While many on the right are frustrated with the seemingly leftist direction of the Turnbull government, there are signs every now and then that they do stand for something. Despite the constant campaign to legalise same sex marriage via a parliamentary vote even Turnbull himself as stood firm on their election commitment to hold a plebiscite on issue. In the face of the plebiscite legislation being blocked by the left-wing parties the government so far has indicated that is the end of the matter in this term of parliament.

Despite the fact that Australian law still has the traditional definition of marriage it would appear based on the bias of the mainstream media in favour of same sex marriage, the influence of the LGBT lobby in public discourse and the power of social media activists that actually believing the current law should remain is an act of hatred.

Of course, this past week we have learned that even conducting a civil debate on the issue is not allowed. We saw what happened when the Bible Society of Australia released a video debating same sex marriage featuring Tim Wilson and Andrew Hastie over a Coopers Premium Light Beer. The reaction from the left was to call for a boycott of Coopers and leave abusive comments and negative reviews on their social media pages.

Coopers naively thought all they were doing by sponsoring the video was making a contribution to the public discourse. They clearly knew nothing about the viciousness of the leftie lynch mob and it became too much for Coopers and they released a painful apology video where they pledged to support ‘marriage equality’. It is also worth noting that the original Bible Society video has been deleted from their channel. It is easy to call them cowardly for this but we shouldn’t be too harsh on Coopers as it is clear they were unaware of the leftist outrage accompanying anything that goes against the politically correct norm.

We learned later in the week that businesses were allowed to have a position on same sex marriage, just only in favour on it. Australian Marriage Equality has for many years had a list of business on their website that support their campaign. But this week 30 CEOs of major Australian corporations such as Telstra, ANZ, Qantas and Holden signed a letter to Malcolm Turnbull calling on his government to legislate ‘marriage equality’. Their argument in favour of it is that it is good for their LGBT employees’ mental health and they wish the debate to be over so we can move on to more important economic matters.

It is interesting to note that Australian businesses seem to be more interested in lobbying our government on social justice issues rather than pressing for economic reforms that our nation desperately needs and which are in their own financial self-interest. This letter shows just how effective the left has become in bullying everyone in senior positions to submit to their agenda. This isn’t the only issue business has buckled on as most banks are no longer willing to lend to coal projects.

Thankfully the federal government was having none of it, well one minister in particular was scathing. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton gave big business a spray on Ray Hadley’s 2GB program stating his government would not be bullied on the issue and added ‘’the social issues – and as you say whether it’s gay marriage or anything else – leave that up to the politicians, to the leaders, to talkback hosts like yourself, to normal people who can have those discussions without the millions of dollars being thrown behind campaigns because somehow it makes the board feel better or meets their social obligation that they’ve got.”

On Saturday at the LNP State Conference in Queensland he stepped up his attack, reserving special criticism for Qantas CEO Alan Joyce “If Alan Joyce and any other CEO wants to campaign on this or any other issue in their own time and on their own dime, good luck to them,” then added “It is unacceptable that people would use companies and shareholders money of publicly listed companies to throw their weight around,” and they should “stick to their knitting’’.

Big business responded saying they would not be silenced on the issue with Australian Super Chair Heather Ridout saying “This letter was signed in good faith by people who have Australia’s interest first and we don’t have to sign this letter but I think it is important that people stand up for reforms like this which are really important for the social fabric of the country’’. Qantas in an official statement said it would still campaign on social issues “Qantas speaks out on a number of social issues from Indigenous recognition to gender diversity and marriage equality,’’ “We do so because we believe these issues are about the fundamental Australian value of fairness and we’re the national carrier’’.

Many on social media have criticised Dutton for his attacks on big business arguing how can he be a supporter of free speech when he doesn’t believe companies should speak freely on issues they feel passionate about? Again, this is misunderstanding the concept of free speech. Dutton is not proposing to pass a law to ban businesses from speaking on issues such as same sex marriage, instead he is using his free speech to point out that the nation would be a lot better if these companies focused on their actual business operations such as delivering better goods and services for Australians rather than virtue signalling on this issue so they can feel fuzzy inside.

Dutton’s comments are important because as the Coopers episode demonstrates many of these businesses would feel threatened by activists that if they did not sign up to support same sex marriage they would be subject to a boycott. Telstra last year tried to withdraw its support from same sex marriage but was bullied back into signing up.

Dutton is doing his best to try and break this leftist stranglehold they have on the business, cultural and educational leadership. He ought to be commended for his strong words and for once again putting his neck on the line to stand up for what a lot of us for thinking. He has not once backed down in his role as Immigration Minister despite leftist calls for his resignation. It is no wonder that he is viewed as potential next leader of the Liberal Party.

Businesses are free to support whatever cause they want, however the problem in the same sex marriage debate is that only one side seems to be allowed to put their view forward. If businesses are going to enter into the debate over social issues they should be unafraid to state what they truly believe instead of caving in to the leftist charade. Instead of thinking that a politically incorrect view is prohibited in today’s society, businesses should stand be allowed to stand up for traditional marriage as there is a sizeable majority that supports that position.

But overall the politicisation of businesses is not a good development, we shouldn’t have to research before we purchase an item if the producer supports our political beliefs. We should be buying a product because it is the best quality and cheapest price. Wouldn’t it be great if a company when pressured to support a cause like same sex marriage responded ‘screw you and shove it! We are a business, not a bloody social justice organisation! Now get lost!’ Peter Dutton once again is the sole voice of reason in this increasing politically correct nation of ours.

Author Details
Tim Wilms is the Founder and Editor in Chief of https://theunshackled.net. the Host of Tim’s News Explosion, the WilmsFront interview program and The Theorists with Andy Nolch. He based in Melbourne, Australia where he also conducts field reports.
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Tim Wilms is the Founder and Editor in Chief of https://theunshackled.net. the Host of Tim’s News Explosion, the WilmsFront interview program and The Theorists with Andy Nolch. He based in Melbourne, Australia where he also conducts field reports.