Grattan on Friday: How Two Once Hot-Button Issues This Week Barely Sparked Media and Political Interest

Grattan on Friday: how two once hot-button issues this week barely sparked media and political interest

Two vexed issues – how Australia manages immigration detainees with criminal records, and balancing free speech vs hate speech – once dominated news headlines. Not anymore.

How two once hot-button issues this week barely sparked media and political interest

A deep dive into how old debates on immigration and 18C are stirring political tensions in Australia.

Hot-button issues lose their media heat

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke… skilled at throwing a blanket over contentious areas. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch) Political columnist MICHELLE GRATTAN reflects on how two once hot-button issues this week barely sparked media and political interest. Political and news cycles often work in a certain and predictable way. Issues flare like bushfires, then rage for weeks or even months, until they are finally extinguished by action or fade by being ove…

The issues that once caused political storms barely registered this week

More than a decade ago political passions ran high in conservative circles about the alleged evils of 18C. This week it was only briefly back in the news cycle.