If Hate Is the Path, What Is the Destination?
As I have written previously in this column, it feels like there is a real tension in the air for we as a people. The tension is fuelled by hatred and fanned along with the voices of some in the media, some politicians, some social influencers and some other voices that pretend to be community leaders.
But where does that hate get us to? And what would end that hatred? And whose definition of what is hate-worthy is the more important one?
Hate and fear are the two easiest emotions to tap into. Joy and laughter and celebration are so much harder.
So, when a voice comes along and creates a fear for us, then points the finger at the cause of the fear and tells us that we should hate that thing, it all fits a simple and easy emotional response.
One of the growing bonfires of hate, that is being stoked and fuelled at the moment, is racism. The fear that is being created is that our collective way of life is under threat. The finger is pointed at immigration. The outcome is that we are being told that we should hate all those that immigrate, if we “really care” about our country.
I do wonder at what point the hatred of an immigrant ends. Are the Australian born children of immigrants Australian enough? And if not, are the grandchildren of immigrants Australian enough? Or perhaps the great-grandchildren of immigrants, are they Australian enough? I could go on, but I won’t.
My paternal grandparents were Scottish and moved to Australia. As a small boy, I could hardly understand my grandmother when she spoke. Am I Australian enough?
It is not lost on me that the immigration storyline of my grandparents includes white people, speaking English (of a sort) and belonging to a mainstream Christian church. So, I do wonder, is it these things that matter in the question of me being Australian enough?
Is my skin colour the important element in what it is to be Australian, to those who are fanning the flame of racism? Is it the religion that has been at the core of my family tree that makes me Australian enough, for those that want to stoke the fire of racism? Or perhaps, is it the fact that I have an English-speaking family history that is key?
At the moment, those with loud voices and access to a microphone, are clearly telling us to have fear and hatred of those that are not white, or that speak English as a second language, or that have a religion that is not Christian.
We as a people should not give in to this.
Afterall, what would I do if those same loud voices decided that they no longer liked those of us with a Scottish ancestry; or that the English spoken by Scottish immigrants was not clear enough to be counted as “one of us” several generations later; or that because I am an atheist I no longer meet the test of what it is to be Australian enough?
I wonder what our Aboriginal people make of all of this.
Cessnock Council’s Request for a Rate Rise Is Not a Matter for the State
There are some that are quite keen to pretend that my role, as a State MP, will somehow determine whether or not Cessnock Council is successful in its application for a 39.9% increase to our rates.
Those people are either misinformed, or deliberately misleading the public.
It is Cessnock Council that has responsibility for their own finances, not the state.
It is Cessnock Council that has decided to apply for an increase to rates, not the state.
Cessnock Council has asked the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) to give them approval for the 39.9% rate increase. IPART will answer their questions, not the State Government and certainly not me as the State MP. That’s why IPART has the word “independent” in its name.
If you are happy or unhappy with the question that is being asked of IPART by Cessnock Council, then that is a matter between you and your elected Councillors.