Not long after the Coalition government stalled the push for same sex marriage by opting to run a postal survey, early signs suggested that the debate about to consume the country risked taking a destructive turn.
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Former prime minister Tony Abbott, generous with praise for the so-called postal plebiscite, was less kind to Australia's LGBTI community when he urged people to vote 'no' to same sex marriage if they wanted to stop 'political correctness'.
The comment was a dog whistle and its meaning was clear. 'Political correctness' has become a byword for so many things in Australia's public debate that its meaning is conveniently unclear. Outwardly, it points to a restraint on free speech by liberals and left-leaning media. On a hidden level, the phrase condones a wish to speak abusively of the nation's minority groups without being chastised.
They were carefully chosen words on Mr Abbott's part, and his covert appeal to homophobia and prejudice degraded Australia's debate over the same sex marriage postal vote in its infancy. Already, the motives of the Liberal party's hard right in putting forward a plebiscite were clear. Some want to use any tactic necessary to stop same sex marriage in Australia, no matter the personal cost for those the laws will affect most, LGBTI people.
Words are an undervalued commodity in today's politics, and politicians have come to carelessly disregard their destructive power. The US president sprays invective on Twitter at his opponents without thought of its repercussions. In Australia, politicians ape his verbal bludgeons, railing against 'fake news' from the media without considering the authoritarian intent that lingers behind the term. Examples of the vindictive language that has taken hold in Australia are many: Islam is called a 'disease' needing 'vaccination'. LGBTI people are labelled 'pillow biters' by a man who condones throwing them off rooftops.
The hung parliament in 2010 combined with Mr Abbott's ruthless tactics darkened Australia's political debate, and made its language more odious as protesters pressed to 'ditch the witch', while Alan Jones said former prime minister Julia Gillard's father 'died of shame' - a phrase echoed shortly after by the opposition leader himself.
This is all good reason to fear the lead-up to a postal vote will inspire those hostile to LGBTI people to voice their prejudice in even more destructive ways. If the postal plebiscite goes ahead, it will be up to all actors in the same sex marriage debate to set a tone that's long been missing. It's not too hard an ask. Without decency or respect, these arguments will harm many vulnerable people.
Words shouldn't come cheap. They have an awesome power, amplified for those who wield them through the megaphone of the media. History will judge the government harshly for its absurd decision to push for a postal survey on Monday. It will be scathing of those who use it to hurt and destroy.
