Essay by Eric Worrall
The Video is Defamatory? – a hilarious political satire video, legal threats, and a thin skinned rich kid with no sense of humour.
Robert Irwin is the son of Steve Irwin, the famous Aussie TV explorer, who sadly died while filming a documentary in an unlikely marine accident.
Robert Irwin is also the face of a recently launched Queensland state government funded tourism campaign. But the uninspiring tourist campaign videos have been completely overshadowed by Pauline Hanson’s satirical poke at the incompetence of Queensland’s radical green state administration.
Instead of laughing it off, Robert Irwin has sent legal threats to Pauline Hanson, leader of One Nation, demanding she take down the video.
One Nation’s Pauline Hanson responds to defamation threat by Robert Irwin
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson responds to Robert Irwin’s threat of defamation over her latest cartoon episode.
Tileah Dobson Cadet Journalist@TD0bbi
June 17, 2024 – 7:15PMPauline Hanson has declared she won’t remove the latest controversial episode of Pauline Hanson’s Please Explain, after Robert Irwin threatened to sue the One Nation leader.
The 20-year-old son of iconic wildlife legend Steve Irwin has claimed a satirical cartoon that features him is defamatory and has requested it be removed.
Senator Hanson shared her response from Gillis Delaney Lawyers, who are acting on her behalf, in a post to X, formerly Twitter.
“I will not be removing the latest episode of Pauline Hanson’s Please Explain,” she wrote on the post.
“I look forward to the day when Robert and I can have a good laugh over this and turn our focus to making Queensland a better state.”
…
“You are potentially liable to our client in respect of defamation, deceptive use of a person’s image, passing off and misleading and deceptive conduct,” the letter states.
…
Read more: https://www.news.com.au/national/queensland/politics/one-nations-pauline-hanson-responds-to-defamation-threat-by-robert-irwin/news-story/c4587b94b2b790750dc6680a14c6a460
“It’s being able to laugh at yourself, it’s being able to go ‘that’s the fluff’ and the opinionated stuff — people will always have their point of view,” Irwin said, during the interview. – Robert Irwin in 2022.
Sky News take on the situation (Sky News is a Murdoch Media outlet, like Fox News in the USA);
Every item raised in the “Please Explain” satire represents a real political issue which affects Queensland or the entire nation of Australia. We really are experiencing substantial destruction of protected habitat to make way for green energy, which has driven some greens to team up with conservatives to put a stop of it. We have controversial beach front native title grants in populated areas, roads full of pot holes, a rental crisis caused by a perfect storm of demographics, unbalanced tenants rights laws, and skyrocketing property values. We have a severely underperforming state health system, and youth crime so out of control alleged vigilantes have started taking to the streets in the worst affected areas. Our state premier also sometimes giggles inappropriately.
Let’s hope Robert Irwin grows up and comes to his senses, and has the guts to acknowledge Pauline Hanson made some valid points in her satire video, before he makes even more of a fool of himself in public.
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I have found with lefties in general, not much sense of humor, they are an up tight lot, frustrated that the world is not one giant Marxist utopia with of course them in charge of all the money, and telling the peasants how to live.
Lefties don’t get the best form of humor –
takin’ the piss.
That’s probably because leftism provides most of the fodder for piss-takes.
Just Curious…
He IS a public figure with his own TV show. What are the rules down under about using a celebrities likeness without their express permission? Is there any??
Dunno.
“Celebrities” usually think “any publicity is good publicity”.
Otherwise, why are they not very discerning about their generally appalling public behaviors and utterances?
You mean Bluey? No word so far.
What a coincidence – this morning I found this video linked on reddit
The babylonbee.com is Funny as Fugg!
Too bad you don’t understand it. But that’s the premise, innit?
In one episode, they interviewed an alien- very funny.
Why are Liberal Mannurysms so explosive??
I found three. Which is the funny one?
Socialists complaining about conservatives making fun of them is an argument against the claim that the left doesn’t have a sense of humor?
Does LoserName’s post count as an own goal?
Socialists complaining about conservatives making fun of them
That’s pretty much the entirety of leftist “comedy”, just reversed. Watch The Daily Show (aptly, TDS) and half of it is “TRUUUUUUMP!!!”.
I suffered through it all the way to the part where he claims that Democrats aren’t “purposefully trying to make crime legal”.
First, that’s a strawman. I get that he’s trying (and failing) to be funny, but a strawman argument is still a logical fallacy, even in comedy.
Neither Gutfeld, nor any other Republican I’m aware of is claiming that the Democrats want to make ALL crime “legal”. They only want to make the crimes that tend to be committed by their constituencies legal: drug abuse, shoplifting, armed robbery, grand theft auto, resisting arrest…things like that.
Of course they’re also trying to make some laws more stringent: you know…the ones that turn law abiding (mostly conservative) citizens into felons for exercising their Second Amendment rights for example.
And the ones that they can use against political opponents like falsifying business records by documenting a payment to a lawyer to cover the expense of a legal document (an NDA) as a (gasp) legal expense. How dare he. And the fact that he might have done so in an effort to try to actually win the election he was running in makes it even more egregious. How DARE he try to actually win the election when running as a Republican. That should be illegal in and of itself, huh?
At any rate, I found the video to be unwatchable. Unfortunately, wildly changing your vocal intonation and making odd faces while flailing your way through several minutes of mental gymnastics to “prove” the point that your adversary was claiming something he so obviously wasn’t claiming is not funny.
You’re way more tolerant and patient than I am. I managed 2:24 minutes.
I agree that he’s hard to watch and not really funny. It was more funny seeing both sides claim on the same day the other one isn’t funny,
Although your take at comedy also fails, because nothing of your initial premise on lawfare and voter demographics is in any kind rooted in reality, or even a hyperbole.
I wasn’t trying to be funny, I was trying to be sarcastic.
Either way, I’d say my premises on lawfare and voter demographics are rooted solidly in reality and were in no way overstated…just done so in a sarcastic manner.
Poor luser, has just proven that ultra-leftist stooges.. have no sense of humour
Massive own goal. !!
One reason lefties/liberals/Democrats aren’t funny is because they move as a pack. You can’t be funny if you’re tiptoeing through every line to see what the reaction is, if people are approving. With humor you need to stand on your own two feet, say your piece boldly, and then sink or swim depending on whether your line succeeds or fails. It’s not important what the reaction is. Just keep moving. But they can’t do that. This video was unwatchable because after he stopped his take on AOC he began that tiptoeing thing. He put nothing of himself into it.
And not be scared of offending anyone.
That is something a leftist simply cannot do. !
Else they get cancelled by their “friends”.
Strange how they still manage to offend people here. Guess some people are so easily offendable, even leftists can’t handle them. ❤
You’re confusing disagreement with offense. Understandable because that’s how the left describes any disagreement with their positions or policies: offensive, “literal violence” (in which, of course, the term “literal” doesn’t literally mean literal…or something), racist, sexist or [fill in the blank]phobic.
When you’ve been browbeaten into believing that any disagreement is offensive, It’s easy to see how that trait would be projected onto others naturally.
I’m not offended by the left’s inane attempts at humor. I just don’t generally find them funny. That’s why I tried to watch the video you posted. I had hopes that he’d actually be able to make me laugh even while poking fun at me. Alas I was sorely disappointed…not offended.
I don’t think this video proves what you think it proves.
I tried but watching this is painful. He’s just too wound up and angry.
“He’s just too wound up and angry.”
He’s a leftist… they have no choice. !
Now we know why your debate team always volunteered to let you debate for the other side.
Reminds me of this joke.
Q: How many radical lesbian feminists does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: That’s not funny.
I’d bet one is electrocuted.
Rumor has it that the trans lesbian was electrocuted!
That’s one way to do it.
A) None, they like keeping people in the dark
Ok, Bryan, that was a good one!
LOL 🙂
Maybe it’s the other way around, they don’t have a sense of humour so they become lefties?
Green activists spread fear with no attempt at justification. They will not discuss the science because they would not understand it and it would undermine their position anyway. This is true of the mainstream in all fields of persuasion from power elites, big business, governments. to those dedicated to World Order. Giving the people the truth is to be avoided at all costs.
Amazing but true- that many of the elites, who should be able to argue their case, can’t. I recall when a Congressional hearing had several EPA officials- none of whom had a clue what % of the atmosphere is CO2. I expect the average man/woman on the street to not know that, but EPA honchos?
We need much more of this. Keep up the satire. They can’t stand it.
Ahhh…. Pauline. She knows how to take satire … this hasn’t been taken down & was released in 1998! Maybe Robert can take a lesson from her & just let it go. For you non-Aussies out there:
As my Stalin t-shirt says …
Communists don’t know how to joke …. ask today’s comedians who claim the Progressives have ruined the art form.
But they know how to make good music 😛
Commie music is the good stuff? How did I miss that?
Not that I have noticed.
MyUsername,
Good music mostly ended about 1900. After then, most composers abandoned the skills to construct proper music such as classical symphonies, which are devices with structure and sense developed over centries to maximise personal enjoyment of music.
Can you name any composer wiriting today who could any where near match (say) Beethoven’s 9th Symphony? Some regard it as the best music so far. We took our weddding music from it, in homage.
Sure, there have been some post-1900 composers, some from Russia, struggling to match but falling a bit short. There are composers of other styles of music such as from the 1930s jazz movement, which was written with some regard to structure, being melodious in a planned way. Listen to Benny Goodman.
As for the dominant music that flows through the airwaves, people will object if I fail to mention the band The Beatles. I have never understood why their music became so popular, because at its core is not much more than some youngsters. largely self-taught, writing words of school level cleverness, sort of the next step up from kindy level but miles from (say) classical. Then we get to rock overall, hip, rap, country, elevator and dozens more of equally inane amateur failures. Take away the over-loud, monotonous drum beat and little remains.
Modern music is harmfing listener pleasure through low skill standards just as climate change science is harming the serious, classical application of proper science that produces advancement.
Geoff S
That’s your take.
When the avant garde destroyed music the Beatles rescued it.
The question is, what is good music, depends on the personal taste…
I guess you’d be a big fan of the didgeridoo, Geoff?
Apparently, didgeridoo ‘melodies’ were crafted some 60,000 years before 1900, and even before Ernie Dingo scripted the “Welcome To Country” ceremony.
Sorry, Geoff, I disagree on the subject of music.
Twentieth century popular music was the result of two developments – radio and recording technology. It’s music made by the people, for the people, especially for young people. You don’t have to have attended a conservatory to make it, and you don’t have to be an intellectual snob to enjoy it. Much of it, you can dance to as well as listen to. And you don’t have to “understand” it or “appreciate it” to enjoy it.
Chuck Berry sang “Hail, hail rock’n’roll, deliver me from the days of old”. Can’t say it much better than that.
The pleasure I feel when I listen to a good rock/pop/folk/alternative song well performed may not have the same self-congratulatory element that you apparently feel when listening to a performance of Beethoven’s work, but it’s real pleasure nonetheless – and it’s multiplied by millions of listeners, purchasers and downloaders. And it can be repeated almost endlessly – I had LPs that wore out from repeated playing on the cheap record players we had in the 1960s and 70s.
I don’t much care for sloppy poppy songs, country music, rap, hip or hop, but there’s plenty that do. I try not to demean them by telling myself they have bad taste. Music exists to entertain, and if a particular style doesn’t entertain you, you can always turn it off.
When asked by the press, The Beatles rated themselves as adequate musicians and explained that people could easily relate to their music. When it comes to music, I’m like a kid in a candy store.
I prefer the early works of The Moody Blues. Classically trained.
Like Ted Nugent?
Even Simon and Garfunkel
They didn’t call him the motor city madman for nothing. But he can play and sing and I liked his music.
Jefferson Airplane and The Eagles are two of my favorites, as well as Miles Davis and John Coltrane, they killed Jazz, nobody else could hit and hold those high notes like they could.
That’s Debatable… But You’re the Master
Luser is saying he luvs Disney themes, and kiddy songs. !
Just for the Luser..
https://youtu.be/DD4_tIFA7gM
Thanks!
2112 “Dedicated to the genius of Ayn Rand”
Sounds like something Michael Mann has done.
And isn’t Robert Irwin a public figure? And Bluey?
Are political cartoons legal in Australia?
(Do they air South Park down there?)
Mann…
You say his name in jest and he’ll have a Manneurysm
A Manneroid?
The laws are different in Australia in which it is easier to prove slander/defamation than here.
easier to prove slander/defamation
“my feelings were hurt”
Activists of what colour ever are victims of up to 5 mental health problems, so they are not able to understand humour.
One of those old lists of advice for living includes: “Avoid zealots. They are generally humorless.”
True then, true now.
The state of Queensland?
Same as the state of the UK (except for the land rights, although some fools have started paying cash reparations).
Satire is the purest form of humor. That’s because it exposes the ridiculous using fantasy as the vehicle.
People who get upset over fantasy are just an added benefit to the genre of satire humor. Its just like the Streisand Effect, be careful what you wish for.
I can do answer that, or rather Jordan Peterson can……. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/LJo5Ginw0Pc
Robert Irwin is dull
Bindi Irwin is hot
I used to watch an animal show that featured both of them and their mother
Bindi was a hot tamale
You need to get new eyes.
Bindi looks nothing like a tamale.. !!
Do you know what a bindi is in ‘Stralian mate?
Streisand effect. Were it not for his histrionics and the controversy prompting you to make this post, I’d likely have never seen the cartoon.
It’s pretty funny. I might have to check out more of her work.
Streisand effect
Speaking of which – she was wailing about something last couple of days, that nobody knew or cared about – until she started wailing about it.
Talk about lacking self-awareness…
In simple terms they talk $hit
And
They don’t like their $hit put back in their own faces
I believe in order to be a leftist you have to have your sense of humor removed. Only then will you be able to properly appreciate the absolutely dire situation that the planet is in, as told to you by your ‘betters’ who you trust unquestioningly.
And the implement of humor removal is, preferably, a dull spork.
They have no sense of humor because they actually believe their activism and alarmism is being taken seriously when deep down they know they’re fighting a losing battle and viewed with derision.
Leftists mostly have no sense of humor. Leftist “comedians” deliver cringe-worthy rants that are anything but funny.
Said by one of my professors when I was in engineering school some years ago:
“A fanatic is someone who knows he is right and who has no sense of humor.”
I am of the opinion that leftism in general is driven by thinly veiled anger, resentment and grievance, emotions not conducive to humor. The best they can do is usually sort of rancid ad hominem or insulting sarcasm— both expressions of hostility. When their sacred cows are made the butt of jokes, they can’t just laugh it off, for it is personal with them.
Your opinions are not unfounded. Left wing political beliefs are strongly influenced by malicious envy, furthermore, left wing authoritarianism is indicative of a “Dark Triad” (or even Dark Tetrad, if you include Sadism) of psychological traits: narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. The recent experience during the COVID period has very clearly shown these traits in many leaders at various levels throughout the world.
Insofar as these traits may also be indicated in “Right Wing Authoritarianism”, it would seem to me that they are more generally indicative of authoritarianism. Where the political ideological terrain is taken to be more nuanced than mere Left-Right allegiance. An additional axis, being Libertarian on one extreme and Authoritarian on the other allows for the identification of left and right wing authoritarian beliefs on a common level.
The existence of a small portion of the population with these Dark Triad/Tetrad psychological traits is a large part of why much of the criminal justice system is needed at all, and why utopian ideals never work. If everyone was honest and just, there would be no need for police or jails and no one would attempt to gain authoritarian control over people, communities or entire countries. But, that is not reality. In reality, there are people who will deceitfully act to gain power and control. One of the biggest failings is for people to assume (or perhaps to be convinced of, by the very same malicious actors) that there really aren’t malicious actors in society, and that everyone is nice (given the right circumstances). This leads people with collectivist tendencies to believe that Communist Utopias are possible, and those with individualist tendencies to believe that Voluntarist Free Communities are possible. In reality, neither are possible, because there are always a small minority who work to gain power and control by any means necessary.
Tyrants cannot stand to be mocked. This makes sense psychologically, as they are driven by malicious envy. Unfortunately Robert Irwin is not even a shadow of his father. He seems to have been guided down a path to install him as a symbolic figurehead to promote the ideology of the regime.
It was funny watching even the main stream media look at this and very quickly conclude that Irwin has no grounds for claiming defamation. He will, however, now find out what the Streisand Effect is.
Another thing to notice is that the backing of terrorists like Hamas seems to be a very far-left virtue-seeking “thing”.
Did you see the video of the Jewish trans person and his treatment at the “Pride” march !!
(can’t find the link, sorry)
They would bite their own leg off if that leg offended them. !
When I saw the video I didn’t understand why it was taking pot shots at Robert Irwin.
A few seconds at the start of the video explaining that he had made videos for the Qld government would make it clear that Robert would be embarrassed by what he had said on the government videos. Make no mistake, the Irwin family are conservationists of the first order.
For those who don’t know, Steve died when a sting ray pierced his heart with its barb. Using the words “marine accident” makes it sounds like a boating excursion gone wrong and doesn’t really convey that fact.
And thin skinned rich kid? I live near Australia Zoo and regularly see Robert, Terri and to a lesser extent Bindi Irwin perform in their crocodile shows. I see no evidence at all of a lack of a sense of humour in any of them.
I think you may have missed the mark here Eric.
Only a d*clhead lawyers up if someone makes a satire video about them. Being able to laugh at important people is part of being free. The day we can’t have a laugh is the day we know society is truly broken.
Which part of what I wrote do you disagree with Eric?
The video took very few “pot shots” at Irwin, other than calling him (and the creators/owners of Bluey) out for shilling for the Queensland government. The vast majority of the video was comprised of satirical criticism of the policies of the current Queensland government using Irwin and Bluey as a vehicle to convey that criticism.
Having watched the cartoon again I am inclined to agree with you.
Oh well, let that be a lesson to me. Never go against the flow on WUWT.
You obviously don’t understand the background. Robert was the face of Queensland tourism and took a lot of money from a failing government to represent a utopia in Queensland. All Queenslanders know this is not true, as the cartoon shows in its satirical way. Australians are banned from visiting certain National Parks, they are clearing picturesque mountain ridges and erecting windfarms in place of trees, hospital wait lists are at an all time high and youth crime (mainly the untouchable indigenous youth) is out of control.
Did I miss the roads? Anyway, the ad is a true picture of the State of Queensland with a few home truths for Mr Irwin. As Hanson said, “lighten up Robert.”
One of the things people frequently don’t understand is that Qld tourism gets very little airtime in Qld. So yes I was unaware of Robert’s work for Qld tourism.
Streisand Effect. Now this video will be seen by millions more internationally.
Where is the Australian commissar of the central department of truth, to demand that video be removed!
Of course, all nutty extreme lefties have no sense of humour. Why with the colonist, white privileged, racist, capitalist, patriarchal, religious, everythingphobic, carbon polluting, misogynist, greedy, climate doomed world about to boil away to a cinder…gee you’d be a misery guts too.