Social Cohesion

If the catch cry of the 60s was “all you need is love” it seems the slogan of the 21st century is “all you need is hate”.

We are seeing death threats to climate scientists, a resurgence of shock jocks on the radio, Facebook groups set up with the sole purpose of “hating” reality TV contestants or celebrities. Add that to a political culture characterised by hyperbole, derision and negativity.

Road rage was an unknown term in Australia 20 years ago, now it is commonplace and has spawned all manner of similar rages. Are we developing a civic culture where hate is commonplace, where we play the man not the ball?

Continue reading "Hate is the new debate" »

Our national security environment has changed dramatically in recent years. The 2002 and 2005 Bali bombings and the attack on our embassy in Jakarta in 2004 served as a stark reminder that Australia faces real terror threats.

Attacks overseas in places like London and Madrid demonstrated not only the threat posed to Australian citizens internationally but highlighted the possibility of an attack at home.

That’s why we invest a significant amount of money and resources in keeping the country and our interests safe from terrorism and violent extremism – most of which, for obvious reasons, is not and cannot be reported.

Continue reading "Tackling home-grown Aussie terrorism" »

In this week’s ICB, The Punch calls bullshit on Shadow Immigration Minister and regular Punch contributor Scott Morrison, for citing a thing called the Social Cohesion Index at yesterday’s National Press Club address to show that Australia is going down the gurgler under Labor.

There are any number of indicators which Morrison might’ve chosen to bolster that increasingly popular thesis. Yet he chose an obscure, little known indicator, and if you ask us, there’s a sneaky reason why he did it.

Morrison, in short, was dog whistling. In a speech littered with references to asylum seekers, the Member for Cook thundered “it is a real concern that social cohesion in Australia has declined by 8.6% since the Labor government was elected. His inference was clear: All those illegal immigrants are tearing us apart.

Continue reading "ICB: The stats that show we’re ripping apart" »