The left like to accuse the right of being mean. Apparently, we don’t care about meaningful things as much as they do. I disagree. I think we care just as much, actually more. And we are more adult, balanced, and sensible about this caring. Let’s look at some facts about the Gazan refugee intake into Australia, as presented by Australian mainstream media this week, from both the left and the right.
The ‘bible’ of the modern left (also known as The Guardian) says that from October 7 last year to mid-August, Australia has granted 2,922 visas to people from the occupied Palestinian territories. It quoted the organisation PARA, the Palestine Australia Relief and Action group, as saying almost all of those visas have been granted to family members of Australians, and that only an estimated 1,300 of those visa-holders have been able to make it to Australia, so far. Almost all of the visas are Visitor visas for three, six, or 12 months, under which you can’t work, study, or use Medicare.
The rejection rate was about 70 per cent with roughly 7,000 applications being declined. So, how do we compare to other countries’ Gazan refugee intake?
The UK has granted 168 protection visas to Palestinians and the US has accepted 17 Palestinian refugees in the same period. PARA has insisted that this is not really comparing apples to apples, because those figures relate to people who’ve been given full permanent asylum. PARA says other countries are far more generous than us. Reports in support of this fail to reveal how many temporary visas the US and UK have handed out, saying only that Canada has increased its cap from 1,000 to 5,000 but with no info about how many refugees have actually been taken into Canada.
Maybe the data was too hard to find… I had trouble when I tried to find it I must admit. But The Australian newspaper did report on a couple of things left out of the main story. For example, there’s the fact that almost 400 of the Australian visas issued were not merely tourist visas, or that Canada’s Immigration Minister said in June that only 254 Palestinians had received temporary visas and 41 had received family program visas. The Australian also reported that France, which had accepted 260 Gazans up to April of this year, requires applicants to submit visa applications and undergo biometric tests in Israel, making it technically impossible for them to apply.
Now, I don’t know about you, but I am personally getting rather tired of every single left-wing media outfit and every left-wing political party falling back on name-calling when they get emotionally upset about an issue but find themselves without a rational argument.
And it’s always ‘you’re a racist’, ‘Dutton is a racist’, ‘Trump is a racist’ – it’s almost always just plain wrong. If the racism card fails in a debate, the next step is to reach straight for the sexism card: ‘Stop speaking over a woman you misogynist!’
The perfect case study regarding accusations of racism came from last week’s parliamentary sitting during which independent Teal Zali Steggall made some choice comments about Opposition Leader Peter Dutton. The party, which presents itself as a mix of blue and green (but in my opinion is a little more green and red), appeals to wealthy, formally blue, Sydney electorates such as Warringah.
‘I would ask you to be silent! I have the floor!’ bellowed Zali Steggall across the parliamentary chamber, with all the venom of an enraged school teacher.
She was chastising Coalition MPs for interjecting as she was about to tell us a story about ‘the real victims’ of Gaza and why we should be letting thousands of Gazans into Australia.
On this issue, I have a question: Why do these refugees need to come half way around the world to a non-Muslim country built on Judaeo-Christian ideas, with a vastly different culture and language, to be resettled when there are numerous very rich Arabian oil states all around Gaza who feel very deeply for their Palestinian brothers and sisters? Don’t they?
Given what has transpired, many of us have little to no faith in our government and public service bureaucrats to screen these refugees carefully.
It may come as a huge surprise to certain sections of Parliament, but those of us who object to Gazan refugees are not racist or dumb. We know that 90 per cent of these people are probably fine upstanding citizens who just want to be left alone by big government to live in peace (how ironic). It’s the other 10 per cent we have to worry about. That is, the 300 out of 3,000 that might not be fine.
After Steggall asked Opposition Leader Peter Dutton to stop being a racist, he requested that it be withdrawn as ‘an offensive and unparliamentary remark’.
‘Is a description of language as being racist an unparliamentary remark?’ Zali questioned the Speaker.
So now the left want to tell us they are all for free speech, even if people take offence at it. I’m making note of that one.
Those standing on the left of politics have continued to lecture us as stupid, heartless right-wingers that need to have the ‘history’ explained to us.
‘To raise an inference that we are to fear anyone coming here, seeking refuge from Gaza, any Palestinians, that there’s an inference they are all terrorists, or they are all linked with Hamas. Now that is, that is a racist inference.’
We’re not heartless, we’re not racist, and we are definitely not dumb. I would contest that certain members of the left are being naive. Gazan refugees come from a culture massively different to ours. Many of them have been raised with ideas of hatred based on race and religion that are incompatible with our culture, yes plenty of people inside Parliament want to put them in Sydney tomorrow and think there will be no consequences.
Peter Dutton is owed and apology. He is trying to act responsibly and serve right-minded Australians.
Emotionally manipulative politics is something we’ve come to expect from the left.
We hear personal stories of families and victims which humanises a complex issue. Who can disagree with the premise that every child deserves a safe home and an education? Nobody. So it achieves the purpose of framing the argument so that your opponent looks like that is what they’re opposing. But they’re not, of course. They are opposing terrorism, security risks, and potential harm to Aussie kids.
This is important because the Liberal Party keep falling for this trick. Peter Dutton is the first person to stand up and call it out in a long while. No doubt he is constantly being warned against doing so by the lily-livered career politicians and advisers that dominate his party.
The left will then typically go for the jugular with some more moral grandstanding that’s totally off the point of the rational argument. They will then accuse their opponent of extreme moral offense.
Alarm bells should ring loudly every time you hear a left-wing politician call someone racist or sexist. Environmental vandal is another slur they like to use. Anything to stop the debate being rational, grown-up, or dealing with the facts of the matter.
Sadly, this works on many voters who are not grown-up, rational or know much about the facts of the matter.
Like the Democrats at the DNC in Chicago last week clapping and cheering wildly as extremely wealthy, privileged people like Oprah and the Obamas, claimed a special connection with the poor and middle class by virtue of a shared dose of melanin and manufactured tales of humble beginnings.
Donald Trump is of course, not a racist, as more and more African Americans are realising every single day. They’re waking up to the tired, old, lefty tropes by which the extremely rich and powerful elites of the left pretend to be champions of the underclass. They’re noticing. They’re noticing that they are not better off under them. They’re noticing that right-wing politicians are not cold and heartless but in fact care a lot more about other people and national success, wealth, opportunity and liberty for ordinary people than the left do.
Could this be the moment in history where the horrors of Marxism are finally put to bed forever? Where the masses finally stop falling for the divisive ‘us vs them’ nonsense of the privileged control-left? We can only hope and pray.
Damian Coory is the producer and host of The Other Side, a weekly YouTube video news and commentary show. www.youtube.com/@OtherSideAus
