So Senator Nick Xenophon got deported from Malaysia over the weekend. Fantastic. I have little time for so-called independent observers who fly around the world telling other people how to conduct their affairs. Why stop there – I have little time for busybodies at home too.
For some or other reason this story seems all over the papers today. Maybe the Nielson poll crowded out the story yesterday. Anyway here is Peter Hartcher:
So why is the government so afraid of Nick Xenophon? Why stop him at the airport with the confected explanation that he represents a threat to national security?
The reason is that he is an international observer campaigning in favour of a free and fair election.
…
But, above all, Malaysia’s overreaction to Xenophon simply validates his point that it is not a mature democracy. This has been Carr’s fig leaf to justify Australia’s silence at Malaysia’s lack of democratic freedom – that we have no place in criticising a mature democracy. The deportation of Xenophon is an implicit confession by the Najib government that Xenophon is right and Carr is wrong.
The argument that Xenophon was an international observer is a bit hard to swallow. If he was observing on behalf of the Australian government (or some other international agency) he would have travelled on a diplomatic passport and/or his visit would have been approved by the Malaysian authorities before he arrived. But it seems he arrived as a (foreign) private citizen intending to be an activist “campaigning in favour of a free and fair election”. I can think of no reason why any nation should allow foreigners to arrive uninvited to campaign in domestic elections. My view, of course, is somewhat different to foreigners arriving uninvited to seek out employment opportunities.
Here is Xenophon himself – together with Michael Danby (ALP, Melbourne Ports) putting the boot into Bob Carr:
WE come from different political backgrounds but we both believe Nick’s deportation from Malaysia on the weekend raises important issues of consistency in Australia’s foreign policy.
But Xenophon was not representing the Australian government when he went to Malaysia – he was acting in a private capacity. It is interesting to note, however, that this is morphing into an attack on the foreign minister – and from within the ALP.
Update: Mumble makes the same argument – but you read it here first.
It wasn’t just Xenophon alone but he was part of group which included a Liberal MP, National Party MP and an ALP MP. The other MPs were on later flights and cancelled their flights after Xenophon was deported.
Chris
19 Feb 13 at 9:22 am
Yes I know, but Xenophon arrived on a private visit.
Sinclair Davidson
19 Feb 13 at 9:30 am
“Yes I know, but Xenophon arrived on a private visit.”
Be that as it may, any excuse for an attack on Bob Carr should be seen (and exploited) as sufficient unto itself.
Mique
19 Feb 13 at 9:46 am
It was a parliamentary multiparty observer group. And even if it wasn’t – can you imagine the howls of outrage if Wayne Swan blocked a tea-party strategist coming from America to advise Tony Abbott how to campaign in the up-coming election?
Grey
19 Feb 13 at 9:50 am
Didn’t Xenephon himself claim to be there to “influence”the elections? Therefore he is not independent and was planning on actively working to influence the foreign affairs of another country. Hence why he ended up classed as a national security threat.
IMiles Zot
19 Feb 13 at 9:52 am
Grey if you must use the tu quoque fallacy, could you please at least compare like with like. A person who comes from overseas to work on an election campaign is in no way similar to a person who flies in to observe a campaign. The former is a worker offerring his or her skills, the latter is only observing.
Rococo Liberal
19 Feb 13 at 10:03 am
Wo cares what sort of observer group it was. Malaysia is a sovereign state not an Australian dependant.
Biota
19 Feb 13 at 10:06 am
What arrogance these media tarts have.
Being a member of an Australian parliament does not give diplomatic immunity, particularly an independent who represents a small part of just one electorate.
Particularly when he is just looking for pre-election publicity.
Should have locked him up for 48 hours.
kevin
19 Feb 13 at 10:07 am
1. A tu quoque is not a fallacy, it is a valid defense in international law in some circumstances.
2. This is not tu quoque in any case.
3. Visitors to Australia are permitted to observe or to campaign or do whatever they like, so long as they don’t overstay or do paid work.
4. In mature democracies the opposition is seen as a legitimate embodiment of the country as the government. People here make negative remarks about the Australian government here all the time – we don’t view you as a danger to national security.
Although I suspect some of your wilder commentators might represent a danger to themselves.
Grey
19 Feb 13 at 10:13 am
Similar to the treatment Geert Wilders looked like receiving here.Bowen fucked about for as long as he could in issuing a visa,in the hope of disrupting Wilders schedule,but in his usual gutless fashion, eventually caved in. Wilders visit had nothing to do with an Election and I don’t recall Xenophon speaking out about Bowen’s disgraceful antics.
Lew
19 Feb 13 at 10:16 am
Imagine if they had given John Howard the heave-ho. The howls of rage we would read here.
As far as I am concerned the Malaysian Government is free to kick out anyone they choose – provided they obey their own laws – we are free to judge them accordingly.
Grey
19 Feb 13 at 10:17 am
Hmmmmm – probably because people here tend to be law abiding, tax-paying Australian citizens.
Sinclair Davidson
19 Feb 13 at 10:19 am
So are you suggesting that any American who calls Gillard The Lying Slapper on here should be deported if they ever decide to visit?
Grey
19 Feb 13 at 10:25 am
Mr Xenophon is a wee bit of an attention seeker methinks.
There’s a certain amount of disrespectfulness in his attitude to another culture our neighbour, seems odd for a well travelled man like him in his high position in life.
candy
19 Feb 13 at 10:50 am
I am suggesting that individuals who arrive for the sole purpose of stirring up trouble can expect the authorities to take an interest in them, up to and including deportation.
Sinclair Davidson
19 Feb 13 at 10:56 am
The closest Malay term would be ketuanan Melayu – roughly ‘Malaysia for the Malays’. Malaysia has worked on this principle since the 1960′s.
For the Malaysian Government, to have Xenophon attending elections to give on the spot guidance on how to do Western Democracy, is the rough equivalent of having Mahmoud Ahmadinejad drop into Bankstown to advise the community on religious and social tolerance. Not very helpful under the circumstances.
Dr Faustus
19 Feb 13 at 10:58 am
It is an accurate description of the individual so what’s wrong with it?
Popular Front
19 Feb 13 at 11:01 am
[Edited. Do not derail the thread. Sinc]
Nick Xenophon’s claim is that elections are not free and fair in Malaysia. Is an interest in free and fair elections the new definition of stirring up trouble?
I might have to consult my colleague Shadowy Forces on that one. [I am not a fan of sock puppetry. Once was funny, but don't make a habit of it. Sinc]
[Thread derailing comment deleted. Stay on topic. Sinc]
Grey
19 Feb 13 at 11:08 am
He was not there as a representative of the Australian Government. His was not an official Australian Government visit. It was as a private citizen (although he did try to tart it up with some other government appointments – but any private citizen can make those) Therefore he was not entitled to any more help than any private citizen who rocks up there. So it is a bit rich to then attack the foreign minister for not doing enough to ‘help’ him.
At the end of the day Malaysia is a sovereign country and can decide who comes or not. That is their right.
Xylophone is a dill.
Helen Armstrong
19 Feb 13 at 11:32 am
As Our Schapelle found, to her chagrin, there is not here.
Until the Malaysian Air Force Liberators are queuing over Stradbroke Island for their bombing run on Cavill Avenue it matters little to me what Malaysia is up to.
Senator Xylophone Busybody can opine all day long, as can Comrade Senator Abraham Lincoln-Carr, about how Malaysia should be just like us and I will not care. The local Malay embassy is entitled to note their rudeness and report their criticisms back to head office.
Malaysia sits smack in the middle of a clutch of other countries who are indifferent to each other, and in competition for business as they all accelerate into economic growth and greater wealth. It has evolved from princely fiefdoms to elected government in just a couple of centuries, it has endured occupation in war and it houses multiple religions and ethnic groups peacefully. There are 30 million of ‘em and not too many know, or need to know, anything of Australia.
The only justifiable reason for an Australian politician to visit – to formally seek permission to visit – would be to learn from the Malays how to do their job here better.
Mick Gold Coast QLD
19 Feb 13 at 12:06 pm
It doesn’t take much for the authoritarian streak that seems bizarrely buried in most libertarians to emerge.
The issue is not whether or not Malaysia is a sovereign country, the issue is can we make a judgement of what sort of sovereign country they are based on this kind of behavior.
Zimbabwe is also a sovereign country, but when they deport journalists I form a negative opinion of them accordingly.
Grey
19 Feb 13 at 12:11 pm
It was really just a modern version of old-time proselytising missionaries. I wonder what beads and trinkets he carried for the natives.
Biota
19 Feb 13 at 12:14 pm
Geez, Grey, you can’t change a person do do just what you like let alone another country’s government and it’s better to use tact and diplomacy, not condescension.
candy
19 Feb 13 at 12:18 pm
Xenophon is a journalist, all of a sudden?
Sinclair Davidson
19 Feb 13 at 12:19 pm
I thought this defense of totalitarianism was restricted to a few whacko commentators. Extremely disappointed to see it made official Catallaxy commentary.
Malaysia is not a “mature democracy”. Opposition figures are routinely jailes by the ruling government. Ethnic and religious quotas exist in Parliament. Their most productive group of people face routine state discrimination for not being Islamic enough on a daily basis.
I don’t like Nick Xenophon either. But taking the Malaysian government’s side on this is disgraceful for a so-called libertarian blog.
Yobbo
19 Feb 13 at 12:21 pm
Yeah, I’m not comfortable with the Malaysia cheering either.
Even though he’s an idiot – and a dishonourable idiot at that – he’s an Australian senator. We should retaliate by shuffling a few Malaysian bigwigs off the airport queue and into an interrogation room.
C.L.
19 Feb 13 at 12:29 pm
Yobbo – the Malaysians are hardly totalitarians. Not getting involved in other people’s domestic arrangements is perfectly good libertarian policy. In any event its not like we’re not heading towards quotas and our most productive citizens aren’t persecuted on a daily basis either.
Sinclair Davidson
19 Feb 13 at 12:37 pm
CL – being a Senator doesn’t absolve him from the consequences of his idiocy. He clearly thought that it did, and our chattering classes do too. I think one of the reasons Australians are so stung by this is because it exposes the “middle power punching above its weight” bullshit that we keep hearing about.
Sinclair Davidson
19 Feb 13 at 12:39 pm
Man oh man, am I reading some serious “stupid” here on this issue!
Don’t be making any job applications for the diplomatic corps fellas, you are unsuited.
Mick Gold Coast QLD
19 Feb 13 at 12:49 pm
Well said Mick of GC at 12:06. I agree totally.
Popular Front
19 Feb 13 at 12:54 pm
Seems to me contradictory to support politician Wilders coming to Australia to give lectures but opposing politician Xenophon’s visit to Malaysia.
C.L.
19 Feb 13 at 1:04 pm
A early report I heard indicated that MPs have parliamentary passports, but that Xenophon was travelling on his own passport. Later reports I have heard haven’t mentioned the passport he used.
Steve of Ferny Hills
19 Feb 13 at 1:21 pm
All correct. After 50 years Malaysia is still struggling to balance off its post-colonial legacy, bumiputra politics, economic growth, racial and religious tensions and an inconstant preference for liberal democracy and the rule of law. Malaysian politics also remains recalitrantly prickly about western finger wagging.
This is all obvious to most casual observers.
The salient point here is not how marvelous Malaysian democracy is – it’s more about what a self-regarding dick Xenophon is in thinking that he can contribute to a complex, long-running social and cultural problem by turning up to fart loudly at election time.
Dr Faustus
19 Feb 13 at 1:28 pm
I agree with Yobbo. Malaysia is a bizarre quasi apartheid state where the Islamic Bumi Putra get all the advantages of the Chinese and Indians. Meanwhile Christian indigenous people’s from Borneo are treated like scum. Having said all that I dislike busy body Xenophon, but do not agree with his handling by the Malays.
John Comnenus
19 Feb 13 at 1:31 pm
Yobbo’s habit of making absolute statements is making him as tedious as SoB.
All true. That is why I was stunned to see so many people in this country believe it is appropriate to deport illegal immigrants there.
No matter how much of a grandstanding tosser he is, Xenephon was consistent in opposing that regressive legislation and he is correct to highlight the failings of the Malaysian regime.
Token
19 Feb 13 at 1:37 pm
It doesn’t matter how good or bad Malaysia is. They just as you do have the right to say who steps inside the door.
Helen Armstrong
19 Feb 13 at 1:56 pm
No one is disputing that, Ms Armstrong. So do Zimbabwe Burma, Belarus and Saudi Arabia. It is not, however, a particularly awe-inspiring list to be joining.
Grey
19 Feb 13 at 2:03 pm
You left about 190 countries off that list.
Sinclair Davidson
19 Feb 13 at 2:09 pm
I was concentrating on those countries who bar entry on the basis of criticism of the ruling party.
For example, I used to regularly call GW Bush a gormless idiot, it never altered my ability to enter the USA.
Grey
19 Feb 13 at 2:14 pm
So 189 countries then.
Sinclair Davidson
19 Feb 13 at 2:16 pm
You are correct your deliberate ignorance and prejudice in the face of a mountain of evideance wouldn’t bar you from entering the US.
Token
19 Feb 13 at 2:17 pm
So what we can read from this is that the Malaysian authorities are using his deportation to say he is an extremist foreigner. They are then likely to link the opposition to this extremist causing fear in the voters. This idea could backfire but that is the plan obviously. Xenophon has nothing to do with anything, any public figure from any party in Australia or another country would have been sufficient.
kelly liddle
19 Feb 13 at 5:04 pm
Xylophone is an independent Senator, Kelly, not a Coalition Senator.
Helen Armstrong
19 Feb 13 at 5:41 pm
Helen
just add “or independant” then. The opposition I am talking about is the Malaysian opposition.
kelly liddle
19 Feb 13 at 5:47 pm
Grey and Sinclair,
Here is a list of countries where journalists who could be counted, were silenced.
Permanently.
OT
Des Moore had a passing interest in Malaysian activities in this article, as has Janet Albrechtson on numerous occasions.
Jessie
19 Feb 13 at 10:54 pm
A response toy your header question
I am allergic to _____.
Saya alah kepada ________.
Amerika /Australia / Inggeris / Kanada. (…)
Don’t even think about it.
Jangan harap.
Do you ship (overseas)?
Boleh hantar (ke luar negeri)? (…)
Jessie
19 Feb 13 at 11:20 pm
He’s an idiot, but deporting him was total BS.
Why are we trading refugees with this polity?
wreckage
19 Feb 13 at 11:26 pm
I notice that in their condemnation of the USA for “silencing” “journalists who could be counted”, they count a “freelance photographer” who rushed to Ground Zero to get some happy-snaps after the planes hit and was subsequently flattened by the collapse, and the victim of the “Your Black Muslim Bakery” hit job.
Come on.
sdog
19 Feb 13 at 11:36 pm
We shouldn’t be. And perhaps when refugees passing through Malaysia say they are not safe there we should believe them.
Chris
19 Feb 13 at 11:40 pm
I don’t hold any brief for Malaysia, but this was a pretty stupid stunt on the part of the Australian politicians involved.
Are there no threats to Australian citizens’ freedom they could be spending their time and energy tackling instead?
sdog
19 Feb 13 at 11:42 pm
sdog,
Write and complain
Jessie
19 Feb 13 at 11:54 pm
It’s funny how so many Muslim “refugees” don’t want a bar of any country with a sizable Muslim population.
Why is it so?
sdog
19 Feb 13 at 11:57 pm
Happy to.
wreckage
20 Feb 13 at 12:27 am
Don’t agree with the view that it is OK to exclude foreign nationals on the basis of that their expression of the opinions they hold may indirectly influence domestic elections.
What is Geert Wilders doing here if not trying to influence Australian policy? Or to use some examples near to my heart – would you not say that Mark Steyn, Christopher Monckton and Daniel Hannan potentially influenced future Australian elections through their visits? I certainly hope they did! It would have been outrageous if any of these individuals had been
barred from visiting on the basis they might influence Australian voters.
If you have evidence that Xenophon was going there to ’cause trouble’ – I assume you mean break Malaysian law – then yes they have a right to prevent entry, but otherwise this just smacks of partisanship to cheer a foreign nation refusing entry to an Australian citizen simply because they hold political opinions we don’t agree with.
rebel with cause
20 Feb 13 at 1:16 am
I agree with Yobbo and CL 100%. Malaysia may not be totalitarian but it is certainly a racist one-party state. Xenophon took a stand on that and exposed their attitude to democracy. Of course they did nothing illegal but they just exposed themselves. And yes, I do not regard the issues of human rghts as internal affairs.
Boris
20 Feb 13 at 2:37 am
I’ve travelled in Malaysia for a good period of time, and find the country and most of the people quite excellent. Contrary to popular belief, they don’t go the whole hog with the muslim stuff, most of the women wear the beautiful scarves over their hair to go with their jeans and shirts, some wear the scarves with their even more beautiful national garb, the sarong and top whatever it is called.
As a westerner, I had no trouble whatsoever when travelling there, so I don’t know how some people call it a hardline muslim country.
As for xenophon, what an arrogant arsepiece. He’s normally too busy having a go at Tom’s church and the catholics whilst completely ignoring what the muslims in Australia are getting up to.
He’s also a coward, having a go at some pastor using parliamentary privilege, and for that alone, he is nothing.
He was just too stupid to realise that he was not in Australia anymore, he was in a country that doesn’t tolerate knobs who are out to cause mischief, or whatever it was he was up to. And now he’s milking it for all it’s worth, trying to play the victim.
What an arsehole!!!
Peter55
20 Feb 13 at 3:35 am
That makes all the racism and political repression ok.
Yobbo
20 Feb 13 at 4:01 am