Happy Chinese New Year? Fine for Howard, treason for Albanese |
Mocking a prime minister for wishing Chinese Australians a happy new year says less about foreign policy than about how national identity is being weaponised in domestic politics.
When Sky News again mocked Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for posting a Chinese New Year greeting, the segment carried the gravity usually reserved for interest rates or submarine contracts.
Why, the host wondered, was the PM wishing people a happy Chinese New Year while apparently neglecting Lent and Australia Day?
“The Australian PM wishing everyone a happy Chinese New Year,” he said. “I can’t wait until 25 April when Xi Jinping posts videos celebrating Anzac Day.”
And, for strategic seasoning, he added that perhaps the PM could update us on the Port of Darwin while he was at it.
What’s next? Should festive greetings now be added to the list of strategic signals, with every ‘Xin Nian Kuai Le’ treated as though it carried geopolitical intent?
The simple fact is Chinese communities exist in Australia, and they celebrate Chinese New Year.
The greeting, awkwardly for the narrative, was directed to the Chinese community here in Australia, to people living in suburbs like Box Hill, Burwood and Sunnybank – people who run businesses, raise families, vote, pay taxes and complain about mortgage rates with the same enthusiasm as everyone else.
But apparently, to some people, celebrating this means you do not love Australia enough.
The fact is that Australian politicians have been saying “Happy Chinese........