Plausible Deniability - another long lost letter to the editor

I have no idea exactly what caused me to write this letter, possibly my first, back in 2001...

"Plausible Deniability". That's the secret. It takes fine political judgement to encourage all of the electorate's ingrained racist attitudes, while still being able to claim that your policies and rhetoric are not racist.

John Howard has near-perfect political judgement. Without plausible deniability, people would not feel at liberty to vote for him. Australians would not vote for a politician who was openly racist. The trick is to walk like a racist, but talk like a patriot.

After all, when he pokes out his trembling bottom lip like that, how could any right-thinking Australian doubt his sincerity? John loves humanity, John's heart goes out to the suffering, but John can't allow his love to interfere with his duty.

By hammering that image of himself, John allows Australians to vote for him. After all, you have to leave an escape route for people's consciences.

Lee Borkman
13 November 2001

Taking the piss - it's the Australian way

An American friend asked what "taking the piss" means. As a demonstration, here I am using "taking the piss" in the letters pages of a respectable Australian broadsheet newpaper, talking about the 2008 Catholic "World Youth Day"...

Paul Borg and Barry Oakley (Letters, July 8) are worried about the various reactions to World Youth Day. The Prime Minister wants us to show respect to the Pope. I don't know what the Catholic Church and the politicians were thinking when they decided Sydney would be a great place for this event, but they should have realised Australians are not an inherently respectful people. There is so much fun to be poked at this church, this religion, this Government, this event.

How can anyone seriously expect Australians to resist the temptation? We're not whingeing, we're not complaining; we are simply taking the piss. Childish, sure, but it's better than most of the alternative responses.

Lee Borkman
9th July 2008

Thank God for Nigel!

This was written in response to an earlier letter by the Reverend Nigel Fortescue of Naremburn, Australia, who claimed that, without religion, human beings could not know right from wrong.

We must all be grateful for the courageous work of Reverend Fortescue among
the sad and dangerous peoples of Naremburn (Letters, Nov 26). Thanks to
painstaking sermons and a dogged insistence on the literal truth of God's
word, his flock has reluctantly come to accept that they should be nice to
each other and (a much more difficult concept) that murdering people is
wrong. Though they may also, in the course of their lessons, learn to be
bigoted and narrow-minded, that is surely small price to pay: nothing else
can keep these savages in check.

Keep up the good work, Nigel.

Lee Borkman
27th November 2005

Ethics classes, scripture, and choice

Here is what I had to say about Ethics Classes back in 2009. Not much has changed.

Reverend Gordon Cheng (Letters, Sept 29) believes that it would be unfair if students who choose to attend scripture classes cannot also attend the ethics classes. But of course it's not unfair; it's simply a choice, a choice that would be equally available to all students. Tick one box only... scripture class or ethics class. It's like my local cafe's lunch special... you have to choose salad or chips to go with your steak, and nobody thinks this is unfair.

Good Christians like the Reverend Cheng need to realise that the world goes on turning, even when scripture class is on. If the scripture classes are so valuable, then I'm sure that those who attend will feel that they have made the right choice. Most likely the misguided souls in the ethics classes will feel that it is they who have made the right choice. This is what some people might describe as a "win-win". So please get out of the way - It is not right, nor can it ever be right, to wilfully prevent children from being educated.

Lee Borkman

29 September 2009

Mary MacKillop

Surely we can all agree, Catholics and atheists alike, that when someone prays and their prayers are answered, it is indeed a miracle.

Lee Borkman

14 January 2010

Private education nothing to be proud of

Like Georgia Cable, I was educated at a private school. Unlike Georgia, however, I am not proud of the fact. I recognise that my parents worked hard to send me there, and I appreciate their efforts, but I also understand that while this might have benefitted me personally, it was actually to the detriment of my community and our larger society. Of course people are free to spend their money as they see fit, but we should nevertheless exhort them to spend their money - their effort, their thought, their dedication - where it serves not only their children's immediate and narrow interests, but also helps to create a world in which their children might actually like to live. I don't wish to engage again in the private-public funding debate; let others squabble about money. Let me just say that your local public school needs your help, Georgia Cable. The children that you see about you, not just the ones in your family, but all of them out there, need your support. You might say that you already support them by paying tax, but that is a heartless response. You can build roads and battleships by paying taxes, but educating our children requires a more personal commitment. So I give thanks to my mum and dad, but am I proud of my privileged education? No, never.

Lee Borkman

14 January 2009

Maria Sharapova

Here's hoping that this will be just the first of many years that Maria Sharapova does not play in the Australian Open. Without wishing to imply in any way that she is a dirty rotten cheat, I will just say that her pitiful shrieking is a disgrace to women's tennis, and the sooner they ban her, the better off the sport will be.

Lee Borkman

12 January 2009

Am I the Odd Man Out?

Apparently there's this new thing called a "chick flick". The Herald talks about nothing else; Bert did it last week, Richard Glover did it a couple of days ago. Let me just put my hand up here and say that I loved the original Sex and the City, well, the early seasons anyway; my favourite films include When Harry Met Sally and Terms of Endearment, and I can even see why emotions run high when Mr Darcy emerges dripping from his morning swim. Can't we just forget this ridiculous myth that men are incapable of enjoying anything that doesn't go bang?

Lee Borkman

12 June 2008

Gillard Misses the Point

Julia Gillard ignores a fundamental point about schools and learning. Learning does not simply take place in the classroom, but in the playground, in the school "community". By all means dispense with the divisive public/private, religious/non-religious, selective/non-selective debates, but do not ignore the wider issue. The real issue is inclusive-versus-exclusive. Schools that are segregated along economic, religious, or academic lines teach appalling lessons. Why can't all of our children just go to school together? Why do we have to corral them into educational ghettoes? We don't need diversity between schools - what good does that do for any child? Each and every school needs diversity within its walls where my child, your child, can benefit from it. Julia, you may be the minister in charge, you may even be the deputy prime minister, but you don't get to dictate what should or should not be debated. Education is about so much more than service delivery, and the Julia Gillard we put into power knows it. You have the rare opportunity to make a difference. Were we so wrong to believe in you?

I'm a Camden local too

I'm rather ambivalent about the decision to block the development of an Islamic school in my local area. The reasons cited are environmental, and seem quite reasonable. On the other hand, the comments by some parties - and the misappropriation of the Australian flag - hint at the truth. I applaud the environmental decision, but deplore the base motivations. Now I think I understand why some muslims might want to send their children to a muslim school - if nothing else, it's a place where their children are likely to feel welcome - but the real solution to all this fear and loathing surely involves the phasing out of all religion-based schools, including the several Anglican schools in the Camden area. Christians, muslims, jews, buddhists, athiests, scientologists, I want my kids to go to school with all of them. The very notion of a religious school is completely incompatible with a tolerant, happy, modern secular society. Religion is a fine thing, no doubt, but schools that compartmentalise children along religious lines are the breeding grounds of suspicion and hatred. These schools are set up with the best intentions, and I know from experience that they are staffed by wonderful people, but how can religious segregation be anything other than divisive?

Lee Borkman

29 May 2008

"What wonderful creatures teachers are!" - yet another lost letter to the editor

I was woken on Saturday morning by the answering machine. The caller had noticed a letter of mine in the Herald, and was wondering if I might be the same boy that he had taught in 5th class some thirty-five years ago. Would I be interested in having a "chat about old times"? Indeed I would. John Morris was his name. A gentleman he was back then, and a gentleman still at eighty-four.

Now I must admit that I've had some good teachers in my time, but a handful of them were truly great - John Keller who taught me piano when I was six; Peter Harwin and John Morris; Peter Seymour; David Oldroyd - they made a huge difference. My belated thanks to them all. Actors and sportsmen, governors general and country singers may all have their uses, but what wonderful creatures teachers are!

Lee Borkman

05 February 2008

Confessions of a "Howard Hater"

Here's my guilty secret... "Howard hater" though I am, I think that John Howard's government was not completely bad. Without naming names, I think that at least one of his ministers did a fine job, and there are several members of his team with whom I would be very happy to share a beer. Where possible, I like to think that the Howard's people tried hard to do what they thought was best. Undoubtedly they failed to do right on some occassions, and there were other times, I am sure, when they wilfully succeeded in doing wrong, but by and large I trust that they were attempting to do a difficult and thankless job, to the best of their ability and understanding.

Let us hope that Kevin Rudd and his team bring just as much ability, and even more understanding, to the task ahead.

Best wishes to them all, every one.

On hearing the news about Mariah Carey

NOTE: This letter was written in response to an article in the Sydney Morning Herald: Mariah Carey related to UK soccer star

It is hard to imagine the kind of mind that would actually be interested to hear that Mariah Carey is distantly related to some English soccer player. I do remember Mariah Carey... she' s that other singer, not the I-Will-Always-Love-You one, not the one from the Titanic, but the other one. The soccer player's name is Ashley, and it seems that they are related. Now I love an interesting family connection as much as the next bloke - Peter and Tim Costello, Richard and David Attenborough, Lawrence and Gerald Durrell, Johnny and Barry O'Keefe - if you tell me that Olivia Newton-John is the grand-daughter of a Nobel-prize-winning German physicist then that might pique my interest for a few moments. Mariah and Ashley just don't rate. It's not news. It's not human interest. It's nothing. Don't you have editors at Fairfax anymore?

Lee Borkman
27 September 2007

"You are a committed parent" - another lost letter to the editor

You are a committed parent. You take an active interest in your child's education. You are undoubtedly a precious asset to your school and community.

When you take your child out of your local public school, when you take your commitment and interest elsewhere, your local public school suffers, your community suffers, as a direct result. If you choose to make your community suffer, please do not make things worse by asking for public funding or support.

Bring your child back, bring your commitment and your interest back, to the local public school. The local public school will flourish, your community will flourish, as a direct result of your involvement. If you choose to help your community, you will of course receive public funding and support.

If every one of you committed and interested parents brings your children back to the local public school, what a great school it will be!

Lee Borkman

15 September 2004

What do I do with my vote?

On one side - mangling reconciliation, increasing greenhouse targets, excluding United Nations reps, "breaching" the poor, imprisoning black children, striking down enlightened Northern Territory laws, not striking down racist Northern Territory laws, lowering tax on lobster, raising tax on books, increasing funding to private schools, subsidising private health insurance companies, sending in the dogs, embracing conflicts of interest, manipulating referenda, composing party political prologues for our constitution, throttling the public broadcaster, offending the region, unchaining my heart and closing my gap;

On the other side - Kim Beazley and Simon Crean.

What do I do with my vote??

Lee Borkman
29 August 2001