Ugly face
Last week was just that incident's logical evolution and continuation.
In Melbourne last week, the whole of Australia saw the ugly face of what we have been dealing with for more than 11 months.
Images from the scene more closely resembled a lawless, dystopian wasteland than modern, peaceful and tolerant Australia. Commentators have shrewdly observed how a mob claiming to oppose violence so readily adopted it. That 24 police officers required medical treatment is a bloody indictment on the dishonesty of the pro-peace motives the rabble claimed to espouse. Unsurprisingly, members of the Greens joined and endorsed the group.
Our community has had a gutful. We can only hope that after this, our fellow decent Australians now agree. Scenes like last week tear at the very fabric of what makes Australia great for all its citizens.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was right to condemn the violence. But even he needs to face up to how his words and actions have contributed to the environment that enabled it. Since October 7, mobs like last week’s have been given free rein in our cities, week after week.
It began on October 9 when there were no consequences for the thugs who celebrated mass murder, rape and kidnapping at the Sydney Opera House.
Last week was just that incident’s logical evolution and continuation.
Meanwhile, the federal government’s confused and contradictory stances and statements on the war in Gaza have offered no positive contribution to fighting the misinformation war.
It is beyond time the government stopped playing factional and political games. Clear leadership is long overdue. At the federal level, Australia must stop publicly antagonising its fellow democratic ally as it fights an existential war. And from the Prime Minister on down, expectations must be set about how Australian citizens should act and behave towards one another.
At the state level, police must be given whatever powers they need within reason to keep these antisocial hooligans in check.
And every Australian who was appalled by what we witnessed last week needs to speak up.
This is not just about Jews. As it is often said, we are just the canary in the coalmine. This is about the future of Australia, and the kind of society we wish to have.
Inaction is not an option.
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