Two threats to democracy, one domestic and one hailing from the U.S., have collaborated on an Australian tour to promote Right-wing propaganda. Ross Jones reports.
CLIVE PALMER is a threat to Australia’s domestic stability.
Tucker Carlson is a Putin enabler and a threat to American democracy.
Put them together and you have the Australian Freedom Conference, an extravaganza of Right-wing demagoguery for both the curious and the benighted.
Palmer – the man who stumped up $3 million to bring us MAGA sycophant Senator Ralph Babet – recently brought Carlson to Australia to draw crowds for his self-promotion tour.
Tucker, the former rabble-rousing Fox presenter and defamation magnet, had been cancelled by the Murdochs in April 2023 before he decamped to the worker’s paradise that is Russia.
There, he recorded obsequious Dorothy Dix interviews with the murderous Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S.-sanctioned oligarch Andrey Melnichenko before publishing them on his online Tucker Carlson Network.
So, a real patriot.
Palmer’s roadshow was as you’d expect.
The main warm-up was a screening of 2,000 Mules, which, according to IMDb, is:
‘A documentary which purports to prove widespread, coordinated and deliberate voter fraud in the 2020 Election, sufficient to change the overall outcome, and claims Trump won swing states like Michigan, Georgia and Arizona.’
Complete bunkum, of course. A hit at Mar-a-Lago, but widely derided elsewhere as the crock it is.
The Washington Post said:
‘From the outset, in other words, the claims in 2,000 Mules and the assessments of True the Vote were not credible. That lack of credibility only increased over time.’
So, 2,000 Mules was supposed to have been withdrawn after the first defamation suit in May 2022.
As reported on NPR:
‘The conservative media company behind the book and film 2,000 Mules, which alleged a widespread conspiracy by Democrats to steal the 2020 Election and was embraced by former President Donald Trump, has issued an apology and said it would halt distribution of the film and remove both the film and book from its platforms.’
Yet here it is in the Clive and Tucker roadshow.
After feeding a packed audience with this tripe, the music rises and Palmer attempts to stride boldly up to the mic, full-screen behind him.
Pet topics ranged from ivermectin and how he nearly saved the country (apparently, he had 1.5 million doses ready to go, all with an image of his face on them!) to how vaccines destroyed freedom, to “youse was all robbed!”.
Titanic got an outing, too — somehow, its recreation will bring hope to the world.
Much applause. “Clive for PM!” one wag in the packed ICC Theatre cried.
When the Freedom tour was announced at the end of April, the cheapest seats were over $200. By the time Sydney came around in late June, they were down to $50.
After Clive had done his best for his own cult of personality, a breathlessly fawning MC announces The Man himself.
From the $50 seats, the giant cinema screen affords the best view. It’s a lot like watching The Tucker Carlson Show on cable, except with a local twist.
Carlson begins with how beautiful Australia is, which reminds him of back home 20 years ago. He cuddled a koala — sniffed it, apparently.
The audience erupted when he said he’d discovered a new favourite word, “wanker”.
It is remarkable he had never come across it before.
Tucker is fond of analogies between Australia and the USA, few of which withstand scrutiny, but they lead seamlessly into the darkness that will befall us if we eschew far Right-wing economics.
The Daily Mail published a pretty good summary of Carlson’s speech.
The thrust of Tucker’s message to the crowd is in his statement:
“I have never seen a society more under attack than the one you're living in now and for less justification.”
Really?
Just as seen on TV, Tucker frequently punctuates his oration with disturbingly high-pitched giggles when he feels a point has been well made, a distraction when comprehension is already stretched.
After force-feeding the disgruntled, Tucker seemingly winds up and leaves the stage to a hefty round of applause. Seemingly, because as soon as he’s gone, the MC announces a surprise special feature!
Tucker and Clive are to have a one-on-one, on stage, live!
This is actually the main event, the one where Palmer, who has been bankrolling the whole affair, gets to sit on stage with Tucker Carlson and bask in a bit of international fame.
Every Tucker Carlson fan globally – and there are some powerful ones among them – will probably see the video online at some time. It would be surprising if the promotional budget wasn’t more than enough to ensure they did.
Viewers will see two men in armchairs. One sits, the other sprawls, yet they still manage to scratch each other’s back.
Foisting the discredited and ridiculed 2,000 Mules on innocent $50 ticket holders, trying to pass it off as truth, shows just what depths Palmer will go to in his never-ending search for relevance.
And his dangerous desire for domestic instability.
Ross Jones is IA's investigations editor and the author of 'Ashbygate: The Plot to Destroy Australia's Speaker'. You can follow Ross on Twitter @rpzjones_fin.
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