Anti-vaxxer visa ban exposes mixed messages on censorship

Government picks and chooses over visas to suits itself, writes Greg Barns

IN June this year the Federal Government blocked Muhammad Manwar Ali, who lives in the UK and who many years ago fought alongside jihadist groups in Afghanistan and other places, from attending Dark Mofo.

Last week it was the turn of an anti-vaccination campaigner Joan Shenton, coincidentally also from the UK, and the maker of a film to be shown in this country in August called Sacrificial Virgins. Ms Shenton has also had her visa blocked by the federal Government’s Immigration Department.

The denial of freedom of speech which is implicit in these actions is deplorable. Not only because it makes a mockery of the claims of conservatives that Australia is burdened by oppressive political correctness when it comes to expression of views and values, but because while the harmless Mr Ali and Ms Shenton are blocked from entering this allegedly liberal democracy, the Turnbull government, with little or no opposition from the ALP, allows climate change deniers and human rights abusers to not only enter Australia, but to be feted by media, interest groups and even governments.

Ms Shenton’s antivaccination message is perceived to be dangerous and the Australian Government presumable thinks the public has the collective mind of a flock of sheep. To allow Ms Shenton to show her film at the handful of cinemas it is scheduled to run in across the nation, and for her to be interviewed in the media or even to talk to a member of the Australian community will apparently lead to large-scale insurrection against the compulsory vaccination scheme that operates in Australia.

If the Turnbull Government was consistent then it would likewise ban climate change deniers from being granted visas to spruik their message. The need to combat climate change through government and community action is just as urgent and based on sound science as is the requirement for parents to ensure their children are properly inoculated against dangerous diseases.

But is anyone aware of any climate change sceptic or denier being prevented from entering Australia? The answer is no because it has never happened. But why not? Climate change deniers are as kooky, or “stupid” as Pope Francis puts it, as anti-vaxx campaigners.

And what about the nutty Right’s latest poster boy, a previously obscure Canadian academic called Jordan Peterson? He was in Australia in March this year, lining his pockets by spruiking a message that blames women, blacks and anyone else who is not male, stale and pale for wrecking the world. Or as Tabatha Southey, writing in Macleans in November last year put rightly put it; “What he’s telling you is that certain people—most of them women and minorities—are trying to destroy not only our freedom

to spite nonbinary university students for kicks, but all of Western civilization and the idea of objective truth itself. He’s telling you that when someone tells you racism is still a problem and that something should be done about it, they are, at best, a dupe and, at worst, part of a Marxist conspiracy to destroy your way of life.”

Now let us turn to the other example of visa hypocrisy by Canberra. Mr Ali is no threat to Australia. He is now an exjihadist. His youthful folly is long behind him. Dark Mofo was right to invite him to a festival which does not adhere to default censorship of many Australian talkfest organisers, spooked as they are by threats from the powerful Israel lobby.

But while the Turnbull government said no to Mr Ali we know that it allowed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit last year. This is the leader who is responsible for the killing of innocent men, women and children who are forced to endure statelessness and perpetual impoverishment on the West Bank and Gaza Strip. This is the Prime Minister who routine breaches international law by allowing illegal settlements to be built by Jewish settlers.

The ALP feted Mr Netanyahu just as slavishly as did the Turnbull Government. But then let’s face it, both the Turnbull Government and federal ALP support the daily physical and mental abuse of asylum seekers in the gulags of Manus Island and Nauru.

Do not think for a moment that conservatives believe in freedom of speech. They do not. They censor individuals and views routinely and one of the most effective means of carrying out that practice is through the visa system. The examples given here are merely the tip of the iceberg.

In a truly liberal society there would be intellectual consistency when it came to issuing visas for individuals who wish to advocate particular views. Outside of preventing hate speech and racism the visa system should never be used to censor views the Government does not want to hear.