Geoff Davies' Home Page

Howard's Choice

4 November 2002

However much Prime Minister Howard tries to sidestep the fact, an image is abroad of submachine guns waved in the faces of terrified women and children by hooded agents of the Australian Government. That such incidents should have occurred in Australia is a measure of how far Mr. Howard and his fearful cabinet have strayed from mainstream Australian values.

Despite indignant official assertions that the dawn raids were done strictly according to legal search warrants, it now transpires that the warrants were issued not by a court of law, but by a Government Minister, the Attorney General, according to Terry O’Gorman of the Australian Council for Civil Liberties. Welcome to Police State Australia.

The Government’s resort to such a heavy-handed tactic at this time may be a symptom of some panic in the face of a bloody terrorist attack, but it nevertheless fits an agenda whose genesis predates the Bali attack, and even predates the terrorist attacks on the U.S.

The moment, last year, when Mr. Howard decided to block the entry of the M.V. Tampa into Australian waters, he closed off any alternative but to steadily escalate his confrontation with an allegedly strange and threatening world. It is the oldest and most sordid resort of politicians, proclaiming a dire external threat so that everyone will rally behind the leader.

The world would seem to have cooperated with Howard’s strategy, probably beyond his wildest dreams, but he had already shown he didn’t need very much to work with, before the planes flew into the tall buildings.

We should recall that a mere eighteen months ago Mr. Howard was in desperate danger of losing power. Huge swings in state elections had signalled a collapse of support for the Coalition. It is true that Mr. Howard was slowly clawing his way back, but in July of last year he was still behind and the election deadline was looming.

It was in that context that Mr. Howard decided to exploit simmering resentment of legal asylum seekers arriving on our shores, by preventing any more from entering Australian territory. When the Tampa rescued a group of asylum seekers from a leaky fishing boat, it provided the opportunity for Mr. Howard to implement his new policy with maximum world-wide publicity. The Coalition’s stocks immediately rose in the polls, and with the September 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. Mr. Howard’s success at the election was assured.

The decision to block the Tampa was by no means the first step along the path. Mr. Howard had been steadily usurping the xenophobic positions of Pauline Hanson, and in its first two terms the Coalition spent some effort itself in vilifying asylum seekers. The Government’s efforts were abetted by sections of the media, and especially by Sydney radio station 2UE and its talkback hosts.

However the Tampa decision closed the door on any other strategy than fearmongering. The trap in this time-honoured strategy is that there is no return, and no standing still. One has to keep crying “wolf” louder and louder, and concurrently assuming more and more power, so as to forestall an outbreak of reality among the masses. Such is the slippery slope to totalitarianism.

So it is proving with John Winston Howard. He is following the script perfectly, imposing more draconian measures and alarming the populace regularly, with the enthusiastic cooperation of the commercial media, which thrive on fear and conflict.

One might object that the government’s actions are justified because now there are real threats to Australia. However, at every stage Mr. Howard’s reaction has been to inflame xenophobia rather than to address the conditions that breed terorists. Thus he has parroted U.S. President Bush’s primitive reaction to lash back violently at any available target. He has aligned Australia without reservation behind the reckless and counterproductive policy of the U.S., thus inviting the attentions of terrorists, an invitation that has now, tragically, been taken up.

Rather, it is ironic that real threats materialised soon after Mr. Howard concocted the asylum-seeker “threat”. Regardless, Mr. Howard had left himself no scope for dealing quietly and firmly with terrorist threats, having adopted such a bombastic stance.

Throughout this period, Mr. Howard has displayed contempt for the truth. First, Mr. Howard did nothing to dispel key misconceptions being propagated by gossip and commercial media, such as that asylum seekers are illegal immigrants. He portrayed the few thousand asylum seekers as a threat to our way of life, when about ten times that number of once-legal visitors have overstayed their visas here, with no reaction from the government.

Most egregiously, Mr. Howard and his senior ministers rushed to the media with the story that some asylum seekers had thrown their children into the sea. Doubts became public within days that the story was not true. Mr. Howard is reported to have been asked at a news conference, before the election, about those doubts, and he promised to look into them. The recent Senate inquiry into the affair evidently missed this key point: Mr. Howard KNEW there were doubts.

Did Mr. Howard check his facts with all due diligence? Or did his Government continue to slander those parents and to mislead the Australian public and Parliament because they knew it would give them an unbeatable electoral advantage?

Given the Government’s subsequent total lack of cooperation with the Senate enquiry, the admission of a senior defence chief that he protected the Prime Minister from the real story, the conclusion of the Senate inquiry that a senior Minister, conveniently retired, deliberately withheld the information, and the appearance of a widespread conspiracy of silence within the bureaucracy and advisory staffs, Mr. Howard’s pretense of ignorance has no credibility. The truth was there for him to discover with very little effort.

It is a sad and dangerous time for Australia. Our way of life and democratic institutions are under threat from a government that shows every readiness to become as repressive as necessary in its desperation to retain power. The so-called Opposition is directionless, hardly distinguishable from the Government, and utterly ineffectual. People are turning to minor parties, as well they might, but minor parties face a huge challenge to create an effective alternative government in a short time, as the One Nation experience illustrates.

Unfortunately, so long as Mr. Howard remains in power the internal threat to our way of life will continue, and there will be no prospect of breaking the spiral of hysteria and violence that threatens to engulf Australia and its neighbours.


	Howard's Choice 4 November 2002 However much Prime Minister Howard tries to sidestep the fact, an image is abroad of submachine guns waved in the faces of terrified women and children by hooded agents of the Australian Government. That such incidents should have occurred in Australia is a measure of how far Mr. Howard and his fearful cabinet have strayed from mainstream Australian values. Despite indignant official assertions that the dawn raids were done strictly according to legal search warrants, it now transpires that the warrants were issued not by a court of law, but by a Government Minister, the Attorney General, according to Terry O’Gorman of the Australian Council for Civil Liberties. Welcome to Police State Australia. The Government’s resort to such a heavy-handed tactic at this time may be a symptom of some panic in the face of a bloody terrorist attack, but it nevertheless fits an agenda whose genesis predates the Bali attack, and even predates the terrorist attacks on the U.S. The moment, last year, when Mr. Howard decided to block the entry of the M.V. Tampa into Australian waters, he closed off any alternative but to steadily escalate his confrontation with an allegedly strange and threatening world. It is the oldest and most sordid resort of politicians, proclaiming a dire external threat so that everyone will rally behind the leader. The world would seem to have cooperated with Howard’s strategy, probably beyond his wildest dreams, but he had already shown he didn’t need very much to work with, before the planes flew into the tall buildings. We should recall that a mere eighteen months ago Mr. Howard was in desperate danger of losing power. Huge swings in state elections had signalled a collapse of support for the Coalition. It is true that Mr. Howard was slowly clawing his way back, but in July of last year he was still behind and the election deadline was looming. It was in that context that Mr. Howard decided to exploit simmering resentment of legal asylum seekers arriving on our shores, by preventing any more from entering Australian territory. When the Tampa rescued a group of asylum seekers from a leaky fishing boat, it provided the opportunity for Mr. Howard to implement his new policy with maximum world-wide publicity. The Coalition’s stocks immediately rose in the polls, and with the September 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. Mr. Howard’s success at the election was assured. The decision to block the Tampa was by no means the first step along the path. Mr. Howard had been steadily usurping the xenophobic positions of Pauline Hanson, and in its first two terms the Coalition spent some effort itself in vilifying asylum seekers. The Government’s efforts were abetted by sections of the media, and especially by Sydney radio station 2UE and its talkback hosts. However the Tampa decision closed the door on any other strategy than fearmongering. The trap in this time-honoured strategy is that there is no return, and no standing still. One has to keep crying “wolf” louder and louder, and concurrently assuming more and more power, so as to forestall an outbreak of reality among the masses. Such is the slippery slope to totalitarianism. So it is proving with John Winston Howard. He is following the script perfectly, imposing more draconian measures and alarming the populace regularly, with the enthusiastic cooperation of the commercial media, which thrive on fear and conflict. One might object that the government’s actions are justified because now there are real threats to Australia. However, at every stage Mr. Howard’s reaction has been to inflame xenophobia rather than to address the conditions that breed terorists. Thus he has parroted U.S. President Bush’s primitive reaction to lash back violently at any available target. He has aligned Australia without reservation behind the reckless and counterproductive policy of the U.S., thus inviting the attentions of terrorists, an invitation that has now, tragically, been taken up. Rather, it is ironic that real threats materialised soon after Mr. Howard concocted the asylum-seeker “threat”. Regardless, Mr. Howard had left himself no scope for dealing quietly and firmly with terrorist threats, having adopted such a bombastic stance. Throughout this period, Mr. Howard has displayed contempt for the truth. First, Mr. Howard did nothing to dispel key misconceptions being propagated by gossip and commercial media, such as that asylum seekers are illegal immigrants. He portrayed the few thousand asylum seekers as a threat to our way of life, when about ten times that number of once-legal visitors have overstayed their visas here, with no reaction from the government. Most egregiously, Mr. Howard and his senior ministers rushed to the media with the story that some asylum seekers had thrown their children into the sea. Doubts became public within days that the story was not true. Mr. Howard is reported to have been asked at a news conference, before the election, about those doubts, and he promised to look into them. The recent Senate inquiry into the affair evidently missed this key point: Mr. Howard KNEW there were doubts. Did Mr. Howard check his facts with all due diligence? Or did his Government continue to slander those parents and to mislead the Australian public and Parliament because they knew it would give them an unbeatable electoral advantage? Given the Government’s subsequent total lack of cooperation with the Senate enquiry, the admission of a senior defence chief that he protected the Prime Minister from the real story, the conclusion of the Senate inquiry that a senior Minister, conveniently retired, deliberately withheld the information, and the appearance of a widespread conspiracy of silence within the bureaucracy and advisory staffs, Mr. Howard’s pretense of ignorance has no credibility. The truth was there for him to discover with very little effort. It is a sad and dangerous time for Australia. Our way of life and democratic institutions are under threat from a government that shows every readiness to become as repressive as necessary in its desperation to retain power. The so-called Opposition is directionless, hardly distinguishable from the Government, and utterly ineffectual. People are turning to minor parties, as well they might, but minor parties face a huge challenge to create an effective alternative government in a short time, as the One Nation experience illustrates. Unfortunately, so long as Mr. Howard remains in power the internal threat to our way of life will continue, and there will be no prospect of breaking the spiral of hysteria and violence that threatens to engulf Australia and its neighbours.