From the Senior Minister....

Dog Whistle Politics

At the start of our Federal election campaign both major political parties have been accused of employing “dog whistle politics” when addressing the issue of immigration and asylum seekers. “Dog-whistling" is different from labelling, stereotyping, branding and dehumanising; it is deliberately covert and designed to activate concealed prejudices. The key to dog-whistling is to use coded language to convey an implicit, almost subliminal, message to a select target audience, while maintaining “plausible deniability against accusations of prejudice or fear-mongering”. The Double-Tongued Dictionary (2007) defines dog-whistle politics as “a concealed, coded, or unstated idea, usually divisive or politically dangerous, nevertheless understood by the intended voters”. (Source: www.onlineopinion.com.au) 

Dog whistle politics demonises refugees as “illegal boat people” and “queue jumpers” in an attempt to appeal to covert racism that says these people are “un-Australian” and by implication unworthy of our help.  Neither of these descriptions has any basis in fact. (See the “Face the Facts” booklet from the Human Rights Commission.)

In the face of spin and media management (manipulation?) we need quality information as we prayerfully consider the issues that will determine our voting choices on August 21st.  My advice is that we avoid “populist” media who like to reduce things to black and white alternatives. They seek conflict because this makes for a good “story”, promoting the views of the fringes not the reasonable middle. They prefer “either/or” rather than “both/and” views.  For example – they promote the “clean up your own backyard” view of immigration. “How can we house asylum seekers when there are 1000s of homeless Australians living rough on our streets?”  As if it is either or.  Most of us realise that it is possible to walk and chew gum at the same time.  In other words we can address BOTH  Australian homelessness AND be generous to refugees. Can I suggest that you reject the majority of the commercial media (especially talkback radio and so called “current affairs” programs on commercial TV) and turn to more reliable sources which provide genuine critique and a range of opinion rather than pandering to dog whistle politics.
ABC radio (especially Radio National) offers many quality programs such as Late Night Live, The National Interest, Philosopher’s Zone, Rear Vision and for daily comment on news and politics, AM, PM, and The World Today.  Radio National can be found at 576 on the AM dial.
If you prefer television, the SBS news and commentary programs are excellent, as too are ABC Television programs.  Just this week ABC launched its News 24 channel with 24hr news coverage on digital TV with iview internet and mobile broadcast services.                     

There are many quality alternatives to the rubbish so often dished up in our commercial media.  As we consider important social and political issues we have a duty to get the facts and not just “follow the crowd”.  Perhaps the advice above will help you to do that.                 Greg