Mark Seymour writes about the Covid-19 vaccination.

Author:  Mark Seymour.

Date: 6 May 2021.

Original URL: N/A.

Article Text

‘The Jab’

A couple of years back I happened to let two words slip on stage, right before the end of a gig in Brisbane.

‘Scott Morrison.’

I was most likely passing comment on the cruelty of detaining asylum seekers indefinitely on Manus and Nauru and ‘Scott Morrison’ had something to do with that, given he was responsible for ‘sovereign borders’..

which proved to be a roaring success.

Shortly thereafter I received a personal email from a bloke who was there that night, admonishing me for having a crack at Morrison given ‘sovereign borders’ had saved lives. What’s more a mate of his who was also there, was a Fed who’d pulled dead bodies out of the water..

Essentially he was telling me I didn’t know what I was talking
about, and I was ‘playing the man’.

Yep. To that last bit I admit..

But from this I’ve learned a few things..

Several years of refugee advocacy by me and many others has had zero political effect..

If by that you mean convincing Australians to vote in particular way..

There are many who believe to this day that being tough on borders.. no matter how cruel the methods, is justified.

For two reasons:

It makes them feel safe and it stops people from drowning.

I note that the family from Biloela are STILL on Christmas island.. three years later.

Which still make no sense to me.. other than that it is cruel..

Snow flake that I am.

But more importantly, for my own sanity, there are two words I never mention on stage anymore and they are..

“Scott Morrison”.

Forgive me for being crude but why shit where you eat?

The truth is, the very name of the prime minister has come to be associated with so many mixed messages that actually mentioning it on stage confuses people and offends many.

So no more of that.

But right now, this is not a gig. So I’m free to say stupid things.. without disrupting the flow off musical harmony..

It is undeniable that extreme border measures have delivered a huge political dividend to Scott Morrison.

Especially when other things haven’t been going too well.

I call it ‘Punch and Judy” politics. When in doubt, point at something else.

“Don’t look here.. LOOK OVER THERE!”

There’s nothing accidental about this. Morrison constantly deflects. after all, he doesn’t hold the hose.. That’s what makes an emergency so politically effective. It’s nobody’s fault. So when one arrives, give it as much oxygen as possible.

But what was so hard to argue back then was that the cruelty itself was wrong. Just that.

And that border policy should try to avoid it.. surely?

Finesse your methods.. find humane ways through. We had options and by simply advocating that, you could somehow sway the crowd.

Are you kidding?

In the end I couldn’t help thinking there were many of us who approved of the cruelty itself..

Exactly how many remains a mystery..

Not a pleasant thought.. and I’ll admit, I got sick of having it.

But see, right now, how do you explain why this government would go so far as to impose criminal sanctions against Indian-Australians to deter them from flying home? Including a five year gaol term..

When merely banning flights accompanied by selective charters.. or even using the defence force to bring the most vulnerable home.. NOW..

Surely that would be entirely doable?

Answer: Why fuck around when you can use a sledge-hammer?

Hang on a sec.. Didn’t Morrison take a special course in empathy? That we paid for? And made sure everyone knew he had?

But then he announces on the Today Show that the likelihood of imposing such penalties was highly unlikely anyway.

So why announce them in the first place?

OPTICS of course… because there will be voters who approve.

Sounds extreme right?

But hey..

How do you explain the fact that we spent billions on off-shore detention and yet this government has steadfastly offloaded COVID quarantining to the states, even though constitutionally it’s their job?

So if there’s a leak, you can’t blame them right?

Wow. How good IS Scott Morrison?

The VAXX roll out has been a shambles..

Hang on..

We’re still tough on borders right? There’s always that..

By the way comrades, on a brighter note

I got the JAB…

x

Comments

N/A.