Say “Yes” to Green Innocence

Tragedies and Accidents Just Happen*

Iambic trimeters just fell into my lap
as, like an ancient theatre-piece, some great mishap
occurred: “asylum-seekers” found themselves at sea
and wondered, “How did we get here?  A mystery!
A little while ago the family was home,
then, suddenly, we’re drowning in this briny foam.”
Calamities just happen, misadventures too,
and Sarah Hanson-Young sees nothing she need do;
she’ll ever fault some other—Greens can never err†—,
for tragedies will happen, accidents occur.

*  see  “Boat tragedy linked to smuggling mastermind”, by Peter Alford and Paul Maley, in The Australian:

As news of the disaster broke, former Labor leader Mark Latham took aim at the Greens and the Labor Left, saying the “so-called compassionate” approach of onshore processing was causing deaths at sea. “You can’t be compassionate and you can’t have a good heart, you can’t have a good soul, if you encourage people to get on boats that sink,’ Mr Latham told Sky’s Australian Agenda.

“And people just need to understand that the real compassionate policy is to stop the flow of the boats.”

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young yesterday stood by her party’s policies.  Pressed on whether the Greens accepted responsibility for the tragedy, Senator Hanson-Young said:  “Of course not.  Tragedies happen, accidents happen.”

†  The Greens, we know, will never take the blame for acts

    they wrought (nor will they recognise objective facts).

UPDATE I:  these verses were composed as a comment for Tim Blair’s post “Cared to Death” but only the title and the footnoted couplet were accepted.

UPDATE II (29 December):  see “Police State: It is now illegal to show asylum seekers [i.e., unlawful non-citizens seeking illegal entry] on Australian TV” at Wake up 2 the Lies.

Say “Yes” to More Radical “Refugees”

Sen. Sarah Hanson-Young asserts that we should welcome all alleged refugees who have paid ten grand or more to be smuggled into the country—even those who might call for an overthrow of Australian democracy* or those who would demand that halal training centres† be funded by taxpayers—because refugees since federation have contributed to Australia.

“Australia’s a better place because of the more than 750,000 refugees who have settled here since 1901.

“From businessman Frank Lowy, who has changed the face of retailing in Australia, to comedian Anh Do, whose best-selling memoir which [sic] makes you grateful for one’s family, refugees have helped improve this great country.  [...]
“We also will continue agitating for all sides to back our bill before the Senate to amend the Migration Act so all MPs and Senators can have a vote on expelling asylum seekers to any third country, not just Malaysia.”‡

It is good to see Sen. Hanson-Young approve of Mr. Lowy’s capitalistic efforts which, usually, the Greens tend to calumniate;  see, for instance, Sen. Bob Brown’s media release, from March, 2009:

“The Greens welcome the government’s belated decision on ‘golden parachutes’ but we will continue to tackle the government’s failure to regulate CEO greed, which sees some annual remuneration exceed $10 million.  Most CEOs will be considering public hostility to excessive pay packets, but it’s the few who give the rest a bad name who require curbing,” Senator Brown said. 

*  see “Democracy is evil, Parliament is evil’ says radical Muslim cleric in billboard debate”, by Clayton Hinds, in Christian Today Australia:

Democracy and parliaments are evil, declared a radical Australian Muslim cleric in Sydney on Friday night during a debate with two Christian politicians.

Ibrahim Saddiq Conlan also called for the overthrow of the Australian legal system in favour of the controversial sharia law, the Islamic legal system.

“[the Australian legal system is] the primary cause of the spiritual, economic and environmental crisis in Australia,” he said.

“Democracy is evil, the parliament is evil and legislation is evil,” said Mr Conlon.

†  see “Australian Muslim community demands ‘taxpayer-funded halal training centre’”:

Australia’s top Muslim body has demanded a new taxpayer-funded halal training centre that would prepare refugees for jobs slaughtering animals in rural areas.

‡  The Migration Amendment (Declared Countries) Bill 2011 seeks to amend the Migration Act 1958 to require that any agreement to send asylum seekers to a third country is brought before both houses of Parliament as a disallowable instrument.

Say “Yes” to Green Hypocrisy

The Australian Greens party, according to the Australian Greens, is like no other party; for example, according to the Members Handbook (p. 4), there is a code of ethics:

Greens aspire to a code of ethics that guides our behaviours.  We hope that new members will embrace these principles and enjoy the Green ‘spirit’.
We endeavour to be tolerant and respectful, avoiding demeaning behaviour towards any person or group. We value trustworthiness, sincerity and truth.

So, we might reasonably hope that Sen. Sarah Hanson-Young would behave rather ethically, valuing truth even if she can’t quite bring herself to be honest on such subjects as the fraudulent conjecture of catastrophic anthropogenic global warming.  Does she treat even those whom she regards as mistaken with tolerance and respect?  Does she, for instance, ensure that she makes no accusation of hypocrisy without first ensuring that she is fully aware of pertinent facts and that she quotes accurately and contextually?

Last Tuesday Sen. Hanson-Young posted an article on the Greens’ website, “Attack on campaign is hypocritical”, wherein she referred to some journalists, tolerantly and respectfully, as “News Ltd hacks” and claimed (inter alia):

Tony Abbott and his Coalition colleagues are being hypocritical because while they relish the chance to mock Ms Blanchett and actor Michael Caton for being part of the ‘Say Yes’ campaign, they don’t have any qualms with other wealthy Australians standing up for what they believe in.

Mr Abbott in question time last week ridiculed Ms Blanchett, saying “people who live in eco mansions have a right to be heard ... but their voice should not be heard ahead of the voice of the ordinary working people of this country.”

Mr Abbott, every Australian has the right to have their voices heard, regardless of whether they are working or unemployed, whether they are homeless or have a roof over their head.

Mr. Abbott had said:

People who live in eco-mansions have a right to be heard.  They really do.  People who are worth $53 million have a right to be heard, but their voice should not be heard ahead of the voice of the ordinary working people of this country.

It might seem that Mr. Abbott was expressing a very similar sentiment to that which Sen. Hanson-Young claims to support, yet she derides him as a hypocrite; it would seem that the Senator is the hypocrite.  Next, we may suppose, Hanson-Young will start accusing other politicians of having crazy eyes.

Say “Yes” to a Long Stretch

Sen. Sarah Hanson-Young recently travelled to Christmas Island (by rowboat or sail, indubitably), and posted this:

Locked in a legal limo?  That’s all the poor “asylum-seekers” have to chauffeur all that trouble to sneak into Australia?  If the Greens are so firmly opposed to the Gillard Government’s mistreating people so egregiously, of course, then the Greens could stop supporting the incompetent Government so proctoleichously.