Saturday 30th of March 2024

free lunch for special guests...

free lunchfree lunch

Two of the Coalition's leading conservatives have been named as "special guests" at $150-per-head dinner being held by anti-Islamic group, the Q Society of Australia.

Senator Cory Bernardi and MP George Christensen are set to appear at the "In Defence of Freedom of Speech" dinner in Melbourne on February 10, according to the Q Society's website.

read more:

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/cory-bernardi-and-...

thick rumours

Rumours have flown thick in recent times that conservative firebrands Cory Bernardi and George Christensen may ditch the government and form a new conservative movement, and both men seem one step closer to that threat this morning.

The Australian reported on Thursday that Bernardi had been meeting with mining magnate Gina Rinehart, and there were fears among his Liberal colleagues that he would soon announce a split from his party. Bernardi himself dismissed the notion, but a "senior Liberal" told The Australian that the South Australian senator was "becoming more serious about this". Fairfax Media also reported a Liberal source claiming that Bernardi had made up his mind to leave.

read more:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2016/12/21/are-bernardi-christensen-abo...

keeping us safe ...

The Editor,

Canberra Times.                                                                

So, Queensland MP George Christensen thinks Australia should restrict immigration from countries where there is a “high prevalence of violent extremism & radicalism” (“Cory Bernardi and George Christensen to attend dinner for anti-Islam group”, Canberra Times, December 3rd).

Given his concerns, Mr Christensen would doubtless be alarmed to learn that while Australia’s “special friend” the United States experienced just over 6,900 military fatalities in Iraq & Afghanistan in the past 15 years, it recorded more than twice that number of domestic homicides (15,696) in 2015 alone.

Of course, Mr Christensen would doubtless be relieved to learn that the overwhelming number of immigrants to Australia are not from the killing fields of the United States. In fact, that number is so tiny that I couldn’t even find it in government statistics.

What a dog-whistler.

John Richardson.