Peter Dutton’s ongoing quest to bring the worst elements of American politics to Australia reached a new low this week with his social media post urging Woolworths to stop ‘peddling woke agendas’. This was in response to the supermarket giant saying it would no longer be selling Australia Day merchandise, along with Kmart and Aldi, due to declining sales.
The overseas manufacturers of useless plastic products emblazoned with Australian flags were devastated of course, but the decision of the retailers was manna from heaven for Dutton’s backers, the astroturf organisation Advance, along with its international backer Atlas Network, which is on a mission to distract ordinary people everywhere from their real enemies, the freedom-loving ultra-rich ‘libertarians’ who are literally destroying our planet.
The concept of ‘woke’ goes right back to Marcus Garvey and Lead Belly, but the word went mainstream when the Black Lives Matter movement took off in 2014. Being woke meant you were politically conscious and aware of injustice, especially racial injustice. Seriously triggered right wing nutjobs in America soon went to work, turning woke into a pejorative. As Steve Rose put it in 2020, wokeness transformed from being a virtue signal to a dog whistle.
So woke!
As a result, it’s now much easier to attack wokeness than being compassionate, or sensitive to your own privilege, or even being nice, although they all amount to pretty much the same thing. Woke has less syllables than ‘politically correct’ and includes the handy racist undertones associated with repurposing a positive word from African-American culture and turning it into something negative.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has built most of his political career on attacking ‘woke culture’, making it the basis for his now flailing campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. Mr DeSantis invented his own definition in his book, saying ‘a fundamental attribute of wokeness is the subordination of facts and evidence to anecdote and ideology.’ Bear in mind that this man leads a state so crazy – even in the context of the USA – that schools there sought last week to ban dictionaries because they contained the word ‘sex’.
Other Republicans have tied wokeness to progressive stances on numerous issues that annoy them, including transgender athletes, school curriculum and church-state separation. This has been given added rocket fuel by ex-Australian Rupert Murdoch’s many-tentacled global media empire.
The underlying idea of being aware of your own privilege and history is anathema to many white people, who seem determined to hold on to their victim status at all costs. This is an issue where Australia is completely in lockstep with our friends across the Pacific, although a growing number of Australians are uneasy with our national day being commemorated on the day convicts arrived in Sydney Cove, beginning the process which devastated the people, animals and plants of this ancient island continent.
Oi oi oi
Since 1788, Australia Day has been celebrated on various different days in different parts of Australia, only becoming officially linked nationally to 26 January in 1994.
John Howard found it useful to focus on the jingoistic aspects of the occasion, and it remains a convenient political football for many other cultural warriors who have nothing substantial to offer in terms of policies or new ideas, so seek to divide and conquer the population instead, no matter how much pain it causes to those Australians who have already suffered the most.
Like wokeness, Australia Day is now the subject of debate at every level of government, and in the media, while major actual problems remain unaddressed. This week for example, while Peter Dutton called for a boycott on Woolworths for withdrawing from plastic patriotism, NSW Farmers were calling for an ACCC inquiry into the anti-competitive price gouging from the supermarket duopoly which is seriously hurting farmers and fresh food consumers alike.
Those who want to wave a plastic flag on 26 January will be okay though, with Big W continuing to stock them all year round, and Coles proudly offering a full range of Australia Day merch in 2024.
Originally from Canberra, David Lowe is an award-winning film-maker, writer and photographer with particular interests in the environment and politics. He’s known for his campaigning work with Cloudcatcher Media.
Long ago, he did work experience in Parliament House with Mungo MacCallum.
‘Aussie Dutton’, why isn’t he going at Kmart ( who were the first ) or Aldi for also not stocking his favourite AusDay paraphernalia.
‘Aussie Dutton’, wants to be the guy who decides what Woolies stocks on its shelves. Isn’t that being rather unAustralian. Lol.
But ‘Aussie Dutton’ need not panic, Coles and IGA are here to save his AusDay paraphernalia panic.
Incidentally, why hasn’t ‘Aussie Dutton’ had a go at Wesfarmers.
Wesfarmers are the owner of both Kmart and Coles – Kmart is OUT but Coles are IN, for ‘Aussie Dutton’ AusDay paraphernalia.
And lastly, ‘Aussie Dutton’, with his not feeling overwhelming love for China, should be a bit happy that some retailers – Woolies, Kmart, Aldi – are stocking fewer ‘Made in China’ lines.
So, can someone help ‘Aussie Dutton’ to get his lines right, he isn’t making much sense just now.
I will be boycotting Aldi as well
Christ on a bicycle – this David Lowe couldn’t lie straight in bed. This is the reason Woolworths gave for discontinuing selling Australia Day merchandise
Woolworths Group, one of Australia’s biggest retailers, has scrapped Australia Day merchandise, citing a “gradual decline in demand. “At the same time there’s been broader discussion about January 26 and what it means to different parts of the community,”
So your upset about cheap, crappy products made overseas that nobody keeps but throw in the bin afterwards. What a lot of nationalistic crap over nothing by Dutton, throwing the word woke around, lm sure he doesn’t have a clue about its meaning. I’m sure the party of “ free enterprise must be twisting in knots over this one. Talk about cancel culture.
Where is there anything here that contradicts this explanation?
People buy these things online as it is cheaper, and you can get it by the box full. I have 1.2kms of Australian Flag bunting for my front fence. Patriotically made in Shenzhen.
This is a reply to my reply? Relevance?
Knee jerk reaction?
Mark, “this David Lowe couldn’t lie straight in bed”, a big call.
Maek, you should have given us more of what Woolies offered as their reasons.
From sbs.com.au, ‘Woolworths and Big W join league of retailers dumping Australia Day merchandise but is it enough?’, Published 12 January 2024 12:20pm By Rachael Knowles, Bronte Charles
Source: NITV
“Woolworths Group, one of Australia’s biggest retailers, has scrapped Australia Day merchandise, citing a “gradual decline in demand”.
At the same time there’s been broader discussion about January 26 and what it means to different parts of the community,” a spokesperson told news.com.au.
“We know many people like to use this day as a time to get together and we offer a huge variety of products to help customers mark the day as they choose.”
The retailer said they “celebrate the best of Australia every day”.
Happy to help you lie straight in bed.
The word ‘Woke’ and its usage – shocking Americanism.
True, and the word is an abomination. It’s usually some oblique reference to sensitivity or empathy for others or a desire for justice, equity and/or humane treatment – without having the guts to come right out out and say it.
It refers to those that are adherent to Postmodernist ideology.
Hiding behind labels again?
Do you need more long form lecture videos to explain Postmodernism, its ‘critical theories’, and its roots?
Hiding behind condescension again?
As is “Red Neck” used by progressives.
David Lowe – well done man, an excellent article on that horror-head Dutton and his ‘ nothing but negative attacks’ on everything. I liked how you explained ‘woke’ to your readers and included that Anglophile Sycophant/ USA ‘suck’, The Murdoch Empire; which publishes nothing on TV, on paper or over the radio waves but pure evil propaganda designed to affect the majority with no ability to discern fact from fiction. It all started with Keith Murdoch & Billy Hughes, hand-in-hand, destroying the facts of the DESERT WAR, Australia’s brilliant Harry Chauvel and his gallant ANZACS on their EQUINE ANZAC HERO HORSES saving the British Empire, winning the war in the Desert, taking Damascus by surrender on 1/10’18 AND BEING ROBBED OF THEIR DUE HONOUR FROM ROMANI TO ALEPPO – including the amazingly-brave and gallant Aussie CHARGE at Be’er Sheva (Beersheba in Britain’s view!!! )They also made sure that John Monash and his Aussie Infantry leading the winning of WWI in Europe in 100 days, like Chauvel and his amazing Desert ANZACS, were never in our school curriculums or acknowledged as they deserved, anywhere!!! I am finishing my book, “If the Mounted ANZACS Can’t Do It, Nobody Can” (quote of British Gen. Allenby – who knew the truth but stole all our boys’ and Chauvel’s accolades – just as Gen. Murray had done from Romani onwards until Allenby took over!
Do those letters mean you can play the world’s smallest violin?
So 26 of January has only been Australia Day for 30 years.
Australia as a name did not exist when Captains Cook and Philip arrived here, it was called New Holland because the Dutch had “discovered ” it
previously.
A better date would be Federation Day, 1st. January 1901 when The Commonwealth of Australia came into being.
That’s already Federation Day, and I hang the Federation Flag at my front gate for it. The good old stars and bars!
Do you fly the Union Jack on January 26?
My neighbour does.
What country you in ?
wiki: Federation Flag
Dutton is (or tries hard to be) a mini-Abbott: nothing but pugnacious polarising negativity. If his head ever entertained an original or positive idea it would explode from the strain.
Well, screw you, Dutto!
PS: I found it amusing that it was *after* Dutton declared war on Woolies for ditching the Oz Day crapola, and told us to instead shop at Aldi, that Aldi joined the ‘no Oz Day crap’ team. For that reason alone I’m inclined to now give Aldi more of my business.
Verbivore, i LOVE Aldi
(happy new year too! X)
I love Aldi too – they won’t stock tobacco either. But Byron Bay Aldi being refused a liquor licence was an abomination.
Yeh, good one man. You are a living legend David Lowe, in your own mind and lunch break. Such an aenemic soul. The sad fact is some poor misguided lefty’s agree with you.
The really scary thing is that anti woke works, how do we get people to think critically about anything anymore?
Label me woke and proud of it !
‘Woke’, also known as ‘Postmodernism’, is a philosophy based on the idea that there are other ways of ‘knowing’ besides objective analysis, such as ‘lived experience’, also known as ‘anecdote’, and that all distinctions are social constructs. The kids don’t want your ‘critical theories’ and subjective truths, they have to live in objective reality, where imagining something is true, does not make it so, in fact, it can get you killed. Having 2 X-chromosomes is the answer by the way. There are DNA tests for it.
In what world is Woke known as postmodernism?
Britannica: Postmodernism, in Western philosophy, a late 20th-century movement characterized by broad skepticism, subjectivism, or relativism; a general suspicion of reason; and an acute sensitivity to the role of ideology in asserting and maintaining political and economic power.
That’s how you get people thinking the following…
A boy can be a girl if he just believes hard enough.
Aboriginals were farmers.
Everything White People built was actually invented by non-Whites.
The high CO2 – cold periods in the geological past, have nothing to do with CO2/global warming today.
The Great Barrier Reef existed 14,000 years ago when the sea level was 120m lower.
People’s lived experience is an equal way of knowing truth, to analysing objective reality over long time periods.
Races are genetically indistinguishable, and you can take an DNA ancestry test at the chemist to prove it.
Being homosexual is functionally the same as being heterosexual, it’s just the way evolution made us.
Dingoes are not a type of dog.
There is no God, but we must save Gaia.
Only White People can be racist.
The continued existence of the natural world depends on koalas.
I mustn’t move in woke circles as I don’t know anybody who believes these things. A bit of desperation here perhaps?
You don’t read the Echo?
youtube: ‘Woke: A Culture War Against Europe | James Lindsay at the European Parliament’
You’re a bottomless well of YouTube suggestions!
I’m not allowed to post links, so I type the subject into youtube and pick the video which has material closest to the real thing, and that is succinct enough for your attention span. Mixed results, but the alternative is to simply say the answer and then have you kvetch about lacking the foundation concepts to understand what I’m saying. How would I compress the core concepts in that video, and the ones it is missing, into a comment that the moderator would actually bother to read before rejecting?
How to express yourself adequately and succinctly? With practice I’d suggest, redrafting and proofreading.
An Australian tennis player just declared the Australian Open the most postmodernist tournament ever!
Another ‘zinger’, David.
I’d rather be ‘woke’ than a flag-waving boofhead like Dutton and co.
I’d rather be ‘National Socialist’ than a flag-waving boofhead like Dutton and co.
it time that a lot of Duttons woke up. Here in Oz we might better say WAKE UP to yourself!
Oh, the ‘Great Awakening’ is on going. Red pills all over the place. 61%
All the woke brigade out in force slapping each other on the back saying good one man. What you don’t understand is the normal majority split their sides laughing at you, the overwhelmingly small minority of alarmist little souls that know all, see all, save all in their woke minds. Thank goodness the majority still rule in this country.
Dream on
Gregrrrrrrrrrrtrrrrrrrr, thank goodness Kmart, Woolies, Aldi, still rule themselves rather than be ruled by your man Lord Dutton.
It is instructive that ( to my knowledge so far ) Lord Dutton has said nothing following the vandalism of the Woolies Metro store in Teneriffe, Brisbane.
Your man Lord Dutton is always quick with the dog whistling but MIA when it all turns to faeces.
These corporation do not rules themself. You have to go up the corporate chain, to which you usually find they are all owned by the same two corporations that usually exchange staff on a regular basis.
‘woke brigade’ ? you in LA man?
Thank goodness the majority is ruling this country Greg, it’s called the Australian Labor Party, and that doesn’t look like changing for some time.
Why would anyone want to celebrate the establishment of a British penal colony, a hell hole of chained convicts, some as young as 10 year old, as any kind of National day? With another country’s colonial flag? The British Union Jack cross of St George of England, St Andrew of Scotland, St Patrick of Ireland has nothing to do with Australian’s or Australia as a nation. This day is nothing but a desperate British monarchist, keeping Australia British, nothing else, it’s a British day of celebration, it’s never been Australian! We demand a real Australia day for real Australians in Australia’s colours of Green and Gold. This is Duttons Sustralia where any lie will do supported be one of the worlds most corrupted media’s. Why have the media not called out Dutton for his deplorable behaviour, rabble rousing these sociopath Cooker crazies, that have attacked Woolies and left a flare, warning that they will burn it down next time, if Woollies refuses to conform to the new Dutton fascism!
It’s only called the ‘Union Jack’ when it’s on a boat. The Union Flag is made of the flags of all the countries australian people come from, except Wales, and that’s a somewhat convoluted story as to how that happened.
Schools in Florida have not banned dictionaries because they contain the word sex. Another lie lapped up by the lefty minions.
From The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/11/florida-schools-ron-desantis-ban-books-sexual-content
“A Florida school district is facing a federal lawsuit after it decided to remove copies of dictionaries, encyclopedia and other books because the works included descriptions of “sexual conduct”.”
And from The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2024/01/11/escambia-dictionaries-removed/
“Webster’s Dictionary and Thesaurus for Students, Merriam-Webster’s Elementary Dictionary, the American Heritage Children’s Dictionary and other titles were pulled from schools in Escambia County, Fla., where officials are reviewing books for compliance with the law’s prohibition on materials with “sexual” content.”
Nicola. If you want the full story I suggest you look further than the Guardian.
Try researching “books banned/on review in Florida schools” and I think you’ll find many similar stories.
Lots of age inappropriate titles. While you’re at it, check out the ones the Germans burnt back in the day. Then look up all the books the left has had banned. No more Green Eggs and Ham as it is apparently white supremacy.
Correction. Sought to ban. Schools have not sought to ban dictionaries because they contain the word sex. David Low. You called out misinformation and disinformation during the referendum yet here you are.
Schools in Florida did remove dictionaries encyclopedias, the Guinness book of records , Ripleys believe it or not and among others Anne Franks Diary. Reference Pen America pen.org
Jill. The facts are freely available. Look further.
You confused me. I thought you were pointing out that ball point pens were not available to the public until 1952.
Would it then be Pen AMERICA – given that the Hungarian brothers, Laszlo and George Biro, made the first ball point pen in 1894?
In 1950, Marcel Bich launched his own ballpoint pen in France under the BIC® brand.
What year would it have been first available for a teenage girl in Amsterdam to write in her diary?
Does it matter?
David, schools in Florida are being forced to teach an extremely sanitized version of history and religion by Gov. De Santos (another right-wing f***wit), it’s got so bad that many teachers are moving to another state to be free if this idiot.
Keith. Stick to topic. Schools did not remove dictionaries because they contained the word sex. I’m addressing the lie / misinformation / disinformation in the article.
There was probably a whole range of objectionable words like: fornication, sodomy, masturbation, fellation, even f#%k!
Does it matter? The point is, it’s dictionaries FF’sS!
David, I’m sticking exactly on topic, if you can’t handle it that’s your problem, and you are on a hiding to nothing on this topic, but you are a glutton for punishment.
Keith. My statement re dictionaries and the word sex is factually correct. I understand your comprehension issue. Many people right and left cannot see past their narrative.
Removed for further review? Splitting hairs? The Guardian reported:
‘ A Florida school district is facing a federal lawsuit after it decided to remove copies of dictionaries, encyclopedia and other books because the works included descriptions of “sexual conduct”.
‘The Escambia county school district, located in Pensacola, Florida, removed several dictionaries and encyclopedias from school libraries after school officials determined that the books violated Florida law HB 1069.
‘The law, signed by the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, last year, restricts access to materials containing “sexual conduct” in Florida classrooms.
‘During the district’s 2023 summer break, officials removed at least eight encyclopedias and five dictionaries.
‘District officials also removed copies of The Guinness Book of World Records, and Ripley’s Believe It or Not, a book for children that highlights unusual stories and “hair-raising oddities”, according to the book’s description.
‘Other removed titles include biographies on Thurgood Marshall, the first Black supreme court justice, and Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl.
‘In total, more than 1,600 books were removed, according to a press release from Pen America, an organization advocating for freedom of speech and access to literature. The list of removed titles was provided by the Florida Freedom to Read Project, an organization challenging book bans and censorship in the state.’
That damn right-wing cancel culture strikes again. The left never has anything banned or blacklisted or rewritten or replaced. The whole thing makes my arm go stiff like a Roman.
“That damn right-wing cancel culture strikes again.”, yep hard-right-winger Dutton cancelling Woolies.
Keith, do you mean the labor green teal coalition?, you know as well as everyone else labor will never win an election on it’s own, a true little fact you will never accept. Labor had it’s lowest PRIMARY vote since 1934 at the last federal election of 32.58%, you can not claim you have a majority under any circumstances, it beggars belief how a pathetic effort like that can get a party into government, our voting system needs to be overhauled badly. Keith, the Florida schools were made to exclude all of the looney woke garbage that has slowly crept into the classrooms, it’s about time a politician like De Santos had the stones to do something about the rot going on there. Too bad if they loose the bad woke teachers, they can be replaced with normal good people.
Labor Green Teal coalition? You do know that the Teals took only previously safe seats in the Liberal heartland?
Change the voting system? They’re not the words of a proper Conservative and Tory. What would you like: first past the post? You do know it’s not just Labor who rely on preferences to win seats?
Or maybe proportional representation like the senate? Or maybe you’d prefer a prerequisite IQ test, such that anyone with more than two neurons to rub together (generally the woke) would be ineligible.
You really make yourself sound ridiculous describing the books withdrawn in Florida as “looney woke garbage”. The Diary of Anne Frank? What’s the 🤬‘S the problem with “sexual conduct”. If that’s the criterion I imagine they’ll remove most of Shakespeare, countless other great works of literature and the bible.
I’m not sure neither labs or libs ever win without assistance. Dems and Reps never do.
Oh dear Greg, I see you must be consumed with desperation and depression and it’s certainly not improving, why don’t we try this?, please repeat after me, The Australian Labor Party was elected to MAJORITY Govt on May 22, 2022, and since then INCREASED its MAJORITY, that means that it is not part of ANY Coalition unlike your abysmal Lib/Nat Coalition neither of which will EVER Govern in their own right, ( and thank God for that). Anything else you need to know that might be of some help? As for DeSantis, you are only assuming he has “stones”, he certainly hasn’t got any brains.
More of this mythical alp/ greens coalition nonsense, maybe should check the facts that the only coalition is the noalition with its secretive agreements. Can you point out any alp/ greens coalition government in Australia? No, because there is none except in the minds of the Murdoch press.
By the way gregrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr what is woke? No explanation just a throwing around of this word.
The ACT Government is an ALP-Greens government.
I think all 4 of them work to the same agenda, they just disagree with how to get there.
Editor. My statements re dictionaries and the word sex is factually correct. It appears you are running a protection racket .
And your source for your facts?
Others provided sources, your doubts & opinions do not equate to a fact
N see. I suggest you read the articles referenced by writers above. They give the reality of the situation . No one is attempting to ban dictionaries because they contain the word sex.
Keith, the same old censoring by the moderators is an ongoing problem. I always reply to your nasty comments, however the powers that sit high in the hills of the shire don’t like contrary views to their lefty ideology, so you miss out on my pleasant replies, too bad they can’t get over their one eyed view of life. So sad, I think they need counselling.
Oh yes and another point, the moderators let one through every now and then, one that shows my frustration’s of being censored, just to make me look bad, they won’t publish my best work, not only on this subject but on most of the published contributions.
It actually depends who is moderating that day.
What do you want me to do about it Greg?
Take it into account when it seems as if we have no response. We actually do, sometimes half a dozen different ones.
Don’t worry, we all know that you will have at the ready, a reply that will contain such pure genius and devastating evidence that it will shake our very foundations.
We live in dread that one day, one will slip past the gatekeepers of unenlightenment.
Keith, I am explaining my predicament as you would consider it a win if you don’t see a reply from me, however I assure you I will never let you get away with your labor protection racket or local green labor coalition, you know your mate Kiri. So embarrassing for you.
Again what lab/ greens coalition? Only coalition is the noalition. What lab protection racket? More Murdoch press imaginative journalism. Could you at least try to be factual rather than throw around your imaginary approach to the current political situation. Who the hell is Kiri and their relevance?