Michael McCormack reported this mural in Wagga to the police. Photo: Michael McCormack/Facebook.
When I was growing up, conservatives were people who railed against the Russian empire, big government and high taxes.
Nowadays, Tories seem obsessed with vaccines, satire and gender-neutral bathrooms (and for some reason, they like Russia).
The sad decline of the right was exemplified by the outrage they displayed against an artist parody based on the 1960s comedy Hogan’s Heroes in Wagga last week.
Graphic design studio Advision put up a mural depicting former deputy prime minister Michael McCormack alongside Clive Palmer, Gina Rinehart and Peter Dutton, each wearing World War II German military uniforms used in the TV show.
Mr McCormack reported this to the police, a decision cheered on by dozens of his supporters. This showed them to be both thin-skinned and hypocritical.
Conservatives are forever carrying on about ‘cancel culture’ and the ‘snowflakes’ on the ‘woke left’ who can’t take a joke and want to shut down free speech.
We’ve seen them push back against activists who try to take down statues of historical figures alleged to have been racist or sexist.
The right of the Liberal Party has argued against making hate speech a crime.
Conservatives defended comedian Trevor Noah when lefties wanted his Australian tour boycotted over disparaging comments he’d made years previously about Aboriginal women.
But it seems many right-wingers behave the same as their political opposites when the culture war boot is on the other foot.
“A display in a Wagga Wagga storefront window showing me in a Nazi-like uniform has been reported to Police,” Mr McCormack posted on Facebook.
“This is beyond disgraceful… The Nazis were pure evil. To be depicted as one of them is as insulting as it is vile.”
The vast majority of the 2400-plus comments on the post supported him.
“Truly disgraceful. Those responsible should be prosecuted,” said one comment liked 114 times that was typical of many.
Mr McCormack has every right to call the mural “disgraceful”. The artwork was offensive to him and many others, who believe any references to Nazi Germany should be off-limits. The prominent politician cleverly used his huge platform to strike back at the graphic designer.
But this was not a criminal matter. Do we really expect our boys and girls in blue – overwhelmed with tackling domestic violence and street crime – to also be trying to take down satire? What would be the offence – grievous feelings harm?
Thankfully, NSW Police confirmed the mural broke no law.
The display, however, was quickly hidden by counter-protesters who put up the sign “blessed are the cheesemakers” to cover it, a quote from a scene in the movie Life of Brian, where Jesus Christ’s sermon on the mount was misheard.
The Blessed are the Cheesemakers sign hid the original artwork. Photo: Supplied.
I half-expected the lactose intolerant to protest the new sign, but that didn’t happen. The satire art war sparked the type of vibrant political debate that is often lacking in regional towns. Some felt the original mural crossed the lines, while others felt it was a parody that made a fair point.
This is the sort of discourse we need in our increasingly polarised world, and both sides should take note.
There’s no doubt the Left can also be hypocritical on this topic, too. Many praised the graphic designer Michael Agzarian’s mural and his right to free speech. But would they also do the same when people like Israel Folau, Margaret Court or, indeed, Michael McCormack expressed views they found repulsive?
When he was a newspaper editor, the now Riverina MP was never afraid to offend or provoke debate with his opinion pieces. Nor should he have been.
Satire is also an important form of free speech that should always be protected.
True leaders defend it even when their political opponents offend them. Only snowflakes call for art to be banned.
