Losing sight of our better nature

Australia has turned its back on many core ideals over two decades of social change, says Greg Barns

John Lawrence is a barrister who lives in Darwin. More relevantly, he was one of the lawyers who courageously fronted the ABC’s Four Corners program last year and exposed the cruelty of the youth detention system in the Northern Territory.

And recently, speaking at the Castan Centre, based at Melbourne University, Mr Lawrence described better than most the decline of Australia over the past two decades.

Since the election of John Howard in 1996 as prime minister, Australia has descended into a society that is today racist, bigoted and mean spirited. It is now the case that when one is overseas it is with reticence that one admits to belonging to this country.

If only one could sport a genuine Canadian accent or spin the line that one loves living in New Zealand, two nations with a much more open and liberal view of themselves and the world.

John Lawrence’s speech nailed the descent of Australia in his speech delivered on July 21.

He reeled off the litany of awfulness that is Australia today starting with the “toxic, dishonest and destructive relationship between the media and politicians of both parties that exploits the issue of law and order” to the point where, he says, the local newspaper in Darwin “calls children “dirtbags” in front page headlines.”

Then there is the overt “racism that exists and is countenanced in Australian society [and which is] at a level not seen in recent times.”

The treatment of former AFL star Adam Goodes and the brilliant young commentator Yasmin AbdelMagied “is living proof of that”, argues Lawrence.

Since the election of John Howard in 1996 as Prime Minister, Australia has descended into a society that is today racist, bigoted, and mean spirited.

Where 20 years ago, former Essendon footballer “Michael Long’s actions in combating racial vilification were, if anything, lauded by the Australian community,” Adam Goodes, “for outing racism, has been hounded out of the game.”

We are renowned across the globe for the cruel treatment of asylum seekers and we couple that, says Lawrence as “one of the world’s richest countries” continuing to reduce the foreign aid budget.

But what is so troubling is that too many Australians actually think that the peddlers of cruelty and prejudice like Immigration Minister Peter Dutton and Pauline Hanson are doing a good job. What does that tell us about Australians in 2017?

“Our citizenry have become less ethical than they were 20 years ago as a consequence of what has transpired during this period,” argues Lawrence, and he has a point.

And it might get worse, sadly. Because, while John Lawrence was describing the ills of this sad country, one of the few great courageous souls left the stage. Gillian Triggs, the Human Rights Commissioner, completed her term of office last week.

There are few, if any, in public life today who can compete with Professor Triggs for integrity, unwavering commitment to decency and extraordinary resilience. This woman stood, often alone, against the unrelenting assaults on human rights by the Abbott and Turnbull governments. The price Professor Triggs paid was the most sickening bullying by elements of the Australian media.

The Right-wing columnists and their outlets spewed forth bile and hatred against Professor Triggs because they loathed the fact that she tackled their support for the racists, bigots and cruel practitioners of modern conservative politics.

Neither John Lawrence nor Gillian Triggs are novices. Both have been involved in public life and public debates for many years. But, unlike far too many in the political and broader public class in Australia, they have not succumbed to the savage orthodoxy that has driven Australia since 1996.

There is a lesson in this for

younger Australians who share the despair about this country. Never abandon the fight, never compromise on the fundamental ideals of decency and compassion, and stare down the bullies and thugs who are ascendant in Canberra and the media today.

When history is written, which side do you want to be on: the side that resists change, wants to place barriers in the way of equality and panders to the prejudice and fear that lies within all of us; or the side that has among its members John Lawrence and Gillian Triggs and stands for genuine equality, human dignity and intolerance of reactionary conservative forces that divide society?

Those on the side of the former are footnotes in the history books or figures to be mocked and shamed. Those who support and prosecute the ideas and ideals of the latter are remembered as the decent human beings standing firm during dark times in the history of Australia.

The cesspit that is Australia today does not have to be.

But it requires courage and leadership to change it.

Standing up against the conservative forces is hard but it is worth it not only for those who do it but for the nation as a whole. Greg Barns is a barrister, author, political commentator, prison law reform advocate and former political candidate based in Hobart.