This week acting Australian Prime Minister Michael McCormack uttered a controversial phrase.
Defending previous comments in which he compared the Capitol riots to the Black Lives Matter protests, he asserted,
All lives matter.
McCormack was widely condemned for his remarks, including by Indigenous Australian activists, Labor and the Greens.
His use of the phrase was reminiscent of One Nation leader Pauline Hanson’s failed attempt to have the Senate endorse a motion that “all lives matter” in 2019. As former Finance Minister Mathias Cormann noted at the time, “you have to consider things in their context”.
As a linguist, who has just published On The Offensive, a book about offensive language, “all lives matter” is a phrase that reveals prejudice.
Acting Prime Minister Michael McCormack said JobSeeker recipients, many of whom lost their jobs in the coronavirus pandemic, were earning more than they ever dreamed of on the dole.
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Acting Prime Minister Michael McCormack has doubled down on comments he made comparing the recent Capitol riot to last year s Black Lives Matter protests, after an international human rights group called on him to withdraw the deeply offensive statements.
Hundreds of pro-Trump protesters swarmed the Capitol building on Thursday last week, as a joint session of Congress worked to certify the results of the 3 November election. The riot prompted the evacuation of politicians from the Senate floor, resulted in five deaths, and temporarily halted the democratic process.
Mr McCormack told ABC s RN on Monday the riot at Capitol Hill was unfortunate , and similar to those race riots that we saw around the country last year , immediately sparking backlash online.