Dear Gareth Cliff... - Thought Leader

By Justin Foxton

Thank you for taking the time to write your letter to the government. I am certain it will be forwarded on many thousands of times and the GC brand will be all the stronger for it.

Your transition from voice of 5FM to voice of the people has been fascinating to watch. You always manage to capture the mood of your audience just right, saying what most others are thinking but aren’t able to say for fear of being branded a racist, bigot, politically naïve or simply unhelpful.

But you GC — no, you are different. You are a firebrand; constantly reminding us all of what others need to fix. Thank you for your selfless willingness to do that.

The problem is that this kind of rhetoric doesn’t really help to build the nation does it GC? Yes, it helps to build the smart guy GC brand — but not the nation.

Yes, you are a talented disk spinner with a quick wit and a fiery tongue but you’re not really in the business of helping to nurture this nation to full health are you GC? If you were you would spend some of your time writing open letters to your many fans encouraging them to stop whining, assume their responsibilities and join together as one to work for the creation of a better society for all. Instead you choose simply to replay the tune they want to hear by echoing most other opinion pieces around the country. Regrettably you are guilty of using your voice as nothing more than a tool to further ingratiate your fans to you.

GC, why don’t you rather say some stuff that we don’t already know? That would be really dangerous and edgy. Yes, many of our leaders are hypocrites, philanderers and corrupt. But we all know this — at least the demographic of people who listen to you know this.

Why don’t you remind us that WE create the society we live in and that we will begin to heal as a nation only when we stop talking about “they” and “them” and start referring to “we” and “us”?

Why don’t you advocate for a new type of citizen who takes responsibility at every opportunity, who doggedly works to solve the problems they have in their little corner of our country, and who refuses to indulge in finger pointing and mindless leader bashing. Isn’t it time we grow up? Isn’t it time we stop bawling like little children “it’s their fault! It’s their fault” and start to get accountable ourselves.

I doubt many of your fans put up with sewage running down their streets. Most of them are in the bracket that can really make a difference. But if all they are told by role models like you is that it is someone else’s problem, guess what? Quick as a flash nothing will change in our country.

Please GC — you have a voice. Use it wisely.

Justin Foxton is the founder of the Stop Crime Say Hello initiative.