A few days ago, Russell Crowe found himself in the news for expressing his completely understandable and sensible outrage at the unfolding situation on Manus Island, where hundreds of refugees have been abandoned by the Australian government.
Rusty was so incensed by the treatment of the men on Manus that he tweeted the following:
Manus. A Nations shame. Lives held in limbo . Lives lived in fear & despair . It’s fucking disgraceful
— Russell Crowe (@russellcrowe) November 1, 2017
I’ve thought about this . I believe I could house and find jobs for 6. I’m sure there’d be other Australians who would do the same
— Russell Crowe (@russellcrowe) November 1, 2017
Yep, your mate and mine Russell Crowe seems very seriously to be suggesting that he and other Australians open their homes and their lives to the people our government have treated so heartlessly. It’s enough to bring a tear to your eye – and it is, frankly, a bloody good idea.
Of course, there’s nothing spittle-flecked right-wing pillocks like less than a good idea on how to treat our fellow human beings with a shred of decency, so Our Rusty has been copping a fair bit of flack for his comments.
Most of the pushback appears to be in variations on the theme of “BUT WHAT ABOUT US” – for example:
But never fear: Crowe has some choice words for the naysayers, and he’s not holding back.
Go ahead write stupid articles, send me abuse, call me naive. Doesn’t change that what Australia has done to these men on Manus is appalling
— Russell Crowe (@russellcrowe) November 5, 2017
If one of the men on Manus was your brother, your Uncle, your Father…your son… The world is watching Australia & we look like assholes
— Russell Crowe (@russellcrowe) November 5, 2017
Regardless of the fact that Australia absolutely does have a massive homeless population who are direly in need of support, you just can’t argue with what Russ is saying: unfortunately, our country is capable of acting disgracefully on (at least) two fronts.
The rest of the world absolutely thinks we are assholes, thanks to our appalling treatment of the people who are most in need of our help. I’m with Rusty on this one. Plenty of people have a spare room. Just bring them here.
