Politicians Bravely Speaking Truth

These two courageous politicians sure are a breath of fresh air:

Yes it might seem like an oxymoron, but it does sometimes happen: a politician will get up and say that which is true – profoundly true. It might be a rarity, but it does happen. And when it does, it is worth taking note of and applauding. There have been two recent cases of this occurring, so let me run with both.

One involves a brand new federal politician and one involves someone who has been around for quite a while. I refer to Jacinta Price and Bob Katter. The former has just delivered her maiden speech in the Australian Senate. And the latter has offered a strong defence of Christianity while focusing on its many critics.

Let me begin by offering the full text of Bob Katter’s brief speech he gave just yesterday in Parliament House. He certainly pulled no punches as he targeted the secular left woke agenda and the anti-Christian bigotry we see all around us:

KENNEDY MP, Bob Katter, has used a media address in Canberra today to slam the continued persecution of Christianity, after learning the Senate Chief has proposed to ban morning prayers.

 

An enraged Mr Katter used the opportunity to hold up the Holy Bible and rattle off a plethora of recent examples of religious persecution in Australia. He showed solidarity and support to the seven Manly Sea Eagles players, who stood down to defend their religious beliefs, praising them for their conviction.

 

“This Book for 5,000 years has been the heartland of religious belief, a concept that there is something bigger than me, but in sharp contrast, the persecutors believe that there is nothing bigger than themselves and their opinions,” Mr Katter said.

 

“For 5,000 years the persecution of the people who believe in this Book have been on public record. I will not go through the persecutions that go back to the dawn of time.  I’ll just mention one – just one.

 

“During WWII, six million people were murdered in cold blood, many in gas chambers, for no other reason than what they believed. And remember, the Torah is based on the first five Books of the Hebrew Bible.

 

“This continued persecution is well and truly alive today. Just have a look at what’s happened to these seven boys from Manly. They have been persecuted for no other reason than they have moral conviction and whether you agree with their convictions, or not, is irrelevant.

 

“The conviction shown by these seven men is heroic and every decent member of society should admire them. Whether you agree with them or you don’t, they have stood up for what they believe in at great personal sacrifice and that is truly admirable.

 

“This is what the people of self-righteous arrogance have done to them:  they have had their jobs taken off them, taken their family security off them, taken their incomes from them, they have put the house they live in in great jeopardy, their futures, their aspirations – all in jeopardy.

 

“According to news reports today, these players have been confined to their houses; they have been locked up.  Apparently, they are doing this to protect the players, but do you know what they said to the First Australians when they rounded them up in chains and sent them to Palm Island? They said, “we are doing this to protect you.”

 

“To think that this is happening in Australia today is sickening. We Christians have no illusions that we are now under persecution.

 

“First, they targeted the Hollingsworth and biggest church in Australia. He was torn to pieces. Having finished with the biggest church in Australia, they then started on the leader of the second biggest church in Australia. Tore him to pieces.

 

“Then they turned to the Evangelicals. They started on Israel Falou. They took his whole life away from him and destroyed his career because he made a quote from this Book. He was punished for his quotation of this Book. Yet for 5,000 years people have based the foundation of entire societies on its teachings. More than half the world believes in this Book, or in parts of it.

 

“Is it an unreasonable thing to quote from a book that more than half the population is committed to? In Australia it is!

 

“And now, we have been told today by some that we cannot say prayers in the Parliament. We can show allegiance to some lady in England, but we cannot say prayers.

 

“So, to my fellow Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, and people of other religious belief, I say this to you – Please will you circulate the names of those who persecute you. We must stop this cold-hearted persecution. They got Pell, they got Hollingsworth, got Folau, they have got the Manly boys, so when will they start on you?!”

Well done Bob! Such a relief to hear someone giving us some hard truths and not mealy-mouthed platitudes and sweet nothings. Give me a dozen more courageous fighters like this and we might be able to start draining the swamp of Australian politics, just as Trump tried to do in the US.

And next, let me present parts of the speech delivered by the champion Indigenous Leader Jacinta Price on July 27 in Canberra. It too was a refreshing bit of much needed political realism. Early on she said this:

Despite billions being spent, the violence and despair that puts these places and many others like them in the headlines is not changing. We need change and we need the right legislation to effect it. My vision, my hope and my goal is that we can effect change that will see women, children and other victims in these communities become as safe as any of those living in Sydney, Melbourne or any other Australian city.

 

My goal is to halt the pointless virtue signalling and focus on the solutions that bring real change that changes the lives of Australia’s most vulnerable citizens—solutions that give them real lives, not the enduring nightmare of violence and terror they currently live. It is not good enough that the streets of our Northern Territory towns—and other towns across regional Australia—have gangs of children aged six to 16 wandering around with no adult supervision in the early hours of the morning. It is not good enough that almost all of these children have witnessed, or been subject to, normalised alcohol abuse and domestic, family and sexual violence throughout their young lives and that that is the reason for their presence on our streets. Such neglect in great numbers would not be accepted in the prosperous suburbs of our capital cities.

She went on to speak in favour of limited government:

I believe in small government, which equates to small bureaucracy, so that Australians may get on with their lives more effectively. We must better determine where our national budget is being spent effectively, and change expenditure accordingly where it is not. Fiscal management is integral to the success of a nation, and therefore must be a leading component in all decision-making.

 

We have seen the immediate impact of the new Labor government’s minimum wage increase: forcing small businesses to close. The cries of business people struggling with cost-of-living pressures, whose livelihoods are now destroyed, have fallen on deaf ears. This would have not occurred under a coalition-led government.

 

Tax cuts are what delivers an increase in a worker’s pay packet on payday. Tax cuts are what supports small businesses to survive through the pressures of increased cost of living, to ensure they do not have to lay off workers or close altogether.

 

It is not only the private sector that is suffering. Non-government organisations that provide services to victims in domestic violence situations are now being forced to reduce staff numbers. These staff specialise in work specific to supporting victims of abuse and the reduction of family and domestic violence. Careful consideration must always be taken when delivering legislation, so as not to produce outcomes that exacerbate already difficult circumstances.

She also said this:

But we must always remember that our nation is not simply black and white. We are rich with the contribution of Australians of many backgrounds, 30 per cent of whom were born overseas, and this is one of our greatest strengths as a nation. My elders taught me that any child who was conceived in our country holds within them the baby spirit of the creator ancestor from the land. In other words, Australian children of all backgrounds belong to this land. They too have Jukurrpa Dreaming, and they too are connected spiritually to this country. This is what I know true reconciliation to be.

 

These teachings cannot be delivered through legislation, nor through any corporate reconciliation action plan. These teachings are about what it means to be a modern human in an ancient land. It’s time to stop feeding into a narrative that promotes racial divide, a narrative that claims to try to stamp out racism but applies racism in doing so and encourages a racist overreaction. Yes, it is time for some truth telling.

 

Our nation’s schools’ sole responsibility should be to educate, not indoctrinate, but we have in recent times witnessed the overwhelming politicisation of our children. Children are now encouraged to skip school to be paraded as activist spearheads by adults who place the weight of the world on their shoulders. Meanwhile, children in remote communities, where school attendance rates are in some places as low as 19 per cent, do not have the privilege of gaining an education that the activist class take for granted. Everyone wants to be an activist—to push governments to solve their dilemmas—but no-one wants to be responsible for themselves.

 

Our aim should not be to blame our current democratic institutions for all our perceived failures but to encourage the individual responsibility of all Australians. Where we fail is where we encourage others to believe responsibility for one’s own life can be avoided and disadvantage can be charged to another. We need to focus on nation building, not nation burning. Our laws as they stand now are not racist, as some will claim, but exist because we have overcome historical racist legislation. https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;db=CHAMBER;id=chamber%2Fhansards%2F25929%2F0156;query=Id%3A%22chamber%2Fhansards%2F25929%2F0000%22

Jacinta Price is a hero in my books. We need many more brave women – and men – like her in our various parliaments. Well done Bob and Jacinta. You two give me some real hope for the future of Australia. God bless you both.

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