Melb Writers Festival
still loves their Bruce

Ever since Quadrant published Peter O’Brien’s expose of Bruce Pascoe’s Dark Emu,  the question has been how luvviedom would respond. Initially it was the Left’s tried and tested ‘death by silence’ routine, with Bitter Harvest simply ignored and its skewering of a professional liar’s bid to cast himself as a reputable historian dismissed as unworthy of consideration. The Left’s lickspittles and camp followers were useful too, what with The Saturday Paper‘s Rick Morton claiming to have spent days checking Pascoe’s sources and citations and finding them all fine and correct.

Then along came two leftist academics, Peter Sutton and Keryn Walshe, whose evisceration of Pascoe’s fantasies simply could not be ignored. The question, therefore, was how to sustain the Dark Emu fabrication which had proven so very useful in the promotion of Recognition and treaties and financial compensation for that inter-generational trauma stuff. Now, courtesy of the Wheeler Centre and the Melbourne Writers Festival, we have our answer. Here is the blurb for Pascoe’s appearance on Saturday, September 4, at the Athenaeum Theatre  on Collins Street, starting at 4pm.

Outside the contentious platforms of the culture wars, debate around Aboriginal histories is being welcomed by many as an opportunity to deepen our shared knowledge of the complexity and wonder of First Nations’ ways of life across the millennia. Transcending ugly politics, Yuin, Bunurong and Tasmanian author Bruce Pascoe (Dark Emu) and prize–winning historian Tom Griffiths (The Art of Time Travel) come together to consider the productive conversation that is emerging about our continent’s past, and how that might inform our future. They speak with anthropologist and broadcaster Sally Warhaft.

See how they’ve finessed the problem, slapping on the nuance like fresh paint over rust? Indulge me to render luvviespeak in standard English:

“the contentious platforms of the culture wars…”

Translation: We backed a fraud and scoundrel. Now that he’s been exposed we have to pretend it is only those nasty righties who regard Dark Emu as ‘contentious’

“…is being welcomed by many…”

Translation: ‘Many’ people like us, and only people like us

“Yuin, Bunurong and Tasmanian author Bruce Pascoe”

Translation: We know the rogue has been disowned by the alleged tribes of his non-existent Aboriginal ancestors but, being of the Left, we have a unique gift for ignoring fact and inconvenient details.

“…to consider the productive conversation…”

Translation: Despite our champion being exposed, we’ll keep right on demanding, lobbying and promoting our scam artist if it helps us get what we want. That’s what we mean by ‘productive’.

The Pascoe session is, obviously, open to the public and tickets are relatively inexpensive.

Wouldn’t it be fun if enough people who still regard truth as important and facts as inviolate were to turn up and add some pepper to the questioning — allowing, of course, audience questions are permitted.

Given the Left’s typical disdain for unfettered free speech and open inquiry, that may be a dubious proposition.

— roger franklin