Politicians lead the way in stoking division, polarisation

Australia needs to 'stop it at the top'

Earlier this month, Australia’s spy agency, ASIO, raised the national terrorism threat level to ‘probable,’ citing increased risk of a home-grown terrorist attack driven by “spikes in political polarisation and intolerance, uncivil debate and unpeaceful protest.”

“More Australians are being radicalised, and radicalised more quickly,” said ASIO Director-General of Security, Mike Burgess, asking Australians to report anyone who “is going down a dark extremist path” to the agency.

I’d like to report Labor Senator Tim Ayres for his role in stoking political polarisation, intolerance and uncivil debate, and his dark, extremist language in the Australian Parliament last week.

Labor Senator Tim Ayres

I mentioned Senator Ayre’s behaviour on Substack last week in the context of a parliamentary debate over a bill to establish a Covid inquiry with Royal Commission powers.

Such an inquiry was originally suggested by the leader of the Labor Party, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and by senior Labor MPs in 2022, when the party was in opposition.

Now that they’re in government, Labor says anyone suggesting the same thing they suggested two years ago is a “cooker” and a “conspiracy theorist” with “kooky” and “extreme far-right views,” motivated by “antisemitism.”

On listening to Senator Ayres’ vituperation, I was so appalled that I could hardly believe my ears. It’s so bad, you have to see it to believe it, so I asked friend of the Substack, Nathan from @MilkBarTV on X, to clip together every single time Senator Ayres hurled the ‘conspiracy theorist’ perjorative across the chamber - 22 times in the one speech. (I’ve transcribed the speech in full towards the end of this post.)

Behold:

Video (1 min 13 seconds) by @MilkBarTV on X

Language like this is not intended to convince the ‘cookers.’ It’s not crafted to speak to society’s lost, those who’ve unknowingly been drawn down the ‘radicalisation pathway,’ as Senator Ayres calls it.

No, the effect this kind of language will have on those people is to marginalise and radicalise them further. Exactly what ASIO warns is a threat to Australia’s national security.

And to those who are not on a radicalisation pathway, but who simply disagree with Senator Ayres and the policies of present-day Labor, what effect will such foul-mouthed tirades have? Alienation, disgust, and in some cases for the most frustrated in this group, pushing them onto that radicalisation pathway too.

But this kind of language is not for the ‘cookers’ or for those who politely disagree. It’s for Labor’s base.

It’s intended to set the terms of public discourse, reframing centrist, conservative and other counterviews as ‘extreme’, ‘far right’ and dangerous, outside of the Overton window. An extreme position in and of itself, but one that has worked - the media apparently feel no shame in regularly publishing such slurs as news.

It’s intended to shame members of the base who are curious about, or see validity in some counterviews into self-censoring, shunning opportunities for debate and rooting for their side no matter what.

And it’s intended to lock the party faithful in with the powerful intoxicants of moral self-righteousness, identification with the in-group, and fear of the ‘other.’

In other words, the name-calling, the ad hominems, the bad faith argumentation - it’s all to shore up votes by radicalising and entrenching Labor’s base.

This is the behaviour of a party that’s struggling in the polls, and has been for some time. Whatever it takes to win, right? Even if it fuels further political polarisation and intolerance at a time when the country needs its leadership to bring the heat down.

Ironically, the day before Senator Ayres’ tirade, the Labor Government tabled a bill to establish an Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission (IPSC) to force improved parliamentary behaviour.

The new watchdog would have the power to fine politicians up to 5% of their yearly salary for bad behaviour such as bullying, harassment, sexual harassment and assault, and discrimination.

But the new laws won’t cover things said in the chamber, which are protected by parliamentary privilege, so it will be up to party leadership to lead culture change in this respect.

I’ve previously noted that the Labor Party has a culture problem with labelling anything or anyone they disagree with a conspiracy theory/theorist. The Liberal Party is less gung-ho on the name-calling, but equally happy to denigrate its opponents and engage in unedifying debate.

Last week, teal independent MP Zali Steggall called on Albanese and the leader of the Opposition, Peter Dutton, to "stop it at the top" and stamp out "unacceptable" behaviour in parliament - before calling Dutton a “racist” over his stance on denying Gazan refugees entry to Australia.

(For international readers: Labor is left-wing, allied with the more extreme left-wing Greens. The Opposition is a conservative coalition of the Liberal and National Parties, and the teals are a group of nominal independents in very rich areas representing bougie climate politics, funded by Simon Holmes à Court’s Climate 200.)

In recent months, politicians have placed the blame for increasing polarisation and social division squarely at the feet of social media platforms. They have used this to call for tighter controls on these platforms, including expansion of the Online Safety Act, and the introduction of new laws to combat mis- and disinformation.

Undeniably, filter bubbles and other features of social media have contributed to polarisation and social division, but they’re just one part of the problem.

Politicians also blame constituents on the edges of social discourse, smearing dissenters and protestors as ‘cookers’ or ‘extremists’ and seeking to clamp down on protest rights and speech rights.

But tighter controls on social media platforms and crackdowns on protests and speech won’t magically solve the problems of polarisation and civil unrest if politicians continue role-modelling uncivil, intolerant and bullying behaviour, all while dodging calls for transparency and accountability - such as a Covid Royal Commission.

Do Australia’s politicians really want to address the root of the problem?

If so, they’ll “stop it at the top.”

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Senator Tim Ayres, the Australian Parliament, 22 August 2024, during speaking time to discuss the COVID-19 Response Commission of Inquiry Bill 2024 (view on APHS YouTube).

After a brief introduction about the Labor Government’s federal Covid inquiry, which Senator Ayres said was sufficient and reason enough to reject the bill under discussion, he continued (emphasis mine) :

“There is a wellspring, a fetid wellspring, of Covid conspiracy theorists. And some of them inhabit the benches over there [points at senators].

“We know that Senator Babet comes from the outer reaches of some of the more kooky conspiracy theorist views, we know that, it is obvious.

“The One Nation party have always sort to manipulate these kinds of conspiracy theories for their own purposes. That is well known.

“And there is of course, and always has been, a group of people in the community who, mobilised by concerns about chem trails or lizard people or flouride conspiracies, which some of these characters are also attracted to [points at senators], also into the flouride conspiracy theory stuff.

“They’re on the pizza gate material. They’re on all of these things, they’re on the drip for every conspiracy theory there is. The JFK stuff, the Roswell stuff, you’re all into all that stuff [points at senators]. I get it. Senator Rennick thinks that the CSIRO is part of some global conspiracy. You don’t have to reach too far from these co-

Interjection from Liberal Senator Matt Canavan to request that Senator Ayres return to the topic of the bill being debated.

“You sook. [Speaking to a senator across the chamber, unclear who]

“And the truth is in the history of these kinds of conspiracy theories in Australia, mobilised on the fringes, the history is that always there’s a little bit of antisemitism not too far away.

“Always been the truth. Always been the truth.”

Interjection from Liberal Senator Gerard Rennick to request that Senator Ayres’ “outrageous” slur be retracted. The Speaker determines it was not a slur toward a senator in the chamber.

“Always the grandiose claims being made by these people. And the heart of conspiracy theory, including the Covid conspiracy theories that mobilise this lot [points at senators], is an attempt to undermine confidence in science, in rationalism, in public institutions. It is a key tool of the far right.

“Martialled historically as I’ve said by people like the League of Rights who used to hand out the dodgers at the country shows, historically martialled about antisemitism, but now, these pseudo-scientific claims are made about the Covid pandemic.

“And there’s always the pseudo-scientific language. Always the sort of resort to things that sound important, but aren’t. Always discussions about gene therapies, if something’s really going on here that is different and new. Always used.

“And if you can encourage people to believe this set of conspiracy theories, it’s part of the radicalisation pathway that is designed by people who sit at the heart of these.

“And sometimes people don’t know that they’ve been engaged in a radicalisation pathway. And if you can encourage people to believe this nonsense, to accept the set of premises that underline the sort of fetid swamp of conspiracy theories that this comes from, you can get them to believe anything.

“And the radicalisation pathway that is engaged here by these propositions [points to senators], is a pathway to violence, it is a pathway to social disharmony, it is a deliberate pathway engaged on, sometimes knowingly, sometimes not.

“Because the unwitting dupes of this kind of conspiracy theory often don’t realise they’re on a conspiracy pathway.

“These are the kind of ideas that mobilised the recent terrorist incident in Wieambilla. They were attracted to Covid conspiracy theories. It was a core part of what they believed. A core part of what they believed. And we need to be very careful indeed.”

Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson interjects with a point of order, complaining that Senator Ayres “has just drawn a very serious and disgusting imputation about the most heinous crime in Queensland,” asking that as a matter of good faith, Senator Ayres withdraw the comment. The Speaker rules it was not a point of order because Senator Ayres did not impugn a senator in the chamber.

“My point exactly Senator Henderson, people should think about the claims that are made, and think about who else is making them, and think about what is the motivation behind these claims that are being made.

“The truth is that this motion emerges from that same swamp. It emerges from that same swamp.

“And what should be of more concern is not that the extremists, not that the extremists are the only ones engaged in this, it’s also that they have support within the alternative party of government.

“That the extremists are developing relationships and support amongst a party that tries to position itself as the alternative party of government.

“We know that Senator Antic, and Senator Rennick and Senator Canavan are all on board for the conspiracy theory stuff. We know that they are, because -”

Interjection from Senator Gerard Rennick calling point of order for impugning him by name - “I call on this man to be censured, he is a disgrace to the Senate.” The Speaker rules that it was an imputation and asks Senator Ayres to withdraw.

“I withdraw.

“Senator Rennick is often in estimates, and often in here, repeating those same conspiracy theories. The other senators who I referred to do the same thing.

“The interesting thing about this is not that these senators are the only ones in the Liberal and National Parties who support these propositions, the interesting thing is, it ecretes [sic] its way across all of them [points to the Opposition side of the chamber], almost all of them.

“So few now are prepared to call this nonsense out for what it really is. So few are brave enough. So few have the moral character and moral fibre that is required to stand up to the far right and conspiracy theories.

“Now what does the Liberal and National Party do? They accommodate it. They accommodate it.

“And previous serious conservative leaders - Mr Howard, Mr Fischer, former Senator Ron Boswell and others - understood the danger of far-right extremism, particularly in the bush. And they took a hard line against the League of Rights characters and all of the other kooky conspiracy theorists.

“But no longer, it’s part of the political strategy. Mr Dutton supported Senator Rennick’s ill-fated bid for preselection. Despite his obvious extremist tendencies and behaviour.”

Senator Henderson interjects with a point of order. “We are continuing to hear the most outrageous imputations” from Senator Ayres. Speaker rules that there have not been continuous imputations but agrees that the last comment “did cross a line”, asks Senator Ayres to withdraw.

“I’m happy to withdraw.

“The problem here is that propagating these extremist views could lead one to think that the propagator of extremist views is indeed an extremist.

“And accommodating extreme views and conspiracy theories is a sign of the ill health of the political institution that allows it to happen. It is a sign of their unfitness to govern.

“It is a sign that they don’t take the relationship between public policy and their role seriously and that they engage the most loopy, far-right extremist and kooky views in order to suck up to an emerging and stronger group within their political party.

“And I understand that is uncomfortable. I understand that people don’t want to hear it, because they want the easy ride in politics. They don’t want to have to call out extremism.

“They don’t want to have to call out bad behaviour because it’s so much easier to do the backslapping and ‘she’ll be right mate’ and ‘don’t worry about that,’ and to surf in on the support of some of the nastiest, extreme, kooky elements in Australian politics.

“And the problem that it then infects other areas of policy. You can see it in the way that not just a small group over here, but almost all of them [waves towards the Opposition] approach climate and energy policy.

“The kind of grandiose claims, the kind of wild assertions made by example, [Nationals MP] Mr Joyce in his sort of chaotic, tilting at windmills campaign against sections of the energy industry. He engages the same wild rhetoric, the same conspiracy theory behaviour.

“You talk about pandemics. This is a pandemic of kookiness that has taken over the thinking of Liberals and Nationals not just in Queensland, but right around the country.

“And Mr Dutton if he’s ever to be taken seriously as the leader of an alternative government, needs to take seriously his responsibility as a political leader.

“And that is, you dont’ back the cranks [points at senators]. You don’t back the conspiracy theorists [points at senators]. You draw a line. You draw a line.

“And this political party [waves at the Opposition] should stand condemned for its incapacity for party discipline, for a focus on the public interest, and instead engaging some of the worst and nastiest elements of Australian politics.

“In their conduct, it makes them utterly unfit, utterly unfit to stand in the mantle of what was a once proud set of conservative parties. Now, it is a conspiracy theorist rub, and Mr Dutton stands condemned for his incapacity to lead.”

Senator Henderson interjects with a point of order for imputation against Mr Dutton. The Speaker rules that there was no imputation.

For what it’s worth, I listened to the speeches from senators who sponsored the Covid Commission of Inquiry bill before Senator Ayres spoke. I did not hear any conspiracy theories mentioned. You can tune in to the debate via the APHS YouTube channel here.

The only senator who I believe openly courts the conspiracy theorist trope is Senator Ralph Babet, who posts deliberately provocative statements on his social media feed, such as claims that “the world is run by Satanic pedophiles.” However, claims such as this did not feature in Senator Babet’s supporting speech for the bill, nor are they relevant to the bill.

After being relentlessly maligned in the media and in the Australian Parliament for his heterodox views on matters from Covid vaccine injury, pandemic management and climate policy, Senator Rennick announced yesterday that he has resigned from the Liberal National Party and will run as an independent at the next federal election under the banner of the People First Party. Last year, Senator Rennick lost his spot on the LNP ticket for the next election.

Read a list of Senator Rennick’s alleged conspiracy theorising via Crikey.

Source: X

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Postnote

Other instances of Labor politicians reflexively using the conspiracy theory trope to discredit opposition to its policies rather than engaging in meaningful debate:

• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese responding to questions about the Voice referendum by likening them to Q Anon conspiracy theories or the faking of the moon landing.

• Energy and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen calling climate policy skeptic and Covid vaccine injured advocate Senator Gerard Rennick's social media feed “a cacophony of conspiracy theories" at a National Press Club speech in Canberra last month.

• When challenged by Senator Rennick, Bowen doubled down, stating that “Government agencies should absolutely be scrutinised. But not by cookers and conspiracy theorists spreading disinformation for their selfish political purposes.”

• Communications Minister Michelle Rowland warning that there is a risk that her department’s proposed misinformation bill “could be perceived as a form of censorship,” because of the “rise in conspiracy theories” online (implying the censorship criticism is therefore illegitimate).

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