By: Rebecca Caisse
Money Can’t Buy Norfolk Island
Issue: After Trump inquiries about purchasing Greenland, Norfolk Island fears being purchased by Trump and the United States as well. Norfolk officials rush for clarification on whether or not their territory is for sale.
“Following in the footsteps of Prime Ministers and Premiers before him, Morrison has conjured up a plan to sell a public asset for short term financial gain “
Authors of “The Betoota Advocate” Assertiontion’s
According to an article by “The Betoota Advocate,” which also produces podcasts, The Australian Prime Minister is considering selling Norfolk Island for financial gain. This has many citizens of Norfolk Islands concerned about their future. The article includes that Scott Morrison, which was shortened to Sco-Mo, responded to the advocate saying ‘ “I told him that I can do a great deal on Norfolk if he’s still chasing an Island. Greenland’s a miserable cold piece of shit anyway. I explained that I can do mates rates for him on our little slice of heaven.” This gives an implication that the Prime Minister is selfish and is willing to sell the territory for any small financial gain, as he doesn’t recognize the value of the islands nor the inhabitants of the Australian territory.
Fact Checking
Though the website of the article from “The Betoota Advocate” has contact information and social media links with thousands of followers, the language and strange familiarity with the prime minister in which he is referenced as “Sco-Mo”, lead me to question the legitimacy of the article. It took very little outside research to discover, that this article was written as a satirical piece, and hence the claim of Norfolk Island being sold to Donald Trump and the United States is false . Annika Smethurst from Press Reader, confirmed that the website was a “witty spoof”. Yet the satirical piece still generated fear and confusion among the Norfolk region as it was published days after Donald Trump stated his desire to buy Greenland. The Island’s mayor, Robin Adam’s pressed for clarification from the Australian Government and “sought an urgent up-date on whether or not the report was factual.” The Norfolk Island was comforted to learn it was in fact not for sale.
“The Sunday Times understands the Morrison Government reassured the Norfolk Island Regional Council that it was not for sale .”
Conclusion
This is an example, of the power of free press, and the negative impact it can have on the public. Though freedom of speech and expression can be seen as moral necessity, it does not mean it cannot cause harm. There is millions of false statements and claims made across the internet, social media, and journalism, which may cause skewed perceptions, and in this case false fear and confusion. Though the language and tone of the piece can lead one to doubt the accuracy of the information, the idea of Norfolk being bought by Donald Trump, along with Greenland created reasonable panic. The panic started by this article also points to a very real issue of lack of security small island territories have against large developed and highly industrialized nations.
The satirical piece also included a picture of Donald Trump and Scott Morrison together with a thumbs up, which may have further instilled conflict on the validity of the article. The article did not have context on where the picture was taken, however, which also can lead one to question the content of the article.
Money Can't Buy Norfolk Islands 