Tony Abbott’s speech at the Margaret Thatcher Lecture last night was pretty much just a more articulate version of the views he’s expressed consistently in more than 20 years of public life in Australia. Kudos to his speech writer.
In the grand internet tradition of TL;DR (Too Long; Didn’t Read) the speech was basically “change is bad, west is good, conservatism is good, boats are bad, wealth is good, Islam is bad, Thatcher was awesome”
The full speech is here for anyone who really wants to read it, but it was the underlying message and its conflict with Abbott’s stated religion that I found interesting.
Tony Abbott:
Our moral obligation is to receive people fleeing for their lives. It’s not to provide permanent residency to anyone and everyone who would rather live in a prosperous Western country than their own.
Matthew 25: 39-40
Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; I was naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’… Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’
Tony Abbott:
That’s why the countries of Europe, while absolutely obliged to support the countries neighbouring the Syrian conflict, are more than entitled to control their borders against those who are no longer fleeing a conflict but seeking a better life.
This means turning boats around, for people coming by sea. It means denying entry at the border, for people with no legal right to come; and it means establishing camps for people who currently have nowhere to go.
Mark 12:31
‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
Tony Abbott:
It will require some force; it will require massive logistics and expense; it will gnaw at our consciences – yet it is the only way to prevent a tide of humanity surging through Europe and quite possibly changing it forever.
We are rediscovering the hard way that justice tempered by mercy is an exacting ideal as too much mercy for some necessarily undermines justice for all.
The Australian experience proves that the only way to dissuade people seeking to come from afar is not to let them in.
Working with other countries and with international agencies is important but the only way to stop people trying to gain entry is firmly and unambiguously to deny it – out of the moral duty to protect one’s own people and to stamp out people smuggling.
Luke 6:27-36
But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.
Tony Abbott:
So it’s good that Europe has now deployed naval vessels to intercept people smuggling boats in the Mediterranean – but as long as they’re taking passengers aboard rather than turning boats around and sending them back, it’s a facilitator rather than a deterrent.
John 4:7
Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
This idea that Jesus would say to every person who wanted to come to Australia, ‘Fine, the door’s open’, I just don’t think is necessarily right.
I don’t know, maybe Abbott subscribes to the idea that the bible is a metaphor, not to be taken literally?
Except of course when it comes to abortion, gay marriage, dying with dignity and gender equality. On those ones, particularly gay marriage, an issue on which Jesus himself had nothing to say, the Old Testament is the literal word of god and you do not mess with that.
It’s an odd position for a devout Catholic to take, but I guess that’s not really surpsiring, Abbott is a deeply odd person.