One of the more odious facts of Offence Culture is that it doesn’t necessarily require anyone to be actually offended. Least of all the supposed “targets” of the alleged “offence”. The gimlet-eyed inquisitors of Offence Culture are always ready to be “offended” on someone else’s behalf.
Josh Frydenberg has apologised for “any offence taken” by members of the Indian community over his parliamentary lampooning of opposition Treasury spokesman Jim Chalmers’s support for a Jacinda Ardern-style “wellbeing budget”.
Except that no “offence” was taken.
Confederation of Indian Australian Association chair Vasan Srinivasan and Federation of Indian Associations of Victoria Sharad Gupta also rejected calls from Labor for Mr Frydenberg to apologise to the Indian community.
The pair released statements describing Mr Frydenberg as a “great supporter and friend of the Indian community”.
They said after viewing last week’s question time footage, it was clear Mr Frydenberg’s comments were “meant in jest” and aimed at Dr Chalmers.
“No apology is required nor has any offence been taken by the Indian community,” Dr Gupta said.
So, what offensively racist horror did Frydenberg spew?
“They (Labor) are inspired by their spiritual leader, the member for Rankin (Dr Chalmers),” Mr Frydenberg said in question time last week.
“I was thinking yesterday, as the member for Rankin was coming into the chamber fresh from his Ashram deep in the mountains of the Himalayas barefoot in the chamber, robes flowing, incense burning, beads in one hand, wellbeing budget in the other, I thought to myself: ‘What yoga position the member for Rankin would assume … to deliver the first wellbeing budget?’.”
So, he was making fun of virtue-signalling numpties babbling New Age nonsense in lieu of actual economic policies. The only people who might have been offended are Jim Chalmers – whom I’ve already mocked for his rainbows’n’unicorns nonsense – and Jacinda Ardern.
But they both deserve it.
Naturally, it was Australia’s most persistently unflushable parliamentary floater who launched into her characteristic flapping and squawking.
The comments [were] seized on by Kristina Keneally and Labor MPs on social media[…]
Liberal MP Dave Sharma, who is of Indian heritage, leapt to the defence of the deputy Liberal leader after Senator Keneally described Mr Frydenberg as “disrespectful” and attempted to link his comments to the government’s religious discrimination bill[…]
Mr Srinivasan said Mr Frydenberg had “humorously” targeted Dr Chalmers about “neo-hippie financial theories”.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/indian-community-found-no-offence-in-josh-frydenberg-joke/
Frydenberg’s only mistake here is apologising.
Never apologise to the offenderati: it only encourages the bastards.
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