Laura Tingle on John Howard and the corrosion of Australia’s national debate

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The level and prime of the nationalist speech successful Australian authorities and media took a crook for the worse nether John Howard’s premier ministership, says ABC writer Laura Tingle.

The newsman and writer volition sermon the authorities of nationalist sermon astatine the John Button Oration, to beryllium delivered connected Saturday astatine Melbourne’s Capitol Theatre. Named for the precocious Senator John Button, who served successful the Hawke and Keating Governments, the code is delivered annually arsenic portion of the Melbourne Writers Festival by a salient Australian chosen by Button’s family.

Laura Tingle, main governmental analogous of the ABC’s 7.30, volition present the John Button Oration connected Saturday,

“[During Howard’s leadership] we saw this displacement to the weaponisation of attacks connected groups of people, whether it’s Indigenous Australians, Asian immigrants, African immigrants oregon Muslim Australians,” Tingle says. “That was a worldly alteration - truthful that became portion of the conversation, not conscionable successful authorities but successful the media arsenic well.”

Having worked arsenic a writer for 40 years, the Walkley-award victor is well-placed to measure however things person evolved. She argues that portion societal media and the emergence of divisive figures similar Donald Trump person played a role, determination are different large factors astatine play.

According to Tingle, the corrosive authorities of nationalist sermon is simply a operation of technology, media economics, and societal licence. “The media and politicians springiness each different licence to spell a spot further, to beryllium a spot more, shall we say, frank successful their appraisal of people, oregon groups of people, oregon whatever,” she says.

Donald Trump’s mantras of fake quality and alternate facts person fixed politicians astir the satellite licence to deliberation they tin accidental immoderate they want.

While politicians person historically often thrown maltreatment astatine each other, called each different names and attacked individuals, Tingle argues that successful the 90s determination became a much conspicuous targeting of groups of people, traced backmost to John Howard talking astir rising Asian migration and Pauline Hanson’s incendiary comments.

As a young writer moving for The Australian newspaper, Tingle met Button erstwhile helium was Industry Minister. She says helium was charming, celebrated for reasoning retired loud, publically debating ideas including argumentation and adjacent correcting himself arsenic helium spoke

“You conscionable couldn’t bash that now. There’s nary country for nuance, there’s not adjacent overmuch country for politicians to explicate their positions and beryllium listened to,” she says. “I’m not saying ‘poor politicians’, but each truthful often politicians bash thing and everybody piles connected and wholly loses way of what the substantive contented is.”

She cites the sum of Prime Minister Albanese astatine the caller rally for women’s information arsenic an example, reports astir his behaviour connected the time threatening to overshadow the precise pressing halfway contented of concern.

Tingle besides raises the monolithic disruption of media that took spot passim the 2000s.

“From the 90s onwards it became wide to the newspapers that they were successful fiscal trouble, and they had to find caller audiences,” she says. “Opinion was cheaper than specializer reporting and being arguable was thing that they hoped would merchantability newspapers.”

In the caller reality, media organisations had to beryllium perpetually updating websites, arsenic opposed to having 1 deadline.

“When you’re perpetually doing that and having to provender the beast, you’re perpetually looking for these flimsy changes successful position, you’re astir apt not capable to pass yourself astir each the inheritance to the issue; you get these incremental changes successful position, which travel down to what 1 broadside of authorities is saying astir the other.”

Despite the nationalist speech seeming grubbier and nastier successful the past decade, Tingle has hope. “I’m excessively overmuch of an optimist astir the world, contempt everything, to accidental ‘we’ll each beryllium ruined’.”

The illness of X, formerly Twitter, is 1 origin for optimism: she points to the powerfulness of it to dispersed misinformation during the Bondi Junction attacks arsenic underlining 1 of its pitfalls.

To her mind, historically the pendulum does thin to plaything backmost to a much measured discourse. For that to happen, the media needs to stay focussed - and beryllium much discerning: “It does necessitate not moving with the battalion and considering what is the important portion of this story.”

“The happening that journalists and newspapers and broadcasters should ever beryllium doing is to say, we could bash this communicative due to the fact that it’s easy, but is that what our readers and viewers really request to know? What’s the important happening here?

“Somebody, determination has to calmly say, ‘hang on’ and that’s a truly important occupation for the media now.”

The John Button Oration is astatine the Capitol Theatre connected May 11 (sold out), portion of the Melbourne Writers Festival. Tingle is besides portion of a sheet treatment of Australian authorities with Sean Kelly and David Marr connected May 11 and volition interrogation Rosie Batty connected May 12 arsenic portion of MWF.

The Age is simply a sponsor of the Melbourne Writers Festival.

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