Australia's shameful display

The scene itself was jarring: Palestinian flags draped from the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge — a place that once symbolised unity, progress, and national pride. Yesterday's so-called "March for Humanity" was anything but.  It was not a celebration of peace or coexistence, but rather a display laced with animosity, grievance, and ideological capture. A protest allowed not only to occur but seemingly endorsed in spirit by the passive silence of our political class and institutions.

Chris Kenny’s recent segment on Sky News, “Australia has lost its way: Sickening Harbour Bridge protest shows we are in a bad place,” is a sobering reflection of our nation’s current moral and cultural confusion. Kenny rightly asks — how did we get here?

Australia once prided itself on fairness, egalitarianism, and common sense, is now bending over backwards to appease ideologues who routinely ignore the most basic facts. We are watching in real time as radical narratives take root in public discourse, untethered from history, context, or truth.

Expressions of political opinion are a democratic right. But when those expressions cross into support for organisations like Hamas — a designated terrorist group — or are used to demonise a democratic ally like Israel, we’re no longer talking about peaceful protest. We’re talking about the legitimisation of extremism.

The display on the bridge was not an isolated event but part of a wider malaise. Universities that once stood for the open exchange of ideas now punish dissent. Media organisations selectively report, or worse — outright omit — the facts. Political leaders either tiptoe around these issues or worse, embrace them to curry favour with inner-city activist cliques.

And ordinary Australians? They’re left bewildered — wondering when common sense was replaced by cowardice.

It’s not “racist” to criticise a group waving flags in support of a cause that lionizes violence. It’s not “Islamophobic” to question why Australia is hosting rallies that parrot propaganda while turning a blind eye to the suffering of actual victims — Israeli hostages, persecuted minorities, and citizens caught in the crossfire.

Australia has indeed lost its way — not because we don’t care, but because those in power seem to have forgotten what we care about.

Regrettably, we are indeed in a bad place. How did we get here? I will leave that question for another time, but sadly accept that the people are divided. Australia now has a significant cohort of radical extremists who are looking to overturn the very principles that built a peaceful, loving, cohesive society that was the envy of the world. The barbarians are now inside the gate.