Anne Marie Morris, the “N” word and Malcolm Turnbull

A little light reading today – brief opinion pieces in the world of politics. 

Anne Marie Morris and the “N” word

She said it. She should go. Why? Her comments were disrepectful, crude and ignorant, and her casual use of the ‘N’ word indicates prevalent racism. Isn’t an apology enough? No, I don’t think so. She should apologise, and at time of writing I believe that she has, but ultimately there is an issue about normalising her language. An apology alone lacks sincerity of intent, and helps reinforce the idea that racism is acceptable as long as you apologise for it. Imagine how you’d fell if someone used derogatory comments about you, and when challenged apologised straight after – “I called you useless, but I didn’t mean anything by it.” This isn’t about ignorance of racial sensitivities, quite the opposite. Anne Marie Morris didn’t say the word in Parliament, rather in a closed meeting in which she probably didn’t think she was being recorded, so she knew enough to be selective.

What I find interesting is the swift reaction of condemnation and action of the government. I compare this incident to former Tory MP David Ruffley, who received a caution for a domestic violence related incident. Although the decision was made that he would stand down at the following election, there was no other action taken. Indeed, as an MP, he remained in Parliament with the potential ability to vote on women’s issues. He even received praise from that wonderful piece of human drool Michael Gove.

This isn’t a contest. Anne Marie Morris comments are significant enough to warrant her resignation, and Mark Ruffley should also have been sacked, but there’s a glaring inconsistency into how politics, and society, treat certain behaviours. This isn’t about politicians being on higher pedestals. We should all be on higher pedestals when it comes to issues of misogyny, racism, or homophobia (amongst many prejudices). Simply asking for an apology alone is attempting to mitigate the damage, while conferring only a loose acknowledgement of failure. The standard should be higher, regardless of whether you’re an MP or not.

Turnbull – Liberals aren’t conservative 
So today Malcolm Turnbull tried to re-centre his party. It smacks of desperation as he tries to find the middle ground. And really, it is somewhat laughable to review the record of Turnbull as PM. He has struck to the right as much as any of his predecessors. Maybe not to the same extreme, but it says a lot about the Liberals and how far to the right they have drifted that a conservative like Turnbull is considered liberal by his own party. In the grand scheme of things I don’t think it will resolve the underlying problem of his leadership, and it may provoke further aggressive moves by Abbott. Indeed, I have to wonder why Turnbull thought it would be a good idea to provoke the right of his party at all. This will simply create further division, rather than cement his position as leader.