Two recent incidents involving signage and freedom of speech prove that Paul Keating's "fogeys" still breathe and walk among us.
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| Danny Lim with his sign in Sydney's CBD |
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| Andy McCourt |
In 1992, then Prime Minister Paul Keating delivered his famous parliament question time riposte targeting what he called ‘fogeys’ – mostly in the Liberal Party. These fuddy-duddy traditionalists, he claimed, had held Australia back and kept it in a Menzies-era time warp. Keating, according to the fogeys, had not learned proper respect at school. Respect? Keating? The two hardly go together.
For all his faults, Keating was a revisionist and change-agent – you wouldn’t have a super nest-egg if it were not for him. All great societies go through periods of major change at every level – attitudes, social divisions, laws, equality and so on. Freedom of speech is at the forefront of social change. The literal meaning of ‘Renaissance’’ is ‘rebirth.’ Without it, scientists and revisionists would have been burned at the stake as heretics – some were.
Two recent incidents involving signage and freedom of speech have reared their ugly fogey heads and set us back years – proving that fogeys still breathe and walk among us.
The first was last week when Danny Lim, a 74-year old Chinese-Australian and serial protester on environmental issues, was arrested, together with his chihuahua Sammy, at Barangaroo, Sydney – for carrying a professionally-printed placard protesting global warming. In an apparent dig at the government’s approval of the atrocious Adani coal project near the Barrier Reef it also read: “ScoMo, u cvn’t (sic) have black heart of coal.” Not only was Lim arrested, but it took three burly NSW cops against a slight 74-year old, and he was manhandled to the point of bruising. It was a disturbing sight to see - videoed of course and shared on social media.
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| A photo showing bruises on Danny Lim after his release was shared on Facebook |
Lim’s implied, misspelled use of a swearword might offend some, but the hypocrisy is palpable. Where is the high dudgeon over Clive Palmer’s “S*d off with your tax hikes, Shorten” or the TV insurance commercials about being “Up ship creek” or Gordan Ramsay’s multiple ‘f*cks’ in his prime time TV programmes. There was even a recent ABC TV show by Steve Coogan, where he sang a song about being ‘a <completely articulated version of the word Lim disguised>. I am sure we are all aware of the FCUK fashion stores run by dyslexic French people.
I admire and respect (and used to tutor) the Police but in this instance, they appeared to have responded to their political masters (ScoMo is Scott Morrison of course) in a disproportionate manner that smacks of a crackdown of freedom of speech and protest by a charming old man with a disguised naughty word on his sign. They supported fogeyism at its worst – and looked ridiculous into the bargain.
Indigenous indignation
The second sign of fogeyism resurgent involved outdoor signage company APN. Last year, they refused to display two billboards for Aboriginal Victoria’s treaty campaign. One read: “Is being Aboriginal just the colour of your skin?” and the other “Why can’t Aboriginal people just get over the past?” The campaign was created by agency Clemenger BBDO and the questions were sourced from public surveys. APN claimed the Outdoor Media Association and Advertising Standards Bureau said the billboards might contravene ‘standards.’
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| A mock-up of how the campaign would have looked. |
If that’s the case, why is Ooh! Media able to pick up APN’s rejected billboards and run with them? Apparently, fogeys exist inside corporations too and APN is no exception. Having said this – how about last year’s APN campaign for Koala Mattresses with a huge billboard placed just before an Ikea store, headlined: “NÖFNIDEA”? That’s not offensive or censor-worthy; it’s clever, witty and a great outdoor campaign, so p*ss off fogeys.
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| The Koala billboard. |
Outdoor signage, placards, A-Frames, window strips etc. are all part of the concept of freedom of speech that is supposed to be enshrined in our constitution. Over-regulation, censorship, political correctness and fogeyism is the enemy of creativity, commerce, causes and fun. We don’t need ‘thought police’ to regulate signage content – existing laws cover defamation, incitement to hatred, false claims and intent to corrupt.
The worst culprits for offensive signs have a free reign every 3 or 4 years because they lie, deceive and break promises – politicians at election time.
So, to all fogeys – back off out of our sign industry and away from 74-year old protestors exercising their right to express valid opinions on placards.
Fogeyism will destroy a nation and kill a society’s dreams and aspirations. So, to all died-in-the-wool fogeys out there, on any side of the political spectrum – b*gger off!
