Countries line up to criticise Australia
Geneva: Oh, the irony. Oh, the hypocrisy.
To be lectured by North Korea, Iran and China on our human rights abuses.
Honestly?
For precisely one minute and five seconds each, over a couple of hours, nation after nation "had a go" in the United Nations Palais des Nations in Geneva. 
Many had something to say about our asylum-seeker policies. And they weren't happy.
Many friends as well as foes, and those in between, have asked us to look again at our migration policy.
The easy response is simply to point the finger right back.
Who is North Korea to lecture us on the "violation of human rights of the Indigenous people"?
What right does Egypt have to insist on "serious and prompt attention" to reports of racial discrimination and violence?
Is there any reason we should waste breath responding to Russia's concern that we have an "unsatisfactory situation" in terms of intolerance?
Even the US - we should "ensure humane treatment and respect" for asylum seekers? OK, how about we do that when you get rid of the death penalty?
The UPR (Universal Periodic Review), a kind of "360-degree" performance review at the United Nations Human Rights Council, is a relatively new idea.
More than 100 countries gave recommendations on how Australia should improve its human rights record. Photo: Nick Miller
Previously, countries could escape criticism through loopholes in UN procedures.
This new system is designed to bypass that.
Everyone gets a turn in the hot seat. Everyone faces the music, and everyone gets to blow the whistle.
Countries are encouraged to speak out on what's good, what's bad, what can be done better.
Hypocrisy is an inevitable byproduct.
And we've been fine-tuned to detect hypocrisy (mea culpa, the media love to attack hypocrisy).
But just because you're a hypocrite, doesn't mean you're wrong.
Just because a hypocrite is pointing the finger at us, doesn't mean we're entitled to stick our fingers in our ears.
If a murderer tells us not to beat our children, he's a hypocrite. That doesn't mean we can beat our children.
Hypocrisy is overrated. All it really tells us is that no one is perfect. But that's no reason to embrace the gutter.
We should judge the criticisms of other nations on their substance, not the critics' "previous". 
Or we'd be hypocrites ourselves, for ever attempting to make the outside world a better place before making our own backyard immaculate.
Anyway, it wasn't just the world's "must try harders" who had something to say about Australia's human rights record.
The Scandinavians had some requests, and the Europeans.
Australia wants to be on the UN Human Rights Council. We clearly respect the institution. We have accepted these voices are worth hearing.
If we are to reject its recommendations, we should have good reasons why.
And "Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye" is not a good reason.
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