January Week 3
Language Analysis: Don't Blame Me, Blame Julia Gillard--Bolt
Following the devastation that left a boat carrying 28 asylum seekers dead near the shores of Christmas island, fiery debate has arisen as to who should be held accountable. “Don’t Blame Me, Blame Julia Gillard” is an opinion piece, published in the Herald Sun on the ____, 2010, by Andrew Bolt, contends that not only should the Australian government be responsible for this incident, but further a review of its “softer” foreign laws should be made. In a predominately irate and condemning tone, the piece targets an audience concerned in politics and foreign affairs.
Bolt initiates the piece in placing the blame on the government by questioning “why” and “when”—terms that scrutinise their credibility in managing laws concerning foreign affairs. In doing so, scepticism is evoked within readers towards the seemingly reputable actions of the government. These feelings are furthermore multiplied, as Bolt pejoratively condemns them as “pious Leftists,” criticises their laws as “weak,” “soft” and “fatal” and stresses the extent of the damage: “just like up to 170 others…” “…men, women and—God rest them—children.” The emphasis on “God rest them—children” pushes upon the emotional heartstrings of the readers, particularly since children connote a sense of vulnerability and innocence. Henceforth, the juxtaposition of a grim government with such helplessness ignites a sense of anger towards the government for not taking responsibility for their actions and owning up to the crisis.
Furthering his stance in condemning the government, Bolt vehemently repeats: “they lie” to enhance scrutiny over the reliability of the government’s foreign laws. He also reiterates “it’s never been the right time” to assert feelings of being deceived by the government; thus, in effect, readers are exposed to the prospect that the government is deliberately eluding from the truth that it is “their compassionate politics…that have caused such suffering.” Indeed, Bolt makes it clear that the “sugar” that is their policies is what “lured people on to sinking boats” which overall establishes a sense of an iniquitous and seemingly immoral act on the government’s part. As a result, disapproval and fury further compounds upon the emotions that readers have previously been set with which may force them to consider that such heartless deeds should indeed be the government’s fault.
Moreover, Bolt accompanies his piece with a visual image of the asylum seeker boat as it “smashed into the rocks of Christmas Island.” Such vivid imagery paints for the readers the solemn, stark and grave state the passengers would have faced in their travel towards Australia. The simple placement of the boat in the centre of the image, engulfed by the waves, connotes a sense of isolation and danger. In addition, Bolt exemplifies that the government nevertheless shies away from the fact that “the boats were back—soaring from three a year over the previous six years, to almost 200 this year alone.” As a result, readers may be irate towards and disgraced by the government for “luring” them out into the sea to such a disaster and, at the same time, incapable of admitting to the wrongdoings of their policies.
Overall, Bolt’s opinion piece relies heavily on dysphemistic terms that condemn the acts of the government to generate fury and anger from his readers. Similarly, the coupling of a visual with his piece adds to the perception that it is the government’s policies that allowed such a tragedy to exist. From such language use, the author illuminates to his readers that it is indeed Gillard and her Labour government that should be held accountable for the many deaths of asylum seekers coming to Australia.
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