Well, I wouldn't say finished, but I'm going to leave this here and try finish it up, if i don't critique the hell out of it anyway, should be FUN
The recent Christmas Island boat tragedy has temporarily reignited a debate which became increasingly contentious in the months leading up to the Election. Andrew Bolt, in the opinion piece “Don't blame me, blame Julia Gillard” - which was published in the Herald Sun just days after the incident - contends in a predominantly rational tone that the Gillard government are to blame for the deaths of the asylum seekers – most notably, the victims of the Christmas Island tragedy – due to their 'recklessly weak' boat people laws. The article is aimed at the general public, and in particular, those with an interest in politics and foreign affairs.
Bolt initiates the article by using rhetoric to question why it is too early to begin blaming the Gillard Government for the incident. 'But why?' seeks to query to potential reasons the Gillard Government cannot be blamed, while 'if not now, when?' and 'before the next boat sinks, or after?' compliment each other to reinforce the idea that now is as good a time as any for the Gillard Government to be blamed, and perhaps to change their laws to prevent further tragedies from occuring. Consequently, the reader may be left thinking of the potential number (or lack thereof) of reasons why the Government should not be blamed, compounded by the fear that the longer they wait, the more chance of a tragedy occurring. Bolt later provides examples of it being ''not too soon... to blame everyone else but Gillard,” as the Navy, and 'all of us' have been previously blamed, in order to establish the idea that if other people have been blamed for such ludicrous reasons – as Bolt states the Navi had to ground the surveillance, while 'all of us' were blamed for not celebrating the asylum seekers bravery –, there is no reason for the Government to escape blame as a result of it's lenient laws. The reader may be further convinced into thinking that there is indeed no feasible reason for the Gillard Government to escape some blame for the incident.
Bolt uses aggressive language like 'recklessly weakened' and 'criminally reckless' to describe a law that had been softened to connote that the act of making the laws more lenient was unacceptable. This it due to the fact it helped persuade more asylum seekers to 'risk their lives at sea' in order to potentially receive the sweet 'sugar of Labor's softer treatment'. Through this, Bolt is able to place the reader in a position where they are encouraged to think that the lenient laws are not in any way beneficial to Australians or those seeking refuge. Furthermore, Bolt uses 'the sugar of Labor's softer treatment' so signify how sweet the offer of refuge in Australia compounded with the fact that temporary protection visas had been abolished, the 'Pacific Solution' was at a halt and the promise of swifter processing. The reader may now realise the alluring perks of the soften laws were so promising that people thought it would be worth the risk. The accompanying image of the ship seconds from the fatal clash with rocks acts as a haunting reminder of the events which actually took place, which Bolt uses in order to appeal to the sympathetic emotions of the readers. As a consequence, they may in turn realise that such a tragedy should at all costs be avoided, thus feel more inclined to the idea of a harsher boat people law.
As well as using statistics from an official resources, Bolt takes the matter into his own hands, claiming to have recorded the deaths of the Asylum Seekers multiple times, out of 'up to 170' victims. This gives the idea that the issue is one that Bolt is genuinely concerned about enough to willingly investigate further into. Consequently, the reader may feel that they can understand his opinion more since he has witnessed with his own eyes the effects of the lenient law. Subsequently, Bolt uses 'Afghan Norooz Ali Iqbal and his nine year old son, Mounir' as his only named examples of the victims, because they had spoken on an ABC Television program about their attempt to reach Australia. The example is a crucial one, as it would be a person that much more people would be aware of, should they watch ABC.
Home
Help
Search
Login
