Why do Australian politicians – primarily from the right – default to political theatre when tragedy strikes such as it did at Bondi Beach? After such tragic events, it’s essential to shift focus from mere criticism to constructive action. A more empathetic response from the Opposition Leader could have involved a collaborative approach, urging bipartisan discussions on solutions and policies to address the tragedy’s root causes effectively. Instead of solely blaming the Prime Minister for negligence, she could have proposed specific initiatives to channel the united efforts of all political players towards substantive progress. Politicians should prioritise offering practical solutions, such as enhancing community safety measures or increasing mental health support services, over political drama.
Howard seemed almost delighted to return to the political arena, yet appeared as a relic from another age, invisible to anyone under 30. Ley speaks only in political code. Frydenberg, visibly shaken on 7.30, offered nothing but venom for the Prime Minister, pinning the entire tragedy on him whilst at the same time conveniently forgetting his own party’s many years in power.
Whatever way one looks at this disaster, comparisons will always be made. I have cried for both sides. Each group will claim righteousness over the other based on historical events to which their claims and counterclaims bear little relevance to those of little or no faith. None of their claims requires mass murder to make a point.
Muslims will claim that at least one Palestinian child has been killed every hour on average by Israeli forces in Gaza over nearly 23 months of war, with the number of dead children now surpassing 20,000.
It doesn’t need Australian Opposition politicians and biased media to try to score points on the back of these events. Take Sussan Ley, for example.
This is what she said:
“There has been a ‘failure’ to protect Jewish Australians.
She added that there is “palpable anger” in the community and a sense of “bewilderment”. Antisemitism in Australia has been left to fester:
“We have seen a clear failure to keep Jewish Australians safe. We have seen a clear lack of leadership in keeping Jewish Australians safe… We have a government that sees antisemitism as a problem to be managed, not evil that needs to be eradicated.”
What is missing here are heartfelt words that truly acknowledge the suffering and loss endured by so many. In times of tragedy, people need to feel heard and cared for, no matter their background or beliefs. We must recognise the anguish, confusion, and fear experienced by every person and family touched by violence. Empathy is not just about offering support; it is about standing alongside those in pain, grieving with them, and affirming their right to safety, dignity, and hope. Without these human gestures, political responses feel hollow and disconnected from the lived reality of those who are hurting.
Some criticism is warranted of Albanese for not responding more quickly to the antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal’s report. At the same time, we shouldn’t forget that when the father was given his gun license in 2015, and ASIO looked into his son in 2019, they did nothing; the LNP was in power both federally and in NSW.
The Opposition is entitled to be called out for politicising this horrific event. We’ve seen synagogues fire-bombed, orchestrated by foreign terrorist states. Every single day for the last two years, the lives of Jewish Australians have been made more complicated by this rising tide of antisemitism.
The question is, why, after all, the LNP suffered badly for its philosophical breakdown during the recent election, would the LNP politicise a tragedy of this nature? It makes them look as though they have learned nothing.
The fact is that Albanese told reporters, listing steps such as criminalising hate speech, banning the Nazi salute and hate symbols, and creating a student ombudsman with investigative powers.
The prime minister also proposed stricter gun laws, including limits to how many guns an individual could own, and committed to extending funding for security to protect Jewish institutions.
Frydenberg was wrong to claim that Bondi was “the greatest massacre in Australia’s history.” Putting aside the many First Nations people massacred at the hands of white settlers. Commemorations exist across this continent; Myall Creek is a prime example, despite its original intentions.
The fact is that Aboriginal peoples did, in fact, “fight back”, and that colonisation was, in fact, violent.
These commemorations typically consist of graves, memorial monuments and even place names, and they are dedicated to white settlers who were “killed by Natives”.
The 35 killed at Port Arthur:
“… unequivocally Australia’s worst mass killing,” committed, need it be said, by a white Australian, for nonpolitical reasons – and was not definable by religious/ethnic labels.”
Port Arthur proves it’s false. The massacres of Indigenous Australians make it grotesque. But the bigger issue is why this language is being used at all.
Frydenberg is Jewish, and his grief is understandable. Yet, for someone with alleged political aspirations to represent all Australians, it’s hard to imagine lazy, opportunistic outrage by Frydenberg for 15 dead Muslims. Or 15 Christians, or Hindus, or Buddhists. This could all be about him and his public perception.
Mike Carlton, always rational, suggests that:
“Frydenberg’s anguish is entirely understandable. But his attack on Anthony Albanese was vicious and unprincipled.”
Likewise, the cynical outrage shopping of Pauline Hanson, Barnaby Joyce and others. For the outrage shopper, it’s all about being seen, playing to a base and exploiting grief and tragedy for personal satisfaction and political leverage.
Hanson once believed Port Arthur was a “false flag.” She had little to say about the 51 Muslims killed in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019. An act carried out by a white supremacist racist, born in Australia, whose anti-Muslim “manifesto” read like a One Nation media release.
This is what right-wing extremism does: it weaponises grief, distorts history, and deliberately pours fuel on fear and division for political gain. It thrives on exaggeration, outrage, and dog-whistling, not facts, not responsibility, not unity. However, it’s vital to recognise that extremism and political theatre are not confined to one side; they can emerge across the political spectrum. This broader acknowledgement strengthens the credibility of concerned citizens advocating for truth and reconciliation.
At a moment when the country needs calm, truth and leadership, the right chooses inflammatory rhetoric that spreads hatred and fractures communities. That’s not honouring victims. That’s exploiting them.
Enough. Stop feeding extremism. Stop rewriting history. And stop turning national tragedy into a culture-war weapon.
That’s what Murdoch wants. This sudden, massive media exposure of Frydenberg, making headlines at a crucial time, is no accident. Has he personally thanked Ahmed Al Ahmed? Not a chance.
And so for me, the Americanization of Australia continues unabated. This refers to the increasing influence of American political culture, characterised by extreme partisanship, media sensationalism, and a tendency to politicise social issues. Such influences contribute to fostering division and perpetuating hatred and intolerance across generations.
My thought for the day
Before delving into the poem “I Wonder When the Seed Is Planted?”, it’s essential to recognise how these themes reflect the cyclical nature of intolerance and its impact on future generations. The devastating events and political back-and-forths we’ve discussed highlight the need for deeper emotional understanding and empathy, concepts that my poem captures profoundly.
I look upon the child’s face.
Innocence – unblemished purity
With looks virtuous
How sweet, how incorruptible
Then it happens with measured subtlety.
The distortion of youthful thought
Insinuated into free
And immature minds
I wonder when the seed is planted.
When evil first takes hold
And intolerance evolves
To become scum on the pond of life
Who grants permission to damage the child?
Of youthful purity
With wonderment and adventure
Unfiltered creativity
Is it the sin of the father?
That makes a child loathe
That makes them xenophobic.
Racist just like him
When does it take root, this hatred?
That enters the child’s mind.
To be carried with them always
Fermenting as they grow
Are parents so imbued?
With experiences of the past
That forgiveness is impossible.
Bad memories seem to last.
So they pass it on to their children.
And intolerance lingers on
Licking at the finger of hate
It seems to have no end.
I can only pray to the candle.
In the hope that you will hear
The cry that is inside my heart
Please – let a little light in.
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… the Americanization of Australia continues …
… he says, using the Amnericanised spelling.
The obvious biggest difference is that the government response includes tightening gun laws instead of the standard Seppo “this isn’t the time to talk about it” and “thoughts and prayers”.
Has anyone seen action on the report on islamaphobia?
John, One of your many best essays, it plays on my emotions. I believe that “otherness” will never be resolved whilst the loudest voices that broadcast to our community remain captured by individuals who seek only to profit from human tragedy and sorrow.
On a related matter, PM Albanese’s acceptance of M/s Segal’s Report without critical comment disturbs me. If, as suggested, Australian education agencies are required to insert “anti-semitism” instruction into curricula how will this be received by parents and students of diverse ethnic, cultural and religious belief?
To me, this a precise demonstration of the arrogance of ethno-nationalism that Zionists are imposing on our community. Would it not be appropriate to include non-denominational instruction on morals and ethics into civics studies instead?
There is an emptiness, a vacuum, a black hole, a nothing, but, one sees an outline of Ms. Ley. Galactic. Error, fixation, political spitting… ultimately, the emptiness of a nothing. But, Netanyahu schemes on, far away from us.
Thanks for all your comments.
You say stop rewriting history, but you go on rewriting it instead confining yourself to examining what history actually exists. And in the case of Aboriginal History that is very little indeed.
There simply is no historical record of Aboriginal history prior to European exploration. History is written by those who can write. Writing never existed in Australia prior to European explorers leaving commemorative pewter plates that tell us exactly when in time writing first arrived. Oral history is not a historical record. It is hearsay with no evidence to verify its accuracy. What is there to glean from Aboriginal oral history before European settlement when the stories could for the first time be recorded? Virtually nothing. Race memories of a great flood that is associated with the rising sea level from the end of the last Ice age. A race memory that is shared by practically every culture on the globe.
Compare 50,000 years of pre-European human occupation in Australia to a thousand years of human occupation in New Zealand and see how impoverished the Australian historical record is compared with New Zealand. Yet our politicians rewrite that Australia has a rich history as the oldest unchanging civilization(?) in the world. This isn’t history. It is a denial of truth.
When did Aborigines arrive in Australia? They don’t know so now their history is rewritten to claim that they were always here. Never mind the archeological and other scientific evidence, history is now rewritten by those who can now write what they want to believe.
In 50 thousand years the total amount of surviving Aboriginal rock art that serves as some sort of insight into the past is pathetically small. The most interesting rock art is ignored by modern historians perhaps because it challenges the modern rewritten history of the First Nations who may not have been the First Nations after all. All very suss. At the very least that rock art proves that Australian culture was not unchanging for 50,000 years.
History has been rewritten to claim that Aboriginals were the traditional land owners of Australia. Yet the very concept of land ownership did not exist in Australia before it was introduced by the first European settlers. There is no historical evidence of property ownership. No evidence of private property ownership, of boundaries, no record of property disputes. There were of course territorial disputes, there is evidence that Aboriginals fought each other, but territory is not ownership. Once one group has moved on from a territory there is nothing to prevent others from moving in and occupying it until the land is depleted of resources or a stronger group drives them away. It is absolutely certain that ownership of the land did not exist. All primitive cultures around the world when introduced to the concept of land ownership have expressed what an absurd notion that is. How can anyone own the land? All they can do is walk on it. They can’t pick it up and carry it away!
As a volunteer graphic artist for an Australian historical society I have come across a lot of historical material over the past couple of decades. I see lots of references to Aboriginal history and the see the testimony of the silent witness, the camera, of historical photographs. I wonder why there is now a tradition that obliges Aboriginal audiences to be warned that a program may contain pictures of deceased Aborigines. The first time in history that Aborigines would have had the opportunity to view a photograph of an Aborigine that had since died would have been in the 1860’s. Or a couple of centuries ago if you include portraits drawn or painted by artists European explorers. All the evidence confirms that Australia was so sparsely inhabited by Aboriginals that massacres exceeding the numbers of modern day atrocities would have been extremely difficult to achieve, even when Aboriginals fought amongst themselves. The largest group of primitive Aboriginals ever recorded was estimated to be only 5000 people when European explorers came across an unusually large gathering of tribes, in the 1880’s. You can read about it in Dark Emu. Like the gatherings for Bogan moths, the resources available were sufficient to supply such a rare crowd, but if they had been scarce who knows what slaughter may have taken place in in the struggle for survival.
So instead of trying to score cultural points about victimhood at the expense of what is simply the latest human atrocity in Australia take a really good look at Australian history before you rewrite it, because you really have no idea of the number of Aboriginals slaughtered by Aboriginals over Australia’s long dark past. One thing is very clear, humans commit atrocities against other humans and it doesn’t matter who they are because they all share exactly the same human disposition.
B Sullivan, that was vile.
Please take your racist rants elsewhere.
B. Sullivan:
Two word reply – second word OFF! I don’think you will have any problem working out what the first word is, just remember that it is also in capitals.
Ahhh… Sullivan, you never fail to impress! Do tell, dear man, what log you’ve crawled out from under this time, to grace the good folk at The AIMN with your unique perspective? I suspect a CCA treated piece of pine, given the poisonous tone of your efforts here… or perhaps just an old forest log that’s been well digested by the saprophytes, who’ve, opportunistically, had a go at you also. Poor fellow. Get well soon.
Bogan moths, Sully? Seriously? That’s hilarious, and has to be the best Freudian slip of the year.
It’s Bogong moths, matey. As with much of your ranting, a bit of proof-reading and fact-checking would go a long way to improve.
And once again, Sully makes the point for a blocking facility.
leefe, as one of the moderators I’m tempted to do so.
We encourage intelligent debate, but B.S. has never demonstrated a desire to provide any.
Frydenberg was wrong to claim that Bondi was “the greatest massacre in Australia’s history.”
For Frydenberg only some Australians count.
Ley “empathic”. I laughed (still smiling).
Frydenberg hasn’t learnt from his election defeat a few years or more years ago. As for B Sullivan, I did come across him some where and commented on a post. I think I know what he saw and what he missed.
I disagree as well: this must have been a shrewd people to survive in ancient Australia, waves I’d think, over the ice age before and after the landbridge was flooded ten thousand years back.
This is is what’s good about here: opposite views get a front and the actual dialectic comes into play. Suspect he is an older bloke.
If he is like me he is probably experiencing Future Shock as the rate of change and in some cases decline management accelarates. If he thinks much of community life these days is infected with bullsh-t, no kidding!
Ive admired the fish nets and pics of stone huts, eel traps and fishing nets, in a resource complex enviro not yet conditioned by millions of years of previous occupation. Give them a break, they lived in environments that would have killed a white person shortly and their DNA goes back at least fifty thousand years (a TV personality). Anyway, the thread has beenn lured away from the topic and I’ve digressed, which can be irritating.
Getting back to Bondi, I do wonder what the Jewish folk were doing considering the atmosphere across the country. But that would open me up as to inconsistency, since people have wanted to publicly “discourse” over Gaza also (still think of that lass who got her eyes punched by the copper a while back).
Merry Christmas John, thanks for that lovely poem amongst many other reasons.
Susssssssan Ley…Finished,Frydenberg?Dead but hasn’t got the memo.Little Johnny Rotten..second resurrection a failure.
Mainstream media? a decaying pile of shit.
Armageddon?Looking good.Not to worry, cricket starts Friday.
Happy Xmas AIMN.
https://youtu.be/rDBfGrfUuug?si=eT1lldpK96m7aWVm
I see Princess Timmy of the Wilson now says he would like to the Libs leader in the future. What a non-surprise. Not long ago he said he had no plans for the leadership.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-26/tim-wilson-liberal-party-politics-now-the-interview/106162420