Peter Smith

Self-effacing Left

Lee Rhiannon was interviewed by Chris Uhlmann on the 7.30 Report on 21 June. She must have been fearful of what lay in store. Only recently (17 May) had Bob Brown experienced a testy interview with Uhlmann. Bring back Kerry, Bob was apparently heard saying later but I can’t vouch for that.

She need not have worried. While Uhlmann held his ground stoically when interviewing Brown, one can’t help but feel that the petulant indignation on Brown’s part which followed the interview affected his demeanour with Rhiannon. Uhlmann had insufferably quoted Brown to Brown on closing down the coal industry; who of course complained about this kind of unfair probing. What is the world coming to when the Greens are held to account? He was a much more gentle soul with Ms Rhiannon. And why not, she smiled in disarming fashion throughout her ordeal. She presented a gentle face, a moderate face, to the ABC audience.

Questioned on her far left credentials she said she had been working for the Greens for 20 years and was committed to their policy and ideals. Not much difficulty getting out of that one. On taxing business more, she simply said that it should be fairer “that is all I’m saying”. Fair is such a decent word. Who could disagree with things being fair? Certainly not Mr Uhlmann.

Uhlmann reminded Rhiannon that she had been a vocal advocate of trade boycotts of Israel. This kind of wacko radical left policy was even too much for Bob Brown so how would she handle this tricky question, I thought. With aplomb is the answer.

She used the “fair” defence all over again. Having made the point that she would not pursue the matter in federal parliament because there was no support for it (yes, appearances sometimes to the contrary, federal parliamentarians are all presently sane) she said she would not “shy away from standing up for the human rights for Palestinians”. Brilliant! Who among us would not support human rights for Palestinians, for everyone in fact? Well let us leave aside Hamas who might not support human rights for Israelis, if firing missiles on them is any guide.

The thing that strikes me about those on the far left of the political debate is how self-effacing they have become about their aims, views and policies. Do you believe in death duties Ms Rhiannon? Hold on; let me dissemble for a while before having to be brought back to the question and eventually explaining how moderate the Greens’ policy really is. Everything is fair or moderate or about human rights.

Brown claimed in his interview that we are the biggest per capita polluter for any similar country in the world. Leaving aside the inconvenient fact that there are few if any countries relevantly similar to Australia in the world, you would think Brown would be vocally bullish on the carbon price. Not a bit of it. “So higher than $40 a tonne” was the question. “Sorry” was the answer. Brown had become inexplicably hard of hearing – the Howard defence (in his case legitimate). Eventually he replied that he couldn’t say what the figure should be.

I understand why impoverishing policies have to be kept under wraps because I know that they are impoverishing. But they don’t know that. They must think they are good policies. So why be shy about them. Mind you the old fashioned hard-line socialists of yesteryear did make a strategic mistake in making it clear where they stood – behind Soviet Russia and nationalisation. They didn’t go around hiding their misguided aims and views under motherhood statements. This wasn’t too clever. People saw through them. Modern day Left extremists proceed more insidiously.

For example, they don’t talk about the destruction of Israel, which an effective boycott would surely bring about; they preach about Palestinian rights. But if they believe so much in human rights why are they nowhere to be seen or heard when it comes to the barbarous treatment of women in Islamic societies; when it comes to the treatment of Coptic Christians; when it comes to the sea of Arabic and Persian despotism surrounding the only democracy in the Middle East. They don’t express their aims openly, comprehensively and plainly. They would be seen for the cranks and bigots that they are. They use stealth, in some cases under the cover of green camouflage, and hope that people don’t notice.

Seee also: Bob’s Place

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