They gathered before lunch in a dark little room at the back of the Wentworth Hotel to launch another book about how cultural elites have silenced debate and muzzled political speech in Australia.
The author was Kevin Donnelly, the university professor who had not had an opinion piece published in a national newspaper for a full 24 hours as he rose to speak.
He was joined by Alan Jones, who had been off air from his top rating breakfast show for two hours, and the former prime minister, Tony Abbott.
The book was Donnellys new work, How Political Correctness is Destroying Australia, Enemies Within and Without.
Former prime minister Tony Abbott, left, shakes hands with Kevin Donnelly, right, as radio host Alan Jones looks on..
Photo: AAP
Jones, who might have been Donellys twin were it not for the startling mauve sports coat he wore in a room heavily disposed towards blue suits, kicked of the proceedings with a rapid fire monologue.
Advertisement
As evidence of the deadening weight of political correctness Jones lamented that primary school children today know more about the “fictitious” welcome to country ceremony than they do about Burke and Wills; that they believe that climate change will soon see Bathurst on the coast, but cant explain how Macquarie Street came to be named.
The lefts hijacking of Australian institutions, schools and the broad deference to multiculturalism and Islam are the key themes of Donnellys book, which boasts 62 chapters in just 204 pages.
Jones, who wrote the foreword, rattles through the chapter titles with significant enthusiasm, highlighting those that stand out to him.
“Foolish to deny what makes us powerful … Muslims must learn Western values …. Barnaby Joyce right that Australian values based on Judeo-Christian principles.”
Introducing Abbott, Jones suggests that had he remained in office these societal ills might not have come about. Abbott demures, noting that one of Joness faults is his generosity to his friends.
In formally launching Donnellys book Abbott is as blunt and direct as he was as a candidate for PM.
Alan Jones wrote the foreword for the book.
Photo: AAP
In public life, he says, “the one absolute essential is to know your own mind … and you can never be cowed into silence by a fear of the outrage industry.”
Australia, he says, is imperfect but superior to most other nations and societies, but some Australians have become obsessed with its imperfections. A “suffocating politeness” has retarded public debate.
“So lets be clear, a culture that doesnt expect women to cover-up from head-to-toe is better than one that does, a conception of religion that doesnt justify killing gay people is vastly preferable to one that that does, a country that bends over backwards to protect the rights of minorities is morally superior to one that doesnt.”
This unabashed advocacy of Australian and Western cultural superiority, he says, is at the heart of Donnellys book.
By the time Donnelly himself takes the dais there seems little to add but emphasis, which Donnelly duly provides. The left has indeed taken over Australias institutions. “Universities are now dead and have been for years,” he asserts, excepting his own employer, the Australian Catholic University.
Taking questions, the three men concede that they might not yet have been silenced by the left, though Abbott notes reasonably enough that they have thicker skin than most
It was about this time that “Intern Pete” from the Kyle and Jackie O radio show pops up to ask a disarmingly astute question.
If Abbott ended up as PM again, and he had the power “to fix one thing that is politically incorrect instantly, with no ramifications, no one challenging you, what would that one thing be?”
In response Abbott explains that he would not engage in the culture wars, because his values were inherent to his character, instead he would use his sudden power to encourage the increased use of coal.
And yes, if his party and the voters call, he is still ready to serve.
Nick O'Malley is a senior writer and a former US correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
Most Viewed in Entertainment
Morning & Afternoon Newsletter
Delivered Mon–Fri.