The kneejerk mindlessness of identity politics is on full view in the row over a Labor campaign advertisement targeting Liberal MP Gladys Liu.
“The Labor Party here is … engaging in scare tactics, and in a racist attack ad on the first Chinese-born person to sit in the House of Representatives,” Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says. Scott Morrison has accused Labor of ‘‘sewer tactics’’.
A quarter of the voters in Liu’s seat of Chisholm, in Melbourne’s inner east, are from Chinese-speaking backgrounds. In 2019, when Liu narrowly defeated Labor’s Jennifer Yang (also of Chinese background), there was controversy over a Chinese-language sign that appeared to mimic official election material and suggest that the ‘correct way’ to vote was Liberal.
Labor’s ad is certainly tough and unforgiving. It covers Liu’s opposition to LGBTQI Safe Schools program, and the return of $300,000 in campaign donations because of national security risks.
But racist? That’s drawing a long bow. Liu’s loyalty to Australia is not seriously in question, and that’s not something that could be definitely said of every recent MP. And since she is an Australian MP, criticising her record is fair, if it’s done fairly.
Mark Sawyer is a journalist with extensive experience in print and digital media in Sydney, Melbourne and rural Australia.