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Ozmarshall

@ozmarshall.bsky.social

I run Freight Companies Australia, so I sometimes post about logistics, but mostly it's sci-fi, running, and The Mighty Essendon Football Club

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Independent Media Australia.@indymediaaus.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 2w ago

Karl Stefanovic, Dave Hughes and the lucrative business of pretending to speak for the battlers https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/karl-stefanovic-dave-hughes-and-the-lucrative-business-of-pretending-to-speak-for-the-battlers/ #AUSpol

Karl Stefanovic, Dave Hughes and the lucrative business of pretending to speak for the battlers

Karl Stefanovic’s experienced an awakening, apparently. Hosting the Conservative Political Action Conferences (CPAC) Australia last weekend, Pauline Hanson praised Stefanovic in his very public and very rapid shift to the alt-right. “Your eyes have opened, you’ve woken up”, Hanson told a rapturous crowd. “I appreciate it, replied Stefanovic. “There is no turning back now!” Judging by recent developments in Australian news, Stefanovic’s not the only influential man discovering the road to self-serving enlightenment. For a man who spent years as one of the most recognisable faces in Australian breakfast TV, with access to millions of households and a profile based on good natured, blokey but broadly liberal values, he’s now selling out in a bid to cash in. It’s a farce. This is not to say that people don’t change their minds, because of course they do. Political views evolve and systems disappoint us. Parties regularly lose their appeal when they stop representing our interests. Nobody knows this more than women. But there is a difference between changing your mind and building a new public identity around the idea that you’ve finally seen through the great progressive conspiracy. Increasingly, we see men with massive audiences and considerable cultural capital veer towards a politics that promises to expose the elites and defend the battlers—not realising that’s exactly who _they_ are. (Side note: Matt Canavan donning full high vis at the CPAC to appeal to genuinely hard-working average Australians was the pinnacle of cynicism). The pitch is always that someone, somewhere, has been silenced. The solution, invariably, is for the man with the microphone and the very big platform—our modern-day heroes—to speak even louder. No fear! But what are they actually using this newfound influence built upon influence for? From where I’m sitting, Dave Hughes, Karl Stefanovic, Barnaby Joyce et al, aren’t sticking their necks out on anything that would meaningfully shift things for the average punter. They’re instead, singularly focused on building and maintaining social grievance. Indeed, Hughes’ greatest contribution to the political debate, aside from claiming he wished he’d publicly backed the Mensa-level slogan _Nothing Easy Under Albanese,_ is to whinge about CGT changes and negative gearing reforms. The exact policies that have already begun shifting the housing and investment landscape, with property prices easing roughly 5 percent since March, enabling first-time buyers a fairer playing field. At a time when Australians are struggling with housing costs, insecure work, childcare expenses and strained public services, there is no shortage of worthwhile things for influential people to investigate. Yet, we’ve so far heard a lot of noise, and not one solution from Hughes or Stefanovic. The same questions arise in politics, where Barnaby Joyce’s move from the Nationals to One Nation has been accompanied by razor and unrelenting focus on cutting immigration, the anti-trans movement and national identity. He was conservative before, sure. But now, under Hanson’s watchful eye, he’s just reckless. We do not need every prominent man to become a progressive campaigner. We do need to be more discerning about the difference between someone who is genuinely standing up for people who feel ignored and someone who is using their frustrations to build a new public identity and benefit themselves. A personal circus-cum-awakening is not a public service, nor is a grievance a policy platform. Famous men telling us they’re finally speaking for the battlers doesn’t change that. And while they’re there contributing nada of value to public discourse, the rest of us have bills to pay. Share this Dave HughesKarl Stefanovic by Tarla Lambert-Patel 1 day ago ## Stay Smart! Get Women's Agenda in your inbox * Comments This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. * Email SUBSCRIBE ## Latest news ### Women are paying the price for Big Tech’s failures. It’s time the tech giants did too. ### Women are shamed for wearing shorts at the gym but shirtless men still get a free pass ### Matti Clements reappointed Director of Australian Institute of Sport ahead of Brisbane 2032 Olympics ### Australia’s aged care system leans on 2.43 million people — mostly women — it has never counted ### Molly’s abuser inherited her super after her death. The government is moving to close the loophole. ### Podcast: Why it’s time to quit being nice

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