John Roskam from the Institute of Public Affairs highlights the failures of the fourth estate to hold our politicians (and other institutions) to account.
It’s great to be back with the first Weekly Dose of Common Sense for 2018. I trust you had a break that was as peaceful and relaxed as mine. As usual, the fish got the better of me but I managed to provide a few meals for the family!
Not reading the newspapers or watching the news for a few weeks provides a welcome cocoon from the 24-hour news cycle which is always struggling to gather the attention of an increasingly sceptical public.
But that doesn’t stop the attention seekers from using the lull in political operations to chase their 15 minutes of fame. This time it was the Greens political party, once again demonstrating their loathing for our country, our values and our history by demanding we change Australia Day.
The usual assortment of identity advocates, social justice warriors, self-loathers and far-left political victims lined up in support.
Everyday Australians are just looking forward to a long weekend where we can celebrate our wonderful country and all it represents. We also know that our nation isn’t perfect but we have been blessed with resources and a quality of life that is the envy of the world.
Regrettably, those advantages are being diminished by the actions of many political players who are fostering the welfare state and abandoning personal and civic responsibility. The political class are feeding an entitlement mentality with a dose of unsustainable socialism and utopian policies that wreak havoc on our economy, our social fabric and way of life.
Despite the political denials, thanks to our failed immigration policies we now have race-based gang violence erupting in our cities. Multiculturalism has fostered ideologies completely opposed to our way of life and that threaten community safety.
Short-sighted and self-serving political decisions have diminished our greatest economic strength – cheap and reliable electricity – whilst dumbing down our education system to be more akin to social indoctrination.
I know these claims may sound like a broken record to many readers (because I have been on about them for many, many years) but this year we need to be even more committed to making a difference. 2017 demonstrated that persistence and fearless advocacy can achieve that.
Together we convinced the parliament to stop the government’s China extradition treaty plans, we exposed inappropriate Chinese influence on MPs and on our tertiary educational institutions. We fought the principled battle to axe $1 billion in annual and redundant car taxes which was finally deemed a ‘good idea’ by the Deputy Prime Minister over Christmas. Just this morning the SA Liberals have agreed to dump ‘Safe Schools’ if they win office, a longstanding campaign for Australian Conservatives.
Together we petitioned the parliament to protect our precious freedoms and reminded many representatives that action speaks much louder than their empty rhetoric.
So we did make a difference but the battle for our culture, our values and our way of life has only just begun.
The Greens fired the first salvo of 2018 by attacking Australia Day. Their acolytes in the national broadcaster are demonstrating their support, perhaps best evidenced by ABC youth radio station Triple J moving their iconic Australia Day ‘Hottest 100’ playlist to another ‘culturally appropriate’ day. It’s complete BS and needs to be called out as such.
So if you like Australian music and want to celebrate Australia Day with some great home-grown tracks, the team at Australian Conservatives have put together the AC100 playlist on Spotify. It’s a collection of some of our favourite Aussie music to help you celebrate Australia Day.
You can even cast a vote for your favourite track and be in the running for a prize.
Cory Bernardi is the author of seven books and has been a member of the Australian rowing team, a publican, an investment portfolio manager and spent nearly 14 years as an Australian Senator.
