In March, 2019, an unhinged Australian slaughtered 49 worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. Just hours later, a visibly emotional Australian television presenter aired his thoughts on these shocking events. But Waleed Aly wasn’t shocked.
Australia displayed its very worst on March 15, and then… its very best.
The Project is a nightly Australian television panel program, blending news, current affairs, comedy and political satire with celebrity guests. As the show’s leading co-host, Aly, poignantly as always after prefacing his comments with, “You’ll have to forgive me, these won’t be my best words…”, said this:
Waleed Aly, PhD, isn’t just an award winning host of a prime time television show (voted by the public as Australia’s best TV personality, 2016). He’s also a lawyer, author, academic, journalist, newspaper columnist, songwriter and musician. If these latter two occupations seem perhaps a weekend hobby to unwind from an already insanely packed schedule, well…
Watch this.
Here the lead guitarist of Melbourne-based rock band, Robot Child, nails Pink Floyd’s ‘Comfortably Numb’, at an award ceremony where he was also nominated for excellence in journalism.
Now… to anyone who might harbour any fear or loathing of the “other”, be that racially, politically, religiously, sexually or ideologically, I say…
Go find me one of your own who’s a nightly television host and national celebrity, comedian, academic, lawyer, acclaimed author and journalist, who can shred it like that. Then let’s talk.
