Thread by @stilgherrian

I see that last Wednesday’s appalling exchange between Senators Abetz and Fierravanti-Wells and @wesachau @redrabbleroz @yun_aus is in the news again today, so for those new to it here are the details.

A thread...

Last week the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee was hearing evidence in its Inquiry into “Issues facing diaspora communities in Australia”. Quite the irony. The exchange starts on page 5 of Hansard (page 9 of the PDF). drive.google.com/file/d/1Pmiakd…

If you prefer, then here’s the audio (11m40s). drive.google.com/file/d/1D2cwmB…

(Unfortunately there’s no video. This was an audio conference call per XOVID-19 procedures.)

Here’s what @redrabbleroz wrote that evening: “I was born in Australia. Why do I need to renounce the Chinese Communist Party?” smh.com.au/national/i-was…

Here’s what @yun_aus wrote the next day.

https://twitter.com/yun_aus/status/1316514603057127424

Here’s what @Rory_Medcalf wrote. He’s Professor and Head of the National Security College at ANU and has a nice beard.

https://twitter.com/Rory_Medcalf/status/1316902229488619520

And here’s Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg denouncing Abetz’s whole line of questioning as “degrading and regrettable”.

You’ll find plenty more critiques if you look for them.

Abetz has “declined to apologise”.

One of the funniest and/or most horrible aspects of this is that Abetz and Fierravanti-Wells kick off about all this while complaining about exactly the same thing having been done to them.

Yes, Abetz was demanding that these three people denounce the actions of others based on their ethnicity, yet he himself is (quite rightly) appalled when asked to prove his allegiance because some of his ancestors were Nazis. sbs.com.au/news/eric-abet…

Senator Eric Abetz’s great-uncle Otto Abetz was the German ambassador to Vichy France during World War 2, and a convicted war criminal. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Abetz What has this to do with Eric, who moved to Australia with his family when he was 3yo? Nothing, of course.

The senator is obviously unable to see that he is doing exactly the same thing to these three people.

Also rather tone-deaf is Senator Fierravanti-Wells’ little lecture at the end of this exchange, blaming the Chinese-Australian community itself for not participating in politics.

Still, Senator Abetz eventually did get something right.

Anyway, there’s all the relevant bits and pieces. I figured at least some of you might want to know exactly what all the fuss was about. It was, as they say, a most regrettable incident. Totally on-brand for Abetz, of course. THE END.

One more link: @redrabbleroz himself talking about the incident on Melbourne radio.

https://twitter.com/redrabbleroz/status/1318065367378317313

Also, Labor’s Andrew Giles MP made a brief statement in the House today. parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/genpd…

Further my long thread yesterday about Senator Eric Abetz’s racist episode last week, here’s four pages from yesterday’s Senate Estimates when Senator Keneally grilled Senator Cash over the issue. drive.google.com/file/d/1YF8cU9… (PDF)

https://twitter.com/stilgherrian/status/1318124455957196807

If you’re wondering why it was Cash, this was the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee asking Home Affairs about a goal about “prosperous and inclusive society”, and Senator Cash was representing Home Affairs minister Peter Dutton. Procedure, eh?

And there’s more. It’s interesting to see who’s simply unable to say that Abetz was out of order.

https://twitter.com/redrabbleroz/status/1318458435982090246

The responses to Senator Abetz’s racist arsehattery continue. Here’s @redrabbleroz himself at @Meanjin. (I haven’t read it yet myself.)

https://twitter.com/GreenJ/status/1318710778850013184