The Albanese government would like to reframe the national conversation, so the language of politics has shifted. But with great change comes great expectation, and risk, writes mrseankelly
increasingly obvious to everyone. “We’re seeing these events which we call one-in-1000-year flood events or one-in-100-year flood events now becoming one-in-one-year flood events.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese gets a briefing from emergency personnel on the flooding situation in NSW with Premier Dominic Perrottet on Wednesday.particularly in the face of dogged questioning – to state the obvious. This is a fact often missed in the debate, last week, over whether Scott Morrison’s secret, lied-about holiday to Hawaii could be compared to Albanese’s trip to Ukraine. The whole debate was petty, in part because it mostly skipped the context of that debacle.
Changes in language are often fraught; their effects are not straightforward. We lose something, too, when we move away from the now-inaccurate “one-in-100-year” description. We risk normalising disaster, in the way that we have normalised too many other worrying features of our world. But in part because those effects are hard to assess it is usually better to stick with the simple principle of attempting accuracy at every moment.
In general, though, politicians’ language is to be distrusted. It is too carefully constructed: too obviously an attempt to make us think a particular thing, as when the Coalition suddenly began describing asylum seekers as “illegal maritime arrivals”. In the case of the one-in-one-year floods, there is no reason to be suspicious: the evidence is visible.Credit:Two stand out.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Word’s out: Labor’s brave new world comes with its own languageThe Albanese government would like to reframe the national conversation, so the language of politics has shifted. But with great change comes great expectation, and risk.
Read more »
Prepare for brave new world of investingWith a structural change to the economic and financial landscape, the options are hope for clarity, invest into exiting positions or explore the possibilities.
Read more »
‘I was shocked’: Australian sets new national record and long jump world markAustralian long jumper Brooke Buschkuehl has set a new national record with the longest jump in the world this year only days out from the World Championships.
Read more »
‘Opening of a new world’: How international students are helping seniors to log onA program run through UTS is helping both seniors and international students deal with social isolation.
Read more »
James Ellroy: ‘Alcoholics Anonymous was good for hot tub parties in the 70s’The author of LA Confidential and Black Dahlia on falling in love with a murder victim, not owning a computer and his new true-crime podcast series
Read more »
Ireland take historic victory over All Blacks in New ZealandSix years after their first victory over New Zealand in more than a century of trying, Ireland have now won four of the last seven encounters with the three-times world champions.
Read more »