The misogyny of News Corp and the racism of the Right

The Australian media usually stays away from New Zealand politics but News Corporation had a field day when Jacinda Ardern announced her resignation, suggesting all of her instincts were bad, she shut down the engines of economic growth and she was a dreadful Prime Minister who failed.

These comments and negative articles were made by male journalists at News Corporation and continues their long tradition of sexism and misogyny. They attacked New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark when she left office in 2008, and it’s difficult to overlook those three long, hard years of sexism and misogyny from News Corporation directed at former Prime Minister Julia Gillard. Connecting all of dots – Ardern, Clark, Gillard – they were successful politicians; they were from the left. They were from a political party which represents unions and workers. And the big factor: they are all women. And that's the big issue that News Corporation just doesn't seem to be able to handle very well.

The Prime Minister visited Alice Springs in response to rising crime rates in the town. And as usual, the media decided Anthony Albanese was terrible for not going to Alice Springs and, then when he did go, he was also terrible for doing that as well. It’s hard to appease the media, who can't seem to decide what's right or wrong.

Peter Dutton has been railing against the Voice to Parliament for several months, asking for more details when all the details are already out there. And he ramps up every conceivable problem in the Indigenous community and then asks how the Voice to Parliament is going to fix them. During the week, Dutton was also in Alice Springs, highlighting all the crime problems in the city and calling on the government to send in the defence forces – and when Dutton speaks, the media obliges. Now the media has claimed Albanese buckled under pressure, even though he was planning to make the trip in December, but was afflicted with COVID. Then he rescheduled the trip just over a week ago, before Peter Dutton ramped up his fake outrage – and Albanese was then criticised for failing to address a major problem in a regional town.

There's no doubt crime is a problem in Alice Springs. But most of the rise in crime rates occurred before Albanese became Prime Minister and crime and policing is the responsibility of the states and territories, not the federal government. If only political reporters understood politics more and reported accurately, instead of always siding with the likes of someone like Dutton, who just seeks division and trouble at every opportunity.