11 January 2019
By Max Koslowski
...Reclaim Australia (click here) – the series of rallies in 2015 that turned out thousands of anti-immigrant, anti-Islam “patriots” – saw Cottrell as the next golden child. And so did Cottrell. One researcher says he views himself as the “sexy Fuhrer”: a muscular, blond, articulate leader who has said Jews are “a much deadlier enemy than the violent Islamic pillagers”, and that to keep women in line you should “crack them around the ear every once in a while”.
But in his three-year tenure as de facto leader of Australia’s far-right, the "sexy Fuhrer" has failed. The movement has dramatically weakened since its Reclaim Australia days – something that could have been predicted from watching Burgess’ resignation video three years ago.
“I won’t be making videos and I’m taking down my page,” he said, before adding: “Now it’s not because of media, it’s not because of death threats from Islam - even though I’ve received many of those.
"It’s because of the dumb f---ing patriots out there.”...
...Despite his best efforts, the wildly different strands of far-right Australia refused to cooperate. Since Reclaim Australia, the single biggest ideological clash in far-right circles has been whether to be pro or anti-Israel. Some nationalists celebrate Israel, believing it sets a precedent for the emergence of other single-ethnicity states, while others find more ammunition by blaming Jews for faults in the economy and media....
Two extremes of a healthy democracy in Australia. When it comes to leadership, civility always wins. Democracies work best when all voices are heard and the people lean toward social order and international peace.
12 January 2019
By Deborah Snow and Alexandra Smith
...Daley’s father John (click here) came from dairy farming stock and he says he was taught from childhood to “treat animals as individuals”. “It's a respect for life - I think that's where the fish come from. I like living things, I like creatures, I like the environment.”
One suspects it takes a particular kind of patience to keep fish alive for two decades – the same patience, perhaps, that allows you to bide your time to become party leader, having played bridesmaid or runner-up for close to eight years....
...“I’m not the sort of person who got in to public life to be leader,” he told the Herald this week. “I [didn’t] wake up every day yearning to be the leader of the party, never have. I’ve always thought that if I was good enough, and the colleagues wanted me, I’d put my hand up. I’ve had reasonable success in life just being me, and I’m going to continue to be me.”
He cites Paul Keating’s philosophy that “when you get into public life, you jump on your bike and you pedal like buggery. I’ve always had that view - work as hard as you can and merit should take you as far as you can go.”...
