The first Crikey Reads, Lies and Falsehoods: The Morrison Government and the New Culture of Deceit was born in the lockdown winter of 2021, and mashed out fireside in the Blue Mountains. Crikey had already published an extensive series on Scott Morrison’s lying, but a short book gave us the opportunity to explore it more in depth, and make clearer the comparisons between Morrison and Boris Johnson and Donald Trump, as well as the political trends across the West that seemed tailor-made for a new breed of politicians who felt no shame about constantly lying.
The result was unexpectedly popular — Lies and Falsehoods sold out within days and online sales surged while we waited for the next print run to arrive. It was still going strong into early 2022 as the federal election loomed.
Now, thankfully, it’s something of a dead letter. The long dossier of Scott Morrison’s lies belongs in the history books. Public perceptions of Morrison’s character — which tended to drift toward visceral loathing of him among many voters who would normally vote Liberal — played a crucial part in the massive defeat his government suffered on May 21. Perhaps to an extent, Lies and Falsehoods had a small role in shaping those perceptions.
Certainly, after Crikey began routinely calling out Morrison’s lies, parts of the media lifted their game. During the election campaign, Morrison got away with far fewer blatant lies and falsehoods than he had in 2019. Journalists would keep at him on single issues and single questions, pressing him and arguing with him. In one case, the then prime minister was forced to reluctantly concede that the lie he had put forward earlier in the media conference — on the availability of gender reassignment surgery for minors — was wrong. It was a highlight in an otherwise generally poor performance by the media during the campaign.
The removal of Morrison, however, doesn’t remove the systemic issues that created the environment for him — the polarisation, the tribalism, the economic uncertainty, the toxic role of malignant actors like News Corp, the sense of alienation engendered by governments that are perceived as no longer working in the public interest but for vested interests.
Such factors are still at work in the United States, where the return of Trump to the presidency remains a real possibility. Fortunately, those forces are less pronounced here, but the hyper-partisanship on display on social media and the tendency to conspiracy theorising by anyone disgruntled about a powerful institutional is a reminder that our current level of public debate is founded on decidedly shaky supports.
Lies and Falsehoods ended with a plea for re-engagement with an old-fashioned kind of community politics, represented best by the Voices Of campaigns. Much more than the removal of Morrison, the success of community independents in the 2022 election represents a vindication of the possibilities of community politics and grassroots engagement that undermine the efficacy of political deception broadcast by compliant media. The fact that several successful community independents were futilely demonised and smeared by News Corp was an elegant demonstration that we can fight back against large-scale lying and the systems that enable it. But it’s a process, not an event, and one election is just the start.
Call me naive, but why are politicians permitted to lie in this day and age of electronic data where a lie can be proven immediately, or if an apparent truth is proven a lie later when they try to claim ignorance of all the facts at the time? Again, easily proven by some simple research.
They are selling a product, a very important commodity which determines the wellness of our society across the board – so they should be held to commercial standards. Truth in advertising, fitness of purposes, misleading conduct.
That deals with lies, now for day-to-day corruption … .. .disregard of two important principles, probity and ethics in all matters great and small.
Oh, great work over time Mr. Keane!
Perfectly sensible and rational point you make,, not attributes we’ve come to associate with our modern society unfortunately. Things are rushing at people in every direction. Who’s got time to look back and hold the powerful to account. Not the media that’s for sure. Except Crikey and especially Bernard!
What a misnomer – media. All about profit from entertainment and not education(?). Unfortunately there are very few journalists left, and not many habitats where they can survive. Lots of hacks who call themselves journalists.
Because there are too many willing and angry enablers with narcissistic streaks who don’t care and want to believe in rubbish narratives they are exposed to by the media.
This is made easier by targeting and empowering those lacking skills of critical literacy; a parallel universe is the ‘managed’ real estate market in Oz where grounded analysis is bypassed for PR.
Truth in advertising concerning political campaigns in Australia can be achieved as below.
Under John Bannon’s Labor Government in 1985 when Section 113 of the Electoral Act 1985 (South Australia) was put in place.
It provides for an offence if a person authorises, causes or permits the publication of an electoral advertisement if the advertisement contains a statement purporting to be a statement of fact that is inaccurate and misleading to a material extent.
In 1997, s 113 was amended to empower the Electoral Commissioner to act on complaints of misleading electoral advertisements, which can be submitted by anyone to the Electoral Commission of South Australia (‘ECSA’).
In 1992 Labor’s Rosemary Follett, when Chief Minister of the ACT, enabled Section 297(1) of the Electoral Act 1992 (ACT) which reads: ‘A person shall not disseminate, or authorise to be disseminated, electoral matter that is likely to mislead or deceive an elector about the casting of a vote’.
Thank you Hayward. Now to wonder why contravention of these statutes is not reported?! On my part, ignorance.
To anyone with a bit of “nous”, Morrison and his not so merry band of cultists, were always out to damage Democracy. Authoritarianism is and always will be their aim and purpose. The fact that he and they are still “in there” should be a major concern of ASIO, although I did wonder when a warning to his Govt about right wing extremists active in Australia was not actually directed to the public and only given to the Govt because they were the only ones they could do so by law
Like Trump Morrison and Dutton are neofascists. Mendacity and political division and fear mongering is their stock in trade.
I believe the proper term for them are neo-conservatives, which was how the ethos of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party was once described. This was based on the ‘neoconservative’ movement of Friederch Nietzsche and his contemporary German/European philosphers of the late 19th century. Nietzsche et al, but particularly him, were hard to categorise. From what I understand his attitudes to morals etcetera as being redundant in the modern world lent to the label of neoconservative.
Goebbels or one of the team took these attitudes and refined them to the radical policies which defined Germany through the 1930s and early 40s. Again, from my poor understanding, the residual “Nazis” after WWII continued to adhere to neoconservatism as realised by Nazi Germany but had difficulty as the word neoconservatism too readily identified them for what they were. Strangely circa 1960 saw a gradual redefining of neoconservatism as leaning towards socialist communism, but I sometimes feel history was rewritten at a much later time. If you search for a link between [neo]conservatism and the National Socialist Workers’ Party today, I would be quite surprised – nor a link to today’s far right in Australia.
The only link of recent note of which I am aware was that of Cory Bernadi’s (far right or conservative Liberal Party Politician) book which was originally titled “The New Conservative” or “The Neoconservative”. Whichever, it was quickly withdrawn from publication and retitled “The Conservative Revolution”.
I think fascists is too gentler a description and simplifies something which has great depth and danger. The depth is muddied by grab bits of nasty thought from many sources, least of which is greed and a lust for power over others.
Agreed, but you have to wonder what ASIO could or would want to do about it. Aren’t they part of the “state capture” too? Aren’t they the ones who bugged Timor-Leste’s cabinet to benefit a fossil fuel company? At the behest of whom?
Back in the Day, Premier Don Dunstan found that Special Branch disregarded his orders on the grounds that they were loyal to “the Crown” not the transient government of the day.
Shades of the ‘Men of Last Resort’ in Sir Terry Pratchett’s “NATION” – the final book begun after his Alzheimer’s diagnosis.
ASIO is for domestic spying. Bugging Timor-Leste was likely by ASIS. But your wider point remains valid.
When scientists prove that you are a clueless exploiter of the gullible Sky Noise After Dark audience you expose yourself to well earned ridicule.
Party HQ needs a clean out of the cynical exploiters and a return to imaginative policy development…….if they have the capacity anymore.
There is a significant paradigm shift occurring in the electorate that came through clearly at the election. It smashed into party politics and caused some carnage for some, but not all. Those that we’re re- elected and their party machines are still inside an arrogant bubble that continues to serve them.
We’ve had 20 years of toxic self-serving politics and the players will keep using the trusty tools that got them this far, and I’m sure, will expect folks ‘out there’ will come to their senses and start acting predictably again.
If we want change, we need to double-down and keep smashing the parties up until they are ready to truly acknowledge that they exist to represent the Australian people and must show that with their intentions, words and actions.
Dutton is just as mendacious and nasty.
The good news part of that is that he’ll keep his party out of power while the parliament is transformed into a beast fit for purpose!