I refer to Kerryn Pholi’s, article in today’s issue of The Australian titled: I’m offended by Human Rights Commission, not Bill Leak. It is most unfortunate that it is behind a paywall, as every Australian needs to read it as a counter to the bias and blatant misrepresentation that occurs in much of our media.
The article commences:Bill Leak draws satirical cartoons for The Australian, and one of his cartoons has landed him in trouble with the law. The offending cartoon was produced after shocking footage (shocking for most people, anyway) from inside the Northern Territory’s Don Dale Youth Detention Centre was aired on the ABC’s Four Corners program.
It is a pity that I cannot reproduce the entire article, as it is a gem of honest and clear thinking and expression. However, I hope I have not strained the patience of The Australian by taking it as far as that last paragraph of my excerpt. The whole schmozzle has nothing to do with racial discrimination; it has solely to do with bringing down the clear-thinkers in the conservative camp, and is itself a blatant act of racial discrimination – “Get Whitey, but leave the indigenous alone" As Kerryn Pholi asks, why is Leak in trouble and she is not?
Leak’s cartoon was informed by the Four Corners program and by related commentary, which included an opinion piece I had written for The Australian on August 2.
My article was just as critical as Leak’s cartoon of so-called “Aboriginal parenting styles”, which, I had said, “would be regarded as extreme and dangerous neglect in a non-indigenous family” and which leave many Aboriginal children with “very little experience of the basic safety, security, routine, hygiene, guidance and consistent discipline that every child is entitled to”.
It is entirely possible my remarks could have caused an Aboriginal person to feel “racially offended or insulted”. So why is Leak in trouble while I am not?
In response to Leak’s cartoon, Race Discrimination Commissioner Tim Soutphommasane publicly advised that any Aboriginal person who felt offended or insulted could lodge a complaint with the Human Rights Commission under the Racial Discrimination Act — an offer that one Melissa Dinnison has taken him up on. In response to a suggestion that public servants shouldn’t go about drumming up business in this fashion, Soutphommasane replied that it falls within his role to promote awareness of the law.
Leak’s cartoon reached a wide audience and the controversy spread it further, which provided a ready opportunity for Soutphommasane to spruik his business. I would argue, though, that if Soutphommasane’s job is to promote awareness of the law by pointing out potentially offensive material, he is a bit of an underperformer.
Along with things I have said, my friend and colleague Anthony Dillon has said a lot of things, Warren Mundine has said plenty of things (and I could go on, but you get the picture) that could very well prompt a number of Aboriginal people to take the huff — and yet the AHRC has been silent. I wonder why.
To be fair, I don’t blame Soutphommasane for any reluctance to take Aboriginal commentators such as us to task, since that would, to use the parlance of identity politics, “complicate the narrative” beyond the AHRC’s capacity to cope. I must acknowledge also that the AHRC is an equal-opportunity ignorer, since a number of other commentators with critical things to say about the state of Aboriginal affairs — such as Gary Johns and Jeremy Sammut — have not yet been the subject of a Soutphommasane community service tweet, as far as I know.
Why Leak, then? Perhaps the Racial Discrimination Act is not merely concerned with what is actually said (or drawn), but with how many people might see it. A cartoon’s message hits home immediately, whereas text requires more effort from its audience. If that is the case, it doesn’t seem quite fair that the medium Leak happens to work in should expose him to greater risk than we scribblers might bear.
Or perhaps it’s not just about what gets said (or drawn), but about who says it. Leak, like Andrew Bolt, is a high-profile trophy scalp for the AHRC, whereas a few dissident Aborigines and policy boffins are a comparatively paltry prize.
Responses
« Back to index | View thread »