When a News Corp columnist defended Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs, it was only a matter of time before free speech warriors Andrew Bolt and Tim Blair and their commenters turned on one of their own.
Paul Syvret, a columnist for News Corp’s Brisbane daily the Courier Mail, drew the ire of his colleagues by agreeing with Triggs. Syvret’s column explained his view of Triggs’ speech to a Bob Brown Foundation event, in which she said (in reference to laws about public racial abuse), “Sadly, you can say what you like around the kitchen table at home”.
As Syvret said, it was “the addendum which has had the right wing ‘free speech’ warriors in Australia foaming at the mouth”.
His words were prophetic.
Blair was incredulous that the column was not satire: “The Courier Mail‘s Paul Syvret signs up for Gillian Triggs’s kitchen speech surveillance squadron,” he thundered.
Bolt also included a link to Syvret’s column in a post titled, “Triggs would turn your kids into informers”.
Syvret posted on his public Facebook feed yesterday he had gone home and was taking union advice after the blog posts prompted abusive comments from readers, including one comment revealing where Syvret did his grocery shopping. These comments have since been deleted.
“Gee it’s a great fucking day when your own news organisation attacks you, and publishes comments suggesting you are deserving of a very late term abortion. Read the comments,” Syvret posted.
He followed up with another post:
“I’m well hardened to the abusive and threatening emails I get from various nutters, and on social media the ‘block’ tool is used with little hesitation, but to have this happen feels like corporate sponsored bullying from my own employer that has risked the safety of my family.”
News Corp Australia refused to comment. — Emily Watkins
Syvret is lucky Blair and/or his comment writers didn’t comment on his physique or mental health.
Limited News? WTF takes Blot seriously?
The goose who can’t see a world beyond his distorting bubble prism of self-taught beliefs; who watches Monty Python’s The Life of Brian and comes away thinking “Brian was supposed to be Christ”?
Hence two years ago – to the day – he wrote, under editorial imprimatur – that “The Life of Brian is a film that mocks Christ as “just a naughty boy””?
Passed as okay by his editor – supposedly overseeing publication under a Professional Code of Conduct (with specific reference to “Accuracy” in particular)?
The readers/supporters of Blair and Bolt tell you everything you need to know about the men themselves and their world views. The kind of behaviour they are fostering and legitimising is very dark indeed.
Blot & Bliar are the sort of people Hannah Arendt had in mind when she didn’t describe The Evil of Banality?.
They will write to order without hesitation having kissed the mudorc’s Ring.
Murdochs ring, love it first time I heard it, is that your own? That’s gold should be one of quotes of our century, sorry it’s just I’ve never heard, I haven’t seen the movies either, but everyone keeps relating to them to me.
Col, it’s a nod to the old act of obeisance – kissing the Pope’s Ring (of Peter) when a new bloke in a dress takes up some in important sinecure.
Today’s Curry or Maul “Gather Round the Bon-fire Rage d’ Jour” – “That witch Triggs is saying that all us Australians are innoculating our kids with racism around the breakfast table”.