrote:

So there you go, protesting about the tragic death of one asylum-seeker in a detention centre riot seems far more important than the deaths of 1200 asylum seekers over the previous five years, not to mention the trauma and uncertainty 50,000 others faced in detention or on bridging visas.

While the existence of the people smuggling trade is entirely abhorrent, it is a reality. For all the talk about “breaking the people smuggler’s business model”, it’s not likely to happen. It is a demand-driven industry, and while people are being persecuted and murdered in their countries of origin, there will be a demand.

As Mr Kenny points out, the demand was there and they came in their tens of thousands, and some died on their way. But no-one makes asylum seekers board those barely seaworthy vessels to make the voyage to Christmas Island. That’s a choice made by each adult asylum seeker. Their deaths are heartbreaking, but they are not our responsibility.

Reza Barati made the same choice as every other asylum seeker who has boarded a vessel bound for refuge in Australia. He thought that on reaching Australia, he’d be safe. Australia would protect him – his life would not be in danger. At the very least, he’d be safe.

But successive Australian Governments – first Labor and now Coalition – denied him sanctuary in Australia, and sent him to Manus Island, an off-shore detention facility where we wouldn’t dream of housing our worst convicted criminals, but which costs the Australian taxpayers more than the equivalent amount of accommodation in a five star resort. We did that. Manus Island was not his choice any more than it was his choice to have his head bashed in multiple times by a lump of wood.

And it was not my choice either.

The Australianness that Jess Rudd wrote about is more than the various twists and turns of international law. The Government may think it’s shuffled responsibility offshore, but moral responsibility is not as easy to shift.

The fact that Mr Barati’s death is still being discussed and debated on social media and on talk shows is proof that many Australian people are not ready to let go of our morality.

Mr Kenny’s blog concludes:

Yes the moral posturing is far more important than proffering solutions. After all we have seen over the past five years it seems inconceivable that we could still be dealing with these attitudes. It makes me worry that all the horrors of this evil trade could one day be unleashed again – no matter how successful Scott Morrison is with the current operations.

Is it moral posturing because a few people on twitter failed to offer acceptable alternatives? I’m no expert on refugee policy, and neither is Mr Kenny, but here’s a thought: Let’s continue to light the dark. Let’s take this outpouring of emotion, this determination from the so-called Compassionistas and have a genuine conversation about how Australia wants to deal with asylum seekers and other irregular arrivals.  

Australia is not accepting nearly enough people in need. Throwing open the borders is not an option - even for Compassionistas - but the breadth of options between where we are now, and where we should be, is tinged with generosity and hope. 

The current Coalition policy to “Stop the Boats” is the wrong focus, the wrong policy and the wrong conversation. 

Let's talk about people.

CAAANBRA: Hide and Seek

For months and months the progressive/left twitterati has been quivering with indignation. Why has the mainstream media forsaken us? Why is the mainstream media giving Tony Abbott and the Coalition such an easy ride to the next federal election?


"It’s not fair!" we whinge silently. The ALP Government has done a pretty good job of governing in what is a hostile environment, but they have comprehensively failed at getting the message out. When they do something good, it’s invariably and unfairly overshadowed by something else, and that something else is often a relatively minor issue of Labor's own making. If you’re a Labor supporter, or even just an interested centre voter, you could be forgiven for thinking that the media favours Tony Abbott and the Coalition.

Everyone has a preference, a perspective, yet like almost everyone I know, I still harbour an expectation that The Media will be objective, fair and honest. I've known for decades that my belief is not always reality, but each time I turn on Fox News, I'm surprised by their partisanship.

The surprise in the Australian media is how the mainstream media can so blatantly support Tony Abbott when he so openly lies, fibs, backflips, flipflops, evades, obfuscates, goes silent and even walks away from the media when the questions get uncomfortable. And he gets away with it by continuing the same behaviour.

Australia's Conservative Media Stars

As columnist and academic Peter Van Onselen reminded us on his Sunday Agenda programme two days ago, it was 482 days since Mr Abbott appeared on the programme. Van Onselen is one of a handful of commentators who have commented in the past week or two that the Leader of the Opposition been getting a very easy ride and not being asked to explain his views. Van Onselen’s opinion piece in the Sunday Telegraph highlights the fickle series of stories Abbott’s been telling State Premiers about the GST disbursement.

When it comes to the GST, Abbott's going around the country telling states what they want to hear. But his comments are entirely inconsistent.

It seems that Mr Abbott is able to say no to repeated invitations to appear on a variety of current affairs shows – a luxury which will not continue beyond the next election, regardless of the result.

He has refused to appear on any of the major ABC current affairs programmes since he was disemboweled by Leigh Sales on 7:30 on August 22nd last year. Even worse, it’s approaching 1000 days since Mr Abbott has appeared on the ABC’s top-rating current affairs chatfest QandA.

But no! Ask Mr Abbott’s camp, and you’ll quickly learn he’s not avoiding the media. He's been giving interviews to stacks of regional and right-wing talk radio hosts, as well as the usual round of doorstop comments and quick pressers, usually accompanied by some combination of hi-viz, hairnet or hard hat. Mr Abbott even appeared with conservative commentator Chris Kenny on the Sky News weekly programme Viewpoint. Mr Kenny noted that so persistent are the calls for Mr Abbott to talk to the media, he raised the subject with Mr Abbott. It must’ve been like landing on a cloud of fairy floss.

CHRIS KENNY:

This is the issue that’s starting to develop for you though in that the Government’s had so much trouble, there’s a sense that you’re looking to skate into government without enough scrutiny as a small target opposition, not putting out your policies, your plan for the country. Now, a lot of your policy work is done. We hear that the IR policy and communications policies are ready to go. Why not get them out there so that the voters of Australia can have a look at them?

TONY ABBOTT:

Well Chris, let’s scotch this myth that there’s been no scrutiny of the Opposition. Every day there would be a half a dozen government ministers who come onto Sky News who do doorstops and interviews attacking the Opposition. I mean this is the most attacked, the most scrutinised Opposition in history because….

CHRIS KENNY:

….They do talk a lot about the Opposition, there’s no doubt about it, we hear AbbottAbbottAbbott from the Government, but what about the policy detail. You need to get an industrial relations policy out there for instance, we also need to know in detail what Malcolm Turnbull plans to do with the NBN. Get that detail out to the public; give the voters your vote of confidence that they can understand your policies.

TONY ABBOTT:

And all in good time Chris. Obviously we are not going to go to polling day with the voters in doubt as to exactly what will happen under a Coalition government. The last thing I want to do is be one of those politicians who says one thing before an election and does the opposite afterwards because that’s why we are in trouble as a political class. Too many members of the current Government – the Prime Minister in particular – have broken faith with the public and that’s the last thing that I will do. But I would, Chris, encourage people to read this book…they can get it online and it’s…

And on it goes, the non-answers, the lack of commitment. The full transcript is worth reading, just to note how often Chris Kenny sees that Mr Abbott is getting into difficulty in answering a question, and gently lets him off the hook and moves onto the next topic. At other times, he simply lets a scripted talking point stand, unchallenged. I’ll bet that Tony Abbott gets tougher questions from Margie than he got from Chris Kenny…which itself is to be expected. Despite a background in media, Mr Kenny spent a decade working in various Liberal Party roles, and even stood – unsuccessfully - for pre-selection to run for the Liberal Party. Chris Kenny is a Liberal Man, and there's a fair chance that should the Coalition form government in September, there will be a plum job somewhere in Canberra for Mr Kenny.

Tony Abbott, wrapped in plastic

Then, we moved to last night' Viewpoint panel. So weighted to the right was last night’s Viewpoint panel, it’s a wonder it didn’t tip my television over. Aside from Mr Kenny, there was

Lee Rhiannon - Greens

Bob Katter - Federal Conservative with his own party

Tim Blair - Conservative Columnist (News Limited)

Miranda Devine - Conservative Commentator

Rather than disproving the suggestions that Mr Abbott is avoiding serious interviews and interviewers, choosing to appear with Chris Kenny reinforces the belief that Mr Abbott is not comfortable across the desk from less sympathetic interviewers, answering tough questions.
And that’s fine. Not everyone excels at debating, and not everyone is comfortable in front of cameras. But no more excuses. Even Chris Kenny has admitted that if the Liberals have policies ready and costed, they should release them - and they are releasing the details of their NBN alternative today.

The problem for the Liberals is that the Prime Minister of Australia needs to have those debating skills, that confidence, ready to fire. Even those closest to Mr Abbott must concede that he is lacking, and that this situation cannot continue.

What's Wrong with Labor?

Not far beyond the half-way mark in the Gillard government, the consensus seems to be that the parliament has been nothing short of chaotic: scandal upon scandal, lie after lie. Pundits agree that this government is magnificently dysfunctional, when in fact, the Gillard Government has been passing legislation with quiet regularity. And yet, they have all but lost the election that won't be held for another twelve months or so.

The possibility that the ALP could win the next federal election lacks credibility in most quarters, and the newest national sport is hypothesising on what killed the Labor Party, and for those from the left, how to fix it.

Conservative commentator Chris Kenny proposed via on Twitter on May 15 that the ALP's woes are the result of being poll-driven.

Labor's whole problem is it is poll driven - even the claim it is not poll driven is poll driven #auspol

Bill Kelty, one of the godfathers of the Left, suggested to this week's ACTU Congress that they should look within: "...when he advised delegates not to blame the media or opposition because they are just doing their job, the meaning for all of us is that we control our own destiny with our own behaviour." There's more than a grain of truth there, but it's an insider's truth, not the whole truth.

Brisbane commentator Madonna King had a look at the situation in yesterday's Courier Mail. "Voters aren't taken with Tony Abbott, and they've now turned off listening to Julia Gillard." Ms King is correct, as far as she goes, but there's so much more to it, and Bill Kelty nudges it when he talks about making policy simpler for the electorate to understand and embrace.

For Labor, there is no easy answer, no single cause, and no silver bullet. An extraordinary convergence of events and personalities has conspired to...er...screw the Australian Labor Party with its pants on.

Circumstantial shots were fired by the GFC, ensuring that the Labor Governments of Rudd and Gillard would face economic challenges not predicted in the promise-filled days of campaigning. After years of Howard/Costello Budget Bonbons and Surpluses, the electorate was confused by talk of recession combined with stimulus handouts. It was seen as wasting our precious surplus when we needed it most.

History has shown that Wayne Swan's economic leadership through the darkest days of the GFC was masterful. Had he taken us in a different direction, Australia could well be fighting Greece and Spain for the title of Loser of the Week. But as the ALP has learned, it's almost impossible to get that triumphant economic message out.

Factors 2 and 3 in the ALP Real Life Disaster Movie are the Coalition and Media. Bill Kelty cautioned unionists not to blame the Opposition or the media, but it's foolish to discount their impact. Opposition Leader Tony Abbott is a skilled No-man, with a team of committed No-People behind him. So relentless, so fascinating is the Coalition's ability to undermine every Labor achievement, the media has no choice but to cover it, particularly when our articulate government ministers seek out a microphone and react every time the Noalition says anything. This is Labor allowing the Opposition to control the national agenda.

Who are the big media names in this country, the commentators with a personal following? Alan Jones, Ray Hadley, Andrew Bolt, Piers Ackerman, each of them aggressively conservative, with anti-refugee, anti-climate change, anti-gay rights agendas. There is no left-leaning equivalent with anything approaching the reach of these men.

Add to that Today Tonight and A Current Affair. They may not be overtly political, yet their lowest common denominator stories about undeserving asylum seekers living the good life, dodgy public officials and the appalling cost of everything, feed into the anti-government sentiment. Even as I write this blog, Today Tonight is promoting noted xenophobe Pauline Hanson's guest-starring role this week as another Caucasian making you mad at people who look like me.

Chris Kenny, journalist and Liberal party operative, suggests that the ALP downfall is because it is poll-driven. The assassination of Kevin Rudd's Prime Ministership had an element of poll-reliance to it, yet those poll numbers that Rudd had in mid-2010 would be a dream come true for Labor now. Why hasn't the ALP benched Julia Gillard? Perhaps they aren't as poll-driven now as they were two years ago.

What else do the polls tell us? Concern about the economy trumps all other policy areas, despite Australia's world-beating financial status. The latest Morgan poll on issues doesn't seem to determine ALP focus, but it does reflect the agendas of the right wing shock jocks.

Does all of this suggest that the Coalition is simply better at getting their message out via traditional means than Labor is?

The final, most disastrous element in the ALP's decline is the simple truth that the Party and it's traditional base are separated by an ever-widening ideological gulf. Bob Hawke can sing all the union anthems in the world, but it doesn't mean anything to the unionists who see "their" ALP slow-dancing with policies so far to the right that even Malcolm Fraser has to swivel his head to see them.

So there they sit, disgruntled unionists, disillusioned greenies, disenfranchised lefties of all kinds, wondering where their party went. Polls, media, an obstructionist opposition, a hung parliament, the GFC, climate change, asylum seekers and the rise in popularity of the raspberry macaron notwithstanding, the base is still there, where they've been all along. The ALP chased the centre, and in doing so, moved so far to the right that it's unrecognisable to grass roots lefties like me.

How does Labor fix the problem? Start by turning 180 degrees to the left and peering into the distance. There's literally hundreds of thousands of Aussies over here who'd like to have a chat.

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