Rann, Ethnic Money and Videotape

As you may have heard Mike Rann was videotaped doing something naughty. I know what you are thinking – here comes the sex-tape scandal we didn´t want to see. No it´s not that – but it is almost as sleazy.

It turns out there is a tape of Mike Rann at the Greek Dimitria festival stating that Macedonia was stealing Greek history and culture and that the Macedonian president was "stirring up trouble". One wonders, how do you steal culture and history; both being mental constructs. Or how are we stirring up trouble in stating who we are? What has Macedonia done to Greece that has caused a loss? Macedonia according to all human rights conventions is totally free to self-determine – but it seems Mike Rann has a problem with this. Maybe in South Australia they have a different reading of the UN Universal Declaration on Civil and Political Rights – particularly Article 1 that guarantees the right to self-determination. The only people who have stated that they have a problem with Macedonians self-determining as Macedonians are the Greek government. So why does Mike Rann have a problem?

Of course we all know Mike Rann. As opinion polls tell us, he is the outgoing premier of South Australia. You´ll also know him as the guy who allegedly bonked a barmaid (who was not his wife) on a public golf course and is now trying to avoid the issue in the run up to an election.

This is the guy who demanded in 1997 that opposing politician Premier Olsen undertake a lie detector test. Now when his own honesty comes under question in relation to the golf course barmaid affair – he decides that lie detectors aren´t that great after all. I thought lie detectors have gotten more reliable over time – not worse.

As most South Australian voters know and have demonstrated in opinion polls the guy is as trustworthy as a used car salesman with a crystal meth habit. So why do we care what he says about Macedonia? Well he is (for at least another month) the premier and some people seem to feel that he should represent his community – all of them – including us Macedonians. Why does a premier make comments against members of his electorate who have done nothing wrong other than be born Macedonian?

Or why on earth does a premier of South Australia need to make comments on an issue that NATO and the EU have stated is a bilateral issue between Macedonia and Greece? I don´t know how a state so relaxed as South Australia could imagine itself as a global player seeking peace in the Balkans. I guess once the UN and G-8 are out of ideas they must come to South Australia for some real advice. Why does Rann feel the need to interject? Where were Rann´s comments on Russia and Georgia? Where was Rann´s insightful commentary in relation to the tension between Columbia and Venezuela? There was none, because Rann is not interested in international affairs; he is only interested in local affairs – no pun intended.

Forget the international politics. Look at where he was. He was at a Greek festival- the Dimitria festival. While it may seem just like an innocent cultural event – look at the organizers - The Pan Macedonian Association of South Australia – part of the Pan Macedonian Federation – who are connected with the Australian Macedonian Advisory Council. Of course the funny thing about these organizations is that they are not Macedonian at all; they are all Greek and if any of them went to Centrelink and asked for a Macedonian booklet they wouldn´t be able to read it. These groups are actually anti-Macedonian. Our existence is, in their eyes, an abomination and a falsehood.

Look at the statements they make online – the ethnic hatred that they posted on their forums. They are more concerned with who we are than who they are. The point is, Rann attended a party set up by an organization that has as its purpose the denial of Macedonian ethnicity. He not only attended the party, he made statements against the Macedonian ethnicity – effectively stating that the only Macedonians are Greek and that non-Greeks are not Macedonian.

Why would he do such a thing? Well this is where the sleaze starts. Whenever Mike Rann is in trouble – who is the first to rush to his aid? Nick Bolkus – a Greek South-Australian who left federal parliament amid allegations of money laundering and deals with criminal figures. Since leaving parliament he has become a lobbyist who collects funds for the Labor Party – all this is public knowledge. Now let´s take a guess which particular ethnic community Nick Bolkus obtains money from?

Nick is a fundraiser, and he is the most effective fundraiser in relation to the Greek community. But fundraising works both ways; If you want someone to get a message in government – you can go through Nick who is a friend of the Premier. In return, Mike Rann tells Greek nationalist organizations like AMAC and friends what they want to hear. They want to hear ethnic denial. They want to hear lack of respect for others human rights. They want to hear that they are right to hate and the premier says so. That is what they pay him for. Once a year, Mike Rann is happy to go do exactly that.

If he were running a radio station he´d be prosecuted like they were in the ´Cash for Comments´ scandal. Mike Rann is making comments in return for donations. The only difference I can see between Mike Rann at the Dimitria Festival and John Laws at 2UE is fewer golden microphones and more roasting goats. We accept it is bad for a radio host to plug products for money without disclosure – what about a politician spouting vitriol against ethnic groups for political donations?

Donations to political parties are a very contentious area and they can damage the way a democratic system works. Respected veteran Australian diplomat John Mendanue stated:

"Corporate donations are a major threat to our political and democratic system, whether it be state governments fawning before property developers, the Prime Minister providing ethanol subsidies to a party donor, or the immigration minister using his visa clientele to tap into ethnic money."

Note the mention of ´Ethnic Money´. If the political donation system in South Australia weren´t so poorly run, which I believe is more to do with what it can hide than anything else, it would show that the South Australian Labour Party plays the ´Ethnic Money´ game heavily. Rann´s comments are a symptom of this.

Playing one ethnic group against another is something that should not happen in Australia. What if Prime Minister Rudd got up in a Pakistani community group and said "Indians are unworthy of their identity – don´t call them Indians" - and we found out that a related minister was soliciting funds from the Pakistani community as a consequence? Wouldn´t we be outraged?

What if Julia Gillard got up in a Somali community organization and said Ethiopians are not worthy of being called Ethiopians; that the Somalis own Ancient Ethiopian history? What if she did that for donations? Wouldn´t that be seen as being inappropriate for a minister?

Why then, do we have Premier Mike Rann getting up in a public event and stating ´Macedonians are not Macedonians?´ He in his role of Premier of South Australia is denying the ethnicity of Macedonians. He is supporting the violation of our human rights as outlined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 1. He is doing this to score points, and donations, from certain elements within the Greek community. Here we have a Premier who is happy to create ethnic division in Australia for his own ends.

I hope other politicians – as it appears is happening – will clean up the mess and let Australians know that ethnic division is not a game tolerated in Australian politics. In relation to Mike - I probably don´t need to convince anybody to vote a particular way – it seems Mike has done that himself. I just hope he retires happily, gets his affairs in order and, like many retired men, finds happiness on the golf course. It is alleged that he knows how to do that.