Sunday 23 May 2010

Xenophobia - The Last Refuge of a Politician

They're at it again.

The coalition are running a series of TV ads showing a refugee boat superimposed on a map with arrows going south from the Asian mainland to Australia.

This appeal to xenophobia follows a tradition established in the days of the gold rushes, when the Chinese were the target - 












It was also popular in the 50s and 60s, but then the fear was the threat of Communism, which, through a combination of gravity and the dubious domino theory was about to overwhelm us - 

















This is a Liberal Party election poster from 1966.

It's surprising, in a way, that someone in the engine room of the Coalition believes that Australians still have the same fear of THE OTHER as they did back then, but no doubt they've done their research.

I'd harboured the belief that we'd grown up as a nation. Obviously I was deluded.

Paul Dobbyn in the Catholic Leader puts it well.






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