This week the Minister for Home Affairs, Clare O’Neil, gave a speech at the Museum of Australian Democracy bemoaning the lack of trust in Australian political institutions.
She blamed this outcome on the rise of social media and a decay in our “social cohesion”.
Most of the speech was a boilerplate repetition of the Albanese government’s attack on what they call “misinformation”.
They often blame this nebulous force for their declining popularity among the Australian people.
The declining trust in Australian institutions is real but it is hard to take seriously those politicians who blame others for the phenomenon without accepting their role in the trend too.
Over the past few years, Australian governments pummelled Australians with outright lies about the origins of coronavirus as well as the effectiveness of masks and vaccines in stopping the spread, and then labelled anyone who aired reasonable objections as “conspiracy theorists”.
The lack of trust people have in democratic governments has much more to do with the constant exaggeration that governments have engaged in for over a generation.
Weapons of mass destruction, Medicare and the latest use of three eyed fish to argue against nuclear power all insult the intelligence of voters.
This rot started long before social media.
And the loss of trust in politics also predates social media so it is hard to blame it alone.
These over the top scare campaigns may provide the perpetrators temporary political victories but they do so at the long term cost of public trust.
It is a bit rich for the same people to turn around and then wail, why don’t you all trust me?
Clare herself has accused Peter Dutton of allowing organised criminals to come in “under his nose” to commit sexual slavery and human trafficking.
She called the son of former US President, Donald Trump Jr, a “big baby” on twitter.
But she expects the rest of you to behave!
Admittedly Clare has said nothing like the over the top rhetoric we have seen senior political figures in the US deploy against Donald Trump.
Just this year, President Biden has accused Donald Trump of being “a genuine threat to this nation.
He’s a threat to our freedom.
He’s a threat to our democracy. He’s literally a threat to everything America stands for.”
He also said that Donald Trump uses “Hitler’s language.”
We may never know what the motives were of the sick person that tried to assassinate Donald Trump.
But there is no doubt that Biden’s rhetoric heightens the risk of political violence.
It was a miracle that Donald Trump dodged that bullet.
There is a chance that American democracy may have dodged a bullet too if it can end the practice of comparing a political opponent to the worst dictator in history.
The Australian Prime Minister rightly called the attempted assassination of Donald Trump an attack on democracy.
It is an attack that failed because of Donald Trump’s defiance, resilience and bravery in immediately standing up after being shot, blood streaming from his ear, fist raised and yelling “fight”.
The bullies that engage in hysterical political rhetoric are cowards and all it will take to defeat them is for enough brave, good people to stand up against them.
Donald Trump’s leadership will inspire many to do that.
Fortunately, our political language has not yet been debased to that of American levels.
But this is an American trend we would be wise not to follow. In contrast, to Minister O’Neil I would choose two different things to focus on.
Play the ball not the man and engage in some self-reflection.
We should admit that Governments have contributed to the political mire we find ourselves in.
They can correct that by being more transparent, more open and more willing to admit when they get it wrong.
