Scott Morrison slams ‘cancel culture’ and accuses Australians of expecting too many handouts

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has slammed modern-day cancel culture and identity politics and also urged people not to expect handouts from the state.

In a speech at a United Israel function on faith and community in Sydney on Thursday night, he said Australians should take responsibility for themselves.

‘Where we once understood our rights in terms of our protections from the state, now it seems these rights are increasingly defined by what we expect from the state,’ he said.

‘As citizens, we cannot allow what we think we are entitled to, to become more important than what we are responsible for as citizens.’

It comes after Mr Morrison urged Australians on the dole to accept a job with 54,000 roles going begging in regional parts of the country. 

The prime minster also took a swipe at social media platforms where he believes people fail to show each other respect and dignity.

‘Seeing the inherent dignity of all human beings is the foundation of morality,’ he said.

‘It makes us more capable of love and compassion, of selflessness and forgiveness.’

Scott Morrison (pictured at a church service) highlighted individual and personal responsibility, its relevance to citizenship and the role of the state in society

Mr Morrison pushed back against social and moral corrosion ’caused by the misuse of social media and the abuse that often occurs there’ – and slammed modern cancel culture which ostracises people with alternative views.

He railed against ‘identity politics’ where a group of people of the same gender, religion, race or social background bands together with a political agenda.

‘We must never surrender the truth that the experience and value of every human being is unique and personal,’ he said.

‘You are more than your gender, your sexuality, your race, your ethnicity, your religion, your language group, your age.

‘All of these contribute to who we are and the incredible diversity of our society, and our place in the world, but of themselves they are not the essence of our humanity.

‘When we reduce ourselves to a collection of attributes, or divide ourselves on this basis, we can lose sight of who we are as individuals — in all our complexity and wholeness. We then define each other by the boxes we tick or don’t tick rather than our qualities, skills and character.’

He added: ‘Because if you see the dignity and worth of another person, another human being, the beating heart in front of you, you’re less likely to disrespect them, insult or show contempt or hatred for them, or seek to cancel them, as is becoming the fashion these days.’ 

Earlier this week, Mr Morrison’s personal faith came under the spotlight when details of a speech he gave to a national Christian conference earlier this month were made public.

The prime minister, a Pentecostal, spoke of social media being used by ‘the evil one’ to undermine society and described identity politics as ‘corrosive’.

He also spoke of doing God’s work and he sometimes used the Evangelical practice of ‘laying on of hands’ while embracing people who had suffered from trauma or natural disaster.