Shameful saga of hate

L AST week, we mourned the gallant Sea King dead -- the nine members of our defence forces who died bringing aid to Indonesians.

Tonight, the Melbourne Theatre Company pays its own tribute to our military -- a play that shows them murdering asylum-seekers. Yes, while the rest of us debate what medals to give our dead soldiers, sailors and airmen, the MTC accuses them and their comrades of being so evil that they deliberately left women and children to drown.

And you subsidised this vomit of smug hate.

If you still need proof of how far up its own fundament our artists have crawled, go to tonight's premiere of Hannie Rayson's play, Two Brothers.

You must excuse my crudity, though Rayson should be the last to complain. After all, see how cruelly and hysterically she smears our defence personnel, and anyone who even votes Liberal.

God, to think such stuff passes now for art.

Rayson says she "was inspired by the Costellos", federal Treasurer Peter and his brother, World Vision leader Tim, with very different political views.

So her play has two brothers -- an evil government minister and a nice charity boss -- clashing over a boat, which sinks at sea, drowning hundreds of illegal immigrants.

Not that her characters are really the Costellos, Rayson insists. No, no, no -- "the brothers (in the play) have a much more dramatic relationship".

I bet, given that her version of Peter Costello -- played by Garry McDonald, who boasts of trying to master the "Costello smirk" -- is a liar, bully and killer, as well as the father of a junkie and husband of a snob. Well, he's a Liberal, isn't he?

The show's lost boat is meant to be the notorious SIEV X, which sank off Indonesia in October 2001, killing 353 illegal immigrants.

Rayson has called for an inquiry into that tragedy, and her play endorses the vile conspiracy theory that SIEV X sank as our sailors watched from a patrolling naval ship, refusing to save the drowning.

That's right. Rayson can really imagine our sailors would let drowning children die, to please racist politicians back home.

Shame on the preview audience, which applauded such a cruel fantasy as "realistic". Shame on Rayson for painting as murderers the men and women who risk their lives to serve their own country, and to save the stricken of Indonesia.

bolta@heraldsun.com.au

PS: Hannie, how witty to also ping a writer called "Andrew Blot". It's the mark of a great artist to coin such a sophisticated gibe. Indeed, our playgrounds are full of them.