Letters & Editorial

This is not like other hatreds. It is ancient and particular. It is sly. It has its own tropes and symbols. For centuries it has contorted into different justifications, but it has always been the same.

Of all the things Scott Morrison does not understand, and the list is long and often embarrassing, somewhat in the shape of his prime ministership, China would rate very close to the top.

Perhaps the best measure of this moment is the time that has passed since anything like it has happened. When Australia signed its previous defence treaty, Papua and New Guinea was still part of an administered territory. Queen Elizabeth II was two years from her coronation.

This week a Nazi stood on the steps of Parliament House in Melbourne and addressed a crowd of cheering supporters … We have heard timorous statements from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that this is not the Australian way. There were “good people” at those rallies, who mustn’t be pushed into a “rabbit hole”. But that’s where the debate appears to be, and Albanese willingly followed it.