Identifying the enemy within an old political ruse

Terrorism has allowed Tony Abbott to turn up the rhetoric and commit troops in the fight against Isis in the Middle East.

Having lived in Sydney for a couple of years, I observe Australian politics and social trends with great interest.

The Abbott Government appears to have found fear in their favour.

The Budget saw them recording some of the lowest support numbers in Australian political history with dissatisfaction from nearly every sector with the proposed cuts and direction of economic policy. Friends and foes were united in noting that the Budget would hit the poorest the hardest with the relatively well off and wealthy skating by with little effect on their incomes.

The Budget was announced as the end of the age of entitlement and built on the notion the Australian economy was entering some sort of crisis.

This message was given to Australian voters but curiously absent when Abbott was talking to other countries, adding to the suspicion that the so-called emergency was simply a contrived platform for shifting the boundaries for welfare support.

The entitlement tag was largely mocked by the public as politicians continued to extract every possible perk they could from their positions. Prime Minister Tony Abbott was pinged for using his parliamentary privileges to have taxpayers pay for his flights to a friend's wedding, while the Treasurer, Joe Hockey, was photographed smoking a cigar after reading the Budget, which reinforced the notion the government of self-interest was in full swing.

The Government reeled from the open hostility to the Budget combined with outrage at their inhuman approach to managing asylum seekers. Popularity was at an all-time low.

Attempts to "sell" the Budget were failing as concerns about the effect on the unemployed, students, especially young people, was expressed in protest marches, challenges from economists and a broad sweep of media outlets.

The ABC was castigated by Abbott for being unpatriotic and against rather than for Australia for investigating the policy implications.

Then the cavalry came to the rescue. The Isis attacks in Iraq and horror stories of terrorism and beheadings provided Abbott with an opportunity to turn up the rhetoric and commit Australian troops to the region and stoke fears of home-grown terrorism.

Identifying an enemy within when you are struggling in the polls is a trick as old as history.

There were police raids on suspect Muslim men in Sydney and then an attack by a young man on police in Melbourne in which he was shot and killed that seemed to underline the fears.

The background to this incident will take time to emerge but, in the meantime, the backlash against Muslim communities is in full swing.

I find myself worried for the families of colleagues I worked with who are Australian by birth and Muslim by faith.

The sequence of events seems to so suit the political trajectory of the Abbott Government there is a strong suspicion that - whatever the true nature of events - they are using the opportunity to the max to lift their faltering popularity.

Declaring "war" on terror and announcing the commitment of troops to action in other countries has always played well for weak regimes looking to polish up the shine on fading favour with their people.

If it is, indeed, a political game, it is a dangerous one. Pointing the finger at Muslims as potential terrorists will create fear and loathing that cannot be easily extinguished once the flames have been lit. Already communities in Sydney and Melbourne are being maligned and attacks on Muslim individuals are on the rise.

It might make Abbott appear heroic and tough but the tactic of creating fear will not bring resolution but further heartbreak as it alienates communities from each other.

Terry Sarten is a Whanganui-based writer, musician and social worker - feedback: tgs@inspire.net.nz or www.telsarten.com/