Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has an unusual take on the Abbott government’s problems. The government’s woes have nothing to do with its own poor performance — the problem lies with the media, and in particular Fairfax journalists, who are apparently engaged in a “jihad” against our poor leaders.
Dutton, a serial bungler who was dumped from the health portfolio after making a meal of the GP co-payment, is fresh from the Abbott government’s latest self-initiated scandal — Operation Fortitude. Australian Border Force chief Roman Quaedvlieg also blamed the media yesterday for “mischaracterising” the operation. All the media’s fault. Perhaps both have taken their cues from government Senate leader Eric Abetz, who recently criticised journalists for reporting his colleagues’ cabinet leaks.
Of course, reporting the contents of government media releases is not “mischaracterising” them. Nor does reporting the views of Coalition politicians that Joe Hockey is a poor performer constitute “jihad”.
The media hasn’t invented the wretched performance of the Abbott government (remember “good government starts today”, nearly 18 months into office?). Nor has the media invented the myriad ways this government finds to derail itself every day.
In fact, if Dutton had spoken to journalists, he’d find they are increasingly bored with covering the Abbott government’s perpetual stuff-ups: the captain’s picks, the national security announceables, the cooked-up inquiries and the culture warfare that is the Abbott government.
Bungle-watch is getting old. Give us some meaty debates, some substantial policy to get our teeth into. We reckon the voters might appreciate it.
The Coalition way – blame anyone (or anything) else for your mistakes.
Jihad does however tie in with this governments jingoistic militarisation of the public debate..
What? My media organisation biased?
Wash your mouth out.
The only biased campaigning media group is Murdoch. The rest of us, Fairfax, Crikey, the ABC cannot be biased and couldn’t possibly run an inner urban lefty editorial line. No. For course not.
How could you possibly think it??
If journalists are “increasingly bored with covering the Abbott government’s perpetual stuff-ups”, then why aren’t they reporting it, screaming it from the roof tops, and informing the electorate? The only thing that annoys me more than tis horrid government, it is the biased, lazy, spoon fed press.
They’re only really biased in the sense that they run the lefty line at all. Good luck finding anything critical of the Adani coal mine development in Murdoch’s newspapers. For the last few weeks they’ve been shrill in attacking the idea of public interest appeals to mining development, leaving unacknowledged the fact that it was the Environment Minister’s failure to follow proper process that created the hold up, not “lawfare”. It doesn’t take much to be left of Murdoch, more and more people are realising that these days. It turns out people want journalism that represents all sides of an issue.