Calls for a new Minister for Social Cohesion reflect anxiety about Australia’s civic health, but risk mistaking rhetorical panic for structural failure – and policy symbolism for effective governance.

The American writer A J Liebling claimed that “I write better than anyone who writes faster, and faster than anyone who writes better.” While that’s not easy to prove (or disprove), he may have been right.

Whatever, Liebling’s aphorisms were sharp. The press, he said, is “the weak slat under the bed of democracy”. That’s easier to verify – just have a look at Australian newspapers following the Bondi atrocity. It wasn’t all bad but a lot of it was, with much of the commentary being un-evidenced and twisted by extravagant expression and historical amnesia. A few examples:

There’s scope for concern about the state of Australian society but to say it’s shredded, dismembered and traumatised are cheap and shoddy diagnoses. They’re also inconsistent with serious studies, including evidence gathered by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

With inter-country measures of criminality, homicide rates and quality of life, Australia lines up favourably with comparable countries,........

© Pearls and Irritations