Is our 2 party system just a con?

[willedoo]

7 hours ago, Marty_d said:

"Go back to where you came from?"

Yeah, very much racism 

Purtting the intent aside, are those particular words racist? Just on the wording alone, I'd call them nationalistic as only the country was mentioned, not the person's race or religion. As an example, if an anglo saxon descent Australian person told a Pom of anglo saxon descent to piss off back to England, is that rascist even tough both parties are of the same race. Intent can differ, but the wording is the same in both cases. I always thought rascism was bias against someone because of their race, not nationality. If you are white and told two South Africans to piss off back to South Africa and one is black and one is white, is it racism in both cases, only in one case or in none?

[Marty_d]

For 30 years Hanson has been spewing racial hatred.

First it was "Australia is being swamped by Asians". Then she went on about Aboriginal people. Then South Africans, but only the darker skinned ones.

This time around it's people from the middle east, especially Muslims with her burqa stunts.

So when she tells someone who's not Anglo Saxon "piss off back to Pakistan", are you seriously going to tell me she's not being racist?

[Grumpy Old Nasho]

1 minute ago, Marty_d said:

First it was "Australia is being swamped by Asians"

You'd be surprised how many people, including Aboriginals, who don't want so many Asians here. An Aboriginal I spoke to in the early eighties said he wanted neither Asians nor black Africans in Australia. People are voting like this now, and O.N. is benefiting. 

[Marty_d]

How many Asian people do you know personally, GON?

[willedoo]

11 minutes ago, Marty_d said:

So when she tells someone who's not Anglo Saxon "piss off back to Pakistan", are you seriously going to tell me she's not being racist?

No I'm not saying that Marty. Read my post more carefully. What I'm saying is that the words alone don't refer to race, only former nationality. Get over the Hanson thing for a minute and think about the words alone, no matter who utters them. She told the person to piss off back to the country she migrated from, no mention of the person's race or religion. Forget about Hanson and look at the example of a white Australian telling a white Kiwi to piss off back to NZ. Would those words alone constitute racism of one white person toward another? I'd consider a case like that to be nationalistic based and not race based. If Hanson had told a white South African to piss off back to South Africa, is that racist? Would she be having a go at the person's race or nationality?

 

The point I'm making is, that the words she used are not racist but nationalistic. That's looking solely at the wording and not taking perceived intent into account. The court obviously made the decision that they thought she had racist intent in what she said. The words alone (regardless of who spoke them) don't convey that. That's what a high court challenge will have to sort out.

[willedoo]

11 hours ago, Marty_d said:

"Go back to where you came from?"

Yeah, very much racism 

Sorry to requote Marty but she didn't tweet that. This is the text in question:

“Your attitude appalls and disgusts me. When you immigrated to Australia you took every advantage of this country. You took citizenship, bought multiple homes, and a job in a parliament. It’s clear you’re not happy, so pack your bags and piss off back to Pakistan - PH.”

 

Probably where you've got that from is that Justice Angus Stewart found Hanson’s comment that Faruqi should “piss off back to Pakistan” was a “variant of the slogan ‘go back to from where you came from’” which he said was an a “racist trope” and a “strong form of racism”.  So she didn't say it but the Judge had the opinion that it meant the same as another saying they considered racist.

[Marty_d]

You can get down in the weeds about whether the words by themselves are inherently racist.

But everything needs context, and I'm inclined to agree with the judge. In this context I would argue they were racist.

[willedoo]

It will be interesting to see what becomes of a high court challenge. The judge in this case said it functioned as a test case for the claims of both parties. Marty, you judge Hanson's intent on her past history and you have every reason to, but a court can't take any previous statements on other past matters into account; they must only judge on the matter at hand. If an appeal to the high court happens, they'll have to judge on whether her words I quoted in a previous post constitute racism. The words alone don't in my opinion. Pakistan is a geographic area and a soverign state, so on words alone she's telling someone to go back there. It's her intent in using those words that the courts decide on. On words alone it's no different than if you came up here and I told you to piss off back to Tasmania. You know yourself how many times Tasmanians have said they wish mainlanders would piss off back to the mainland. That's not racist, and it could be argued not necessarily Stateist, just a desire to be left alone. But on words alone, it's no different to what Hanson said.

[Grumpy Old Nasho]

SBS should be sued for their show "Go back to where you came from" ... they could have named it something else entirely. They inflamed the national debate, inciting and provoking racism for their own ends - stirring the pot, and knew they'd get away with it.

 

Both the ABC and SBS need to be defunded until they come to their senses, then a stronger watchdog to keep them in check.