When a delegation of Aboriginal activists in 2008 booed and turned their backs, en masse, on then opposition leader Brendan Nelson in Parliament House, the left lashed them as ‘disrespectful’, ‘rude’ and ‘childish’.
No, wait, of course they didn’t. These were Aborigines we’re talking about: so naturally the left fawned over it all. It was all ‘stunning and brave’ gushing about “overdue” and “it felt good”.
It’s only when One Nation senators silently turned their backs during yet another fatuous ‘Welcome to Country’ ceremony, that the left let loose with unhinged fury.
A group of senators who turned their backs during an Acknowledgement of Country inside the federal parliament have been described as childish.
The four One Nation senators protested in the chamber when the statement of respect for Indigenous Australians was read out as part of the traditional ceremonial opening of parliament on Tuesday.
Labor Cabinet minister Clare O’Neil lashed the Pauline Hanson-led party, saying it was disappointing their action became a point of focus, despite the shows of unity earlier in the day during Welcome to Country ceremonies.
“It was disrespectful and rude and childish,” she said.
“Shows of unity”, from whom? From Labor, only, that’s who. Everybody else is sick to death of it. Including, as more and more opinion polls are showing, the majority of Australians.
Senator Hanson argued the Acknowledgement of Country was “divisive” and “increasingly forced”.
“We took this stand because we’re listening to Australians, hardworking, decent people who are sick of being lectured to in their own country,” she said.
“They’re tired of being made to feel like outsiders. Tired of tokenistic rituals shoved into every meeting, every ceremony, every public event, while real issues like the cost of living and housing are brushed aside.
“There were at least three acknowledgements performed in parliament today that I’m aware of. These divisive performances aren’t about respect anymore. They’ve become a political routine that divides rather than unites.”
When all else fails, Labor simply trots out the lies.
But Ms O’Neil said the party still should have treated all Australians with respect.
“Whatever your views about the Welcome to Country – we’ve got First Nations people who have been invited to come to parliament, to extend that hand of friendship and invite us and talk about 65,000 years of heritage that they bring to our beautiful, great country,” she said.
What an absolute load of steaming crap. This “65,000 years” claim, no matter how often the left parrot it, is nothing more than made-up malarkey that contradicts all the scientific evidence.
But ‘made-up malarkey’ describes ‘Welcome to Country’ in a nutshell. It was made up from nothing in the mid-’70s, and everyone knows it.
But it’s not in the interests of dodgy activists who are too busy trousering thousands of dollars a pop for these phony theatrics to tell the truth.
[Hobart] Councillor Louise Elliot has likened the Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country traditions to “religious rituals”, which she said were being forced on people “against their will”.
Enter the Gimmigimmiwannit tribe.
[Nala Mansell], the campaign coordinator for the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre and a Palawa woman, said this logic was simply incorrect.
I see Nala’s sporting black hair, these days. The blonde look, along with her blue eyes, must have been a bit too obvious? Maybe she goes to the same hairdresser who used to perm Nala’s dad’s hair, back in the ’70s when he started publicly campaigning as an ‘Aborigine’.
Got to keep up appearances, lest people start noticing too much.
