Tanya Plibersek’s Support for Patriotism and Freedom is Laughable
Deputy Federal Labor Leader Tanya Plibersek last night gave the New South Wales Labor Party’s Sixth Annual Wran Lecture. During her address she claimed that the left and progressives can be patriots as well “The hard right have long sought a monopoly privilege on Australian patriotism, but they’re wrong” adding “You can be a progressive and love your country: I do. You can cherish this nation and yet want to make it better: all of us in this room do”.
This claim from Plibersek is truly laughable as love of country is something the left has constantly attacked and denigrated. This year they have ramped up their attacks on our national day Australia Day labelling it Invasion Day and staging protests in our major cities with the cries of ‘no pride in genocide’. If you attack our nation’s very founding that is the opposite of patriotism. This has not just been the views of your socialist street protesters, but several Inner Melbourne Councils with Labor Councillors have cancelled their Australia Day celebrations in recent months.
Plibersek also seems to have forgotten that her leader Bill Shorten has let his MPs indulge the idea of changing Australia Day and even suggested modifications to our colonial statues that were recently vandalised so that they are more sensitive to the indigenous population. Labor has also opposed the government’s proposal to put an Australian values test as part of our citizenship requirements. The left is constantly telling us there is nothing special about Australia and adopts a moral and cultural relevant approach to our values when compared with other nations.
Plibersek stated that the advancement of rights must not benefit “the already elite and powerful”. We agree on that but probably she has a different definition of who are the elite and powerful. Plibersek and her friends in academia, the media and the arts are the elite who constantly talk down to the ordinary Australian who they believe don’t know what is good for them and limits need to be placed on them to control their wicked ways
Plibersek also claimed to believe in freedom of speech decrying that “real freedom of speech issues” are being ignored. Then in the same speech ridiculed the free speech rights of someone like Mark Latham “we have all grown weary… by Latham complaining to the few remaining people clicking on his Facebook page that his rights as a white, male with a generous taxpayer-funded pension, are apparently under constant and fierce attack”. So Plibersek claims to be a patriot and believe in freedom but mocks the freedoms and self-worth of the white population?
Plibersek stated, “Surely the most fundamental right of all is the right to be free from violence and intimidation”. I’m pretty certain violence against a person is illegal already in Australia, as for intimidation with the rise of the snowflake generation being triggered by hearing something that hurts your feelings counts as intimidation. If someone is offended by a person’s statement how is making a law to stop the offence consistent with free speech?
We will believe Plibersek claims about being a patriot and believer in freedom when she starts calling out threats to our nation and its freedoms and not dismissing the concerns of Australians as fueled by ignorance and racism. If you want your statements to be taken seriously, talk more about what is good about Australia and stop attacking our institutions and history.
