Malcolm Turnbull told parliament on Tuesday that the Liberal party had “absolutely zero tolerance for racism”.



Yet when offered an opportunity, the prime minister declined to rebuke his newly minted senator, Jim Molan, for sharing videos from the far-right group Britain First on Facebook.

Molan himself, a former major-general, has categorised Britain First as an “appalling organisation”, but he also hasn’t disavowed the videos he shared before he entered parliament.

So let’s keep this very short and very simple.

When it comes to promoting racial or religious hatred, there are no grey areas, no nuances.

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There is just what is right and what is wrong.



Rather than having this issue every which way, rather than walking every side of the street, rather than playing tiptoe through the tinderbox – people in public office have a responsibility to safeguard social cohesion.

That’s the long and short of it.

There really isn’t a grey area where it’s OK to endorse some propaganda from Britain First but say you don’t like Britain First. You can’t say I don’t like racists and white supremacists and then share their material. These two actions are in irreconcilable conflict with each other.

Talking favourably about someone’s military service record, which was Turnbull’s inclination when pressed about Molan on Tuesday, isn’t at all relevant to the question he was asked.

So yes, Molan shared this material as a private citizen. Yes, the prime minister can’t be held responsible for every Facebook post before members of his government enter public life courtesy of the revolving door created by last year’s dual citizenship imbroglio. Yes, it is difficult not to defend a member of your own team from a Labor attack in question time.

But Molan is no longer an activist, a public commentator on the fringe of a mainstream political movement – he’s a politician, and he will be judged by the standards of a politician.

If Donald Trump can apologise for sharing material from Britain First, then the case really is closed.

When Trump is compelled to say sorry in his own singular fashion, then I’m not quite sure why that is beyond the capability of Molan, and why it is beyond the capacity of Turnbull to send a clear public message that sharing material from groups intent on inflaming racial hatred is not what a member of his government should be doing.