A country held to ransom by a rabble
At which point will those in authority decide that appeasement will not protect our country, but will instead turn it into an ungodly mess, where spite is might?
Who decides what the citizens of a country can do? Is it the government of the day? Is it the judiciary? Is it the citizens who democratically elect the government?
In Australia, it is none of these. It is the rabble rampaging in our streets and the voices on all social media platforms urging it on. It is not the civilised protesters, who engage in lawful protest, as is their right. It is the rabble which does not understand the word “civilised” that decides where you can walk on a Sunday morning, where cars can drive, where they will block taxis and public transport, and it is the rabble which decides whether Victoria can host the ice hockey world championships.
It is not an Orwellian leap to predict that the rabble may soon decide who you can vote for, by selectively surrounding voting booths, by tearing down political posters to which it is opposed and by doxxing politicians of whom it does not approve.
Is this fanciful? No. It is realistic. Neither our governments, federal or state nor the silent majority seem to comprehend how small the leap is from democracy to anarchy. I am not using the word anarchy lightly or to be sensational.
When sporting events, which have nothing to do with the political climate in Australia and which enrich our lives immeasurably, have to be cancelled because the safety of participants and spectators cannot be assured, that is the path to anarchy.
At which point will those in authority decide that appeasement will not protect our country, but will instead turn it into an ungodly mess, where spite is might? Australia, either because of or despite its easy going, “she’ll be right, mate” attitude has valued its democracy. How then did we sink to this level?
Last week, Ice Hockey Australia cancelled the world championships due to be held in Victoria this year. Next, protesters may decide that international cricket matches, or the Melbourne Cup or the Australian Open offend their politics or their beliefs, and on current trends, these events may also be cancelled.
Whether you are an ice hockey fan, whether you like to bet on the Melbourne Cup or whether you avidly watch the cricket or tennis is not relevant. What is relevant is whether you want these decisions to be made by a loud and powerful minority, powerful because it has been enabled to be so.
It is a sad situation indeed when even our local councils now consider that they have sufficient grasp of geopolitics to make decisions on international matters, often without realising how ineffectual and unenforceable those decisions may be.
Our governing bodies, at all levels, are slowly but inexorably bringing our country into disrepute. True, the decision to cancel the ice hockey championship was made by the ruling body of the sport, but their decision on the question of safety was based on the current level of unsafe activity in our streets.
Safety and security concerns are now being cited for the cancellation of anything and everything – concerts, Christmas window display parades, sporting events.
“Safety and security concerns” is now code for “no one is prepared to take a hard line and do what needs to be done”.
What will it take before our government and we, the silent majority, will understand that appeasement is tantamount to giving in and when will we act on that understanding?
Possibly when the footy grand final is cancelled, but that is not until September, and by then, it may be too late.
Nina Bassat is a former president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.
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