Response to a comment

Response to a comment Here

........................

I read & re-read your article a number of times this morning Chris.

Chris if you were trying to make amends for ‘blaspheming’ (a patronising descriptor & indicator of where Chris’s argument is headed) you get off on the wrong foot with the title of the article.

I dare say “Lest we forget about what?” would neither sit comfortably with you or with many readers. Not just because it’s ignorant & offensive but because I actually don’t think its representative of what you are trying to say here.

What exactly is Chris Harries trying to say here? At times it’s hard to know exactly. I’m not even sure Chris knows.

That our reverence for the ANZAC’s and by extension ANZAC day is something akin to the dreamtime & religious stories? Religious/spiritual stories which try to explain the meaning of life. Stories not based on fact or empirical evidence.

That ANZAC day is a ‘white persons’ thing (The ‘ANZAC Spirit’ has become the white person’s veritable Dreamtime story” says Chris. Patronising twaddle if ever read it!), excludes aboriginals - essentially another slap in the moosh for Aboriginal Australians?

Chris you say - “It is for sociologists to explain why the quirk of a military failure nearly a century ago has become our national Dreamtime Story, the core of our national psyche. That’s a mystery to me but I must respect the fact, all the same”.

Chris I dare say that to many Australians it’s not a ‘mystery’ and the nations annual observance of ANZAC day is something that is reasonably well articulated by most Australians. Dare I say Chris (a former Greens party advisor) that your struggle to identify with & understand ANZAC day is emblematic of your Party’s inability to identify & resonate with mainstream Australia.

The story of Gallipoli whilst being, among other things, an example of the senselessness & sheer violence of war speaks to Australians about our commitment to each other, to our commitment to our right as a nation to guide our future free or fear & oppression. It’s about the powerful legacy of the actions of Australians during that war campaign. About what our forebears were prepared to do, the sacrifices they were prepared to make to defend Australians & Australia. Whilst patriotism (Nationalism Chris? – where is the evidence that “nationalism is Australia’s core belief system”? You’ve got to explain that one Chris) inevitably, to some degree informs our reverence for the ANZAC’s so does respect. Sheer respect.
Chris you also say - “What has irked me through the years is that our ANZAC culture is generally intolerant of, or forgetful of, the Aboriginal war experience”.
Where is the evidence for this? To say - ‘Australian culture is generally intolerant of, or forgetful of, the Aboriginal war experience’ would have been much more accurate.
As far as I can see ANZAC day, led by the RSL is very inclusive of aboriginal diggers.

Chris I would like our nation (perhaps expanding ‘National Sorry Day’) to sanction & dedicate a day recognising & reflecting on aboriginal victims of genocide.

Is it smart or helpful to push such an idea on ANZAC day? Nope.

Is it realistic or sensible even to hope that ANZAC day could be shared (as you now appear to have recognised Chris) with a day recognising aboriginal victims of genocide? Maybe if you are a year 10 student with little or no life experience.

If Chris Harries ANZAC day confusion & defensiveness is reflective of the discussion on ANZAC day being had in the Tasmanian Greens Party then it’s very disappointing. It highlights the ongoing problem of immaturity in Greens party thinking and is indicative of why so many Australians simply can’t relate to the Greens.

Ban Pollies from the Friday Forum

Dear ABC Hobart

Question re the Friday Pollies forum.

Over the period of a week, ABC listeners will have already heard the same lines, same spin and the same sermons from the 3 parties via the nightly news (across 3 channels), the radio news (on the hour), and on the internet.

Pick up the newspaper and you can read the same stuff.

Then theres talkback radio where political parties are given more time than anyone else to make their points. The pollies also spend the whole week screaming and yelling in parliament. Thats now broadcast live and then recycled across all media. We also get their propaganda in our letter boxes. You cant get away from political opinion.

Why then do ABC radio continue with this stale pollies forum after we've already heard the same political parties spinning the same lines all week? Isnt it time in this age of multi media for radio to cut back the amount of time it gives political parties?

Isnt it time to ditch the Friday pollies forum and invite some ordinary, interesting fresh voices from the Tasmanian community?

Does the ABC earnestly believe its listeners want to hear political parties all the time?

I guarantee the ABC if it surveyed its listeners they would much rather hear everyday tasmanians than politicians.

I say to the ABC - ban politicians from the Friday Forum barring exceptional circumstances.

Pilko

Huon MLC Paul Harriss has some explaining to do

Follow links Here

What Paul Harriss said in parliament................................................"I would like to mention another matter to do with Ta Ann. When I was in Malaysia last year, I met with the World Wildlife Fund and they have Ta Ann at the absolute pinnacle of forest operations in Malaysia. That does not come lightly. They have them at the pinnacle - number one - but, of course, the Greens here seek to discredit the WWF in Malaysia because it suits their purpose to do so".

For more - type WWF or World Wildlife Fund into parliamentary hansard Here