A Liberal MP Deleted His Terrible “Chinese Rocket” Meme When “Left-Wing Tossers” Didn’t Laugh
"Looking forward to Bernie Finn getting a gift voucher for empathy training and a position in cabinet."
Bernie Finn, the dickhead Liberal MP and Victorian Shadow Assistant Minister for Autism responsible for posting an ableist meme last year, is back again with his terrible attempt at a “joke”.
Back in November, Finn was slammed for his cross-eyed meme of Premier Dan Andrews that had the caption: “If 2020 was a person”. When people in the comments questioned whether the meme would “be considered bullying ‘special’ people”, Finn responded that Dan Andrews was “too bloody special!”.
This is disgusting ableism. Bernie Finn is the shadow assistant minister for autism. He should resign or be sacked. pic.twitter.com/ddaCzj3BRw
— Shane Bazzi (@shanebazzi) November 19, 2020
Yet, despite deleting the post after getting slammed for his attempt at making a joke, Finn has decided to post yet another problematic meme. This time, Bernie Finn has focused his attention on the “Chinese rocket” and where — or rather, who — it should fall on.
The “Chinese rocket” Finn is referring to is China’s out-of-control Long March 5B rocket that re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere. With no idea of where the rocket would fall back on Earth, there were fears that the rocket could possibly fall on land, or worse, in a heavily-populated area.
So, on Mother’s Day, Bernie Finn provided four options for where he thought Long March 5B should land: on The Project co-host Waleed Aly, on Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe, on Victorian Premier Dan Andrews, or on the ABC offices. For reference, that is Bernie Finn threatening to blow up either a muslim man, an Aboriginal woman, a politician who is currently recovering from a serious back surgery, or a public broadcaster.
“Question of the day,” Mr Finn posted along with the meme before deleting the photo the next day. “For the benefit of humourless left-wing tossers, this is a joke.”
The thing is @BernieFinnMP that other people go to gaol for a long time for these kinds of ‘jokes’: pic.twitter.com/w2PWSKD1eN
— Alex Bhathal (@alexbhathal) May 9, 2021
While Long March 5B did end up crashing into the Indian Ocean near the Maldives on Sunday, the problematic joke was still slammed by people online for how poor in taste the whole thing was.
Wishing literal death and destruction on others for a “laugh”, when non-white people who make similar threats can go to jail is a real choice. As was choosing to not delete comments that called Lidia Thorpe a “try-hard Aboriginal” or Waleed Aly a “puffer fish with the big mouth”, as 4 Corners reporter Louise Milligan noted. As two notable Australia POC, both Thorpe and Aly have been subject to racist hate and death threats.
Even Victorian Transport Minister Jacinta Allan shared that the Liberal Party, and in particular Liberal Leader Michael O’Brien, needed to get Bernie Finn in line.
“Michael O’Brien needs to put some steel in his spine and stand up and call out this sort of behaviour,” Allan said. “This is outrageous behaviour, it’s not acceptable anywhere and its certainly not acceptable from a member of parliament.”
Der! It’s a JOKE about blowing up an Aboriginal woman, a Muslim man, the bed-bound guy with a broken back and the broadcaster currently focussed on exposing powerful men’s violence against women! HAHA GET IT!? THE FUNNY BIT IS BLOWING THEM UP!!!
Bernie Finn should resign. pic.twitter.com/l5p9cAP7pP
— Sally Rugg (@sallyrugg) May 9, 2021
Kind of a shit joke, to be honest. I understand the effect he’s going for, but there’s no real nuance or ambiguity to create tension which is then relieved by a payoff. It’s just saying, “I don’t like these people. I wish they’d die”
— John Birmingham (@JohnBirmingham) May 9, 2021
Dear Bernie,
We have on several occasions had very productive, professional discussions about autism – given your portfolio & our shared parenthood of ASD boys. That you would *joke* about bombing my place of work, shared with hardworking, diligent, decent journalists, floors me. https://t.co/uQ3x3M4Dym— Louise Milligan (@Milliganreports) May 9, 2021
But sadly, it’s likely that Bernie Finn will remain as MP given his track record and the clear lack of discipline he’s had in the past.
Beyond his problematic meme from last year, Finn has also used Facebook to imply that the Victorian Premier had sex with a goat in a toilet. Beyond his horrific moments on Facebook, Finn also refused to stand for Parliament’s Acknowledgment of Country in 2019 and said that rape victims shouldn’t be allowed to have abortions in 2014.
But hey, I’m sure a bit of empathy training may be on the cards for Bernie Finn sometime soon.
FUCK YEAH LOOKING FORWARD TO BERNIE FINN GETTING A GIFT VOUCHER FOR EMPATHY TRAINING AND A POSITION IN CABINET
— Nadine von Cohen (@nadinevoncohen) May 10, 2021