Peter Dutton is angry again. The China hawk and self-pronounced beacon of Liberal values and champion of free enterprise is having a go at Woolworths for not selling enough Australia Day paraphernalia made in China. It’s hypocrisy writ large, Paul Syvret explains.
Peter Dutton’s angry crusades are as unpredictable as Forrest Gump’s box of chocolate. You never quite know what you’re gonna get.
As a lifelong member of the Liberal Party (he ran as a candidate at just 19 years of age), Peter Dutton is an often shrill advocate for freedom of choice, personal responsibility and free markets. This libertarian worldview sees the former Queensland copper market himself as a tireless crusader against the evils of “cancel culture”, “wokeness”, and all things politically correct.
As Defence Minister, he banned the ADF from holding morning teas to celebrate diversity in our armed forces because there was no room for a “woke agenda” in our military. As Immigration Minister, he was quite the comedian, cracking jokes about “Cape York time” and rising sea levels inundating Pacific Islands. Laugh? We nearly cried.
More recently, Dutton was at war with major Australian corporates which put their weight behind the Yes campaign in the Voice referendum, targeting Qantas in particular. Don’t worry about the airline ripping off customers, shareholders and employees, look at that woke livery they’ve painted on their planes.
So, no surprise then when the Dayboro duellist called for a consumer boycott of Woolworths because the retailer decided to stop selling Australia Day tat.
Shock, horror – a major private sector retailer discontinued some merchandise lines that no longer sell very well. But the next culture war conflagration – over a few Chinese manufactured plastic flags, stubbie coolers and thongs – had been lit, regardless of the fact you can still buy the rubbish elsewhere.
As of today (Jan 15), this had seen Woolworths staff abused by some customers, and a store in Brisbane vandalised. Never mind that other major retailers, such as Kmart and Aldi, had similarly decided their shelves and shareholders were better served by stocking merchandise that turns a decent dollar.
The bottom line, apparently, is that Woolies’ commercial decision is somehow un-Australian. On that basis, is the fact you can’t buy a meat pie at Bakers Delight un-Australian? Maybe we should stage a boycott?
Or, come to think of it, if we’re all as Australian as meat pies, kangaroos and Holden cars (and plastic Chinese thongs), why did the former government, in which Dutton was a senior member, effectively kill off our domestic car manufacturing industry?
In this age of cheap populism and eternal culture wars, Dutton is a warrior against the woke, the arch nemesis of cancel culture … except when he’s calling on people to cancel a major Australian business that employs close to 200,000 people.
Park to one side for a moment, whatever you think about Australia Day and other contentious social issues, and consider the hypocrisy at play here.
This is a mindset that decries online campaigns to boycott retailers such as Harvey Norman for its major shareholder’s often unsavoury views (welfare just helps a “heap of no-hopers survive for no good reason”) but then calls for boycotts on retailers stocking Pride Week paraphernalia. Or boycotts on retailers for not stocking something. Please try to keep up.
It is an ideology of angry opportunism that lacks any consistency. It is the sort of confected nonsense that sees some right-wing federal politicians and media identities claim their views are being silenced – while airing these claims via national radio, television, newspapers and social media platforms.
You could forgive business for being confused about what the Liberal Party stands for. Is it free markets or central planning? Hello, ‘Direct Action’ carbon subsidies and the whole energy policy omnishambles! Is it personal (and commercial) choice and freedom of speech? Or only when selected from a pre-approved list of non-woke/green/left items?
Seriously? While Draco from Dickson rails about a paucity of plastic pluggers, the federal government was putting the screws on the big supermarkets over price-gouging and profiteering. Which issue do you think is of more relevance to most voters – the cost of basic groceries or whether Woolies stocks beer pong sets and Southern Cross tattoo sleeves?
Which begs the question of who exactly outside the Sky News After Dark orbit of performative pantaloons is Dutton trying to appeal to here? Pauline Hanson and whatever rabble is Clive Palmer’s mob these days have the redneck wonderland vote pretty much stitched up, and urban Liberals have defected in droves for teal, independent and, in some cases, Greens or Labor MPs.
Is this a culture war that will win back Kooyong, North Sydney or inner Brisbane? Is it a culture war that will prompt businesses to back the Liberals with serious money in 2025?
Recovering former Murdoch columnist. Proud unionist, lover of cats, beaches, heavy metal, horror and Z grade films and cryptic crosswords.