Legal discrimination against heterosexuals now in place in Australia

This is a rather fun ruling. It would seem to open the way for bars in working class areas to exclude homosexuals on similar grounds -- that they make the heterosexual patrons feel uncomfortable. After that, what is to stop homosexuals being sent to the back of the bus? The body responsible for the ruling below is however as bent as a pretzel so any consistency or application of principle cannot be expected from them. They are guided by Leftist politics not law. It is they who prosecuted two Christian pastors for quoting the nasty bits in the Koran!

A MELBOURNE pub catering for gay men has won the right to refuse entry to heterosexuals in a landmark ruling at the state planning tribunal. The owners of Collingwood's Peel Hotel applied to ban straight men and women to try to prevent "sexually based insults and violence" towards its gay patrons. The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal last week granted the pub an exemption to the Equal Opportunity Act, effectively prohibiting entry to non-homosexuals.

VCAT deputy president Cate McKenzie said if heterosexual men and women came into the venue in large groups, their number might be enough to swamp the gay male patrons. "This would undermine or destroy the atmosphere which the company wishes to create," Ms McKenzie said in her findings. "Sometimes heterosexual groups and lesbian groups insult and deride and are even physically violent towards the gay male patrons." Some women even booked hens' nights at the venue using the gay patrons as entertainment, Ms McKenzie said. "To regard the gay male patrons of the venue as providing an entertainment or spectacle to be stared at, as one would at an animal at a zoo, devalues and dehumanises them," she said. "(This exemption) seeks to give gay men a space in which they may, without inhibition, meet, socialise and express physical attraction to each other in a non-threatening atmosphere."

The Peel manager Tom McFeely [McFeely -- interesting name for a homosexual!] told the tribunal the plan to refuse entry had been advertised at the hotel, with no objections received. Mr McFeely said most of the regulars at the hotel had responded positively.

A spokeswoman for the Victorian Gay and Lesbian Lobby Group said she believed the ruling made the Peel one of only two men-only venues in Melbourne. "This exemption was not sought to exclude members of the community but to try to maintain a safe space for men to meet," the spokeswoman said. She said gay men at the Peel had recently been ostracised and made to feel like "zoo animals". "It's sad that members of our community would have to go to the VCAT to preserve their rights," the spokeswoman said. "This is one of the only free venues with live music in the area, so certainly some people may feel a bit unhappy about the decision."

The Peel attracted criticism in April over an ad for a gay Anzac Day party that showed a near-naked man in a slouch hat. The hotel used a Shrine of Remembrance guard as the unwitting star of an ad for an Anzac Day eve bash. The ad was published in gay magazines and on the venue's website. It was withdrawn after intense criticism from the Victorian RSL, which called it a "desecration of the Anzac spirit".

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Multiculturalism entrenched discrimination for Australia's blacks

In 1967, a constitutional referendum gave Aborigines full Australian citizenship -- a bit like America's civil rights act of the same era



THE 1967 referendum, rather than propelling Aborigines into the national mainstream, was followed by an apartheid-like regime in which Aborigines descended into a world of poverty, illiteracy and violence, according to economist Helen Hughes. In a new book, Lands of Shame, Hughes, a former senior director of the economic analysis department at the World Bank and senior fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies in Sydney, argues that after 1967, two main approaches towards Aboriginal people were emerging, one liberal and the other socialist.

"Those liberally minded considered that with the referendum's end to legislated exceptionalism, Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders would be able to integrate into the economic mainstream," she writes. "It was thought that Aboriginal lives would be enriched by participating in the technological and social advances that led to high living standards." Values such as individual freedom and equality between men and women were evolving. Immigration was leading to an ethnically plural society with a reduction in racial discrimination. Aboriginal art, dance and music were being embraced in a broader Australian culture, enabling indigenous traditions to flourish. "Thus it was thought that Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders would not only be able to look back to enjoy their traditions and links with the country, but also look forward to participating in the life of reason that would free them from sorcery and fear of spirits."

Instead, she writes, the Whitlam and Fraser governments steered Aborigines towards the socialist "homeland" model championed by former Reserve Bank governor HC "Nugget" Coombs that wove together anthropology and Marxism. Rather than ending discrimination, it would be "the culmination of 200 years of exceptionalist and separatist indigenous policies". Former prime minister Malcolm Fraser said last night it was "totally and absolutely absurd" to suggest his government allowed a form of apartheid to develop. He said his government had tried to "respect and understand the difference" between indigenous and non-indigenous people.

One of the leaders of the referendum campaign, Faith Bandler, said she had "tended to support" the Coombs approach, but generations of social engineering by governments had rarely taken account of Aboriginal opinion. "It's difficult for one group of people, whose skin is white, to plan and make decisions for another group, whose skin happens to be black," she said.

But confronting critics, including Mr Fraser, who say policies of assimilation and integration from the 1930s to the 1970s not only failed but contributed to the destruction of Aboriginal families, Hughes writes: "It is not true that various policies have been tried and have failed. Policies have always been discriminatory, treating Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders differently from other Australians. "Sadly, the most damaging discrimination in Australia's history has been the exceptionalism of the last 30 years that was intended to make up for past mistreatment."

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Kidney disease treatment shame

MORE than 200 kidney patients die needlessly every year because of Queensland's "appalling" public health system, according to a leading kidney specialist. David Johnson has revealed that a "woeful" lack of doctors, equipment and understanding of the disease means patients are not getting the treatment they need to stay alive. He said some patients with chronic kidney disease were receiving dialysis only once a week rather than the recommended three five-hour sessions. Without regular dialysis to remove toxins and excess water from the blood, there is an increased risk of complications developing such as anaemia and high blood pressure. As waste products are allowed to build up, the patients can die sooner than they might have.

The latest figures reveal 224 Queenslanders die every year while on dialysis and nine out of 10 die before they even get that treatment. About 1500 are having dialysis and 139 are waiting for a transplant. Professor Johnson spoke out as chairman of Kidney Check Australia Taskforce, a group set up to lobby governments to provide better services. He is also director of kidney treatment and chairman of medicine at the Princess Alexandra Hospital, which treats a third of the state's kidney patients.

"The situation in Queensland is appalling and far worse than the rest of Australia," he said. "We have one specialist per 150,000 patients and we should have one per 80,000. "The lack of workforce and funding is just woeful." Prof Johnson said the lack of dialysis machines also meant many patients were being sent to hospitals up to 100km away from home for treatment, and others are waiting more than a year to see a consultant.

His comments come on the eve of Kidney Awareness Week, as the charity Kidney Health Australia warns the country is losing the battle against kidney disease. Deaths from kidney failure have doubled in 20 years and Australia's health bill for treating the disease is growing by $1 million a week. In Queensland, the number of patients on dialysis is increasing by 8 per cent every year and doctors believe rising rates of obesity, diabetes and the ageing population are to blame. Kidney disease is the "silent killer" - 16 per cent of the population do not even realise they have it until their condition deteriorates.

Tim Mathew, medical director at Kidney Health Australia, is calling for an early GP screening program, targeting people considered most likely to develop the disease, such as the obese, people with diabetes, or a family history of kidney problems. "We basically need to get the Federal Government's support for some active kidney programs to chase the disease," Dr Mathew said. "We also need to educate GPs. "Generally, they don't know enough about it, or if they do they are not confident to know what to do about it."

A Queensland Health spokesman said the department was working to boost dialysis services to cope with the demand, and will be opening a new 12-chair dialysis unit at Redlands Hospital.

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Does the Green/Left government of NSW REALLY want to get people out of their cars and into trains?

They seem to be doing their best to discourage it. Indian conditions next?



UP to 89 commuters in every carriage are being forced to stand on peak-hour CityRail services as higher petrol prices and improved reliability push up passenger numbers. CityRail's secret official figures on overcrowding show the Western Line had some evening services carrying 180 per cent of their maximum seating capacity in March, up 40 per cent in one year. With a Tangara seating 112 people, a 180 per cent maximum load equates to 89 people being forced to stand for at least part of their journey. The Northern Line was also carrying a maximum 180 per cent (up 30 per cent), the Southern Line a maximum 170 per cent (up 20 per cent) and the North Shore Line a maximum 160 per cent (up 20 per cent).

The growth in overcrowding, revealed in documents obtained under Freedom of Information, came as RailCorp released other figures confirming a strong growth in patronage for the same period. Passenger trips overall grew by 3 per cent in just 12 months to 279.5 million journeys between March 2006 and March 2007. But the increase was even more marked on particular lines with the busy Western Line up 5 per cent, or 1.6 million journeys. The East Hills Line was up 5.1 per cent and the Main North Line up 4.2 per cent.

A RailCorp spokesman said the increase in passenger numbers was putting pressure on the network but there was more additional capacity coming on-line. "Like every metro rail system in the world our passengers will still experience some congestion on busy services during peak times," he said.

The increased patronage could be contributed to the "significant gains in reliability" since the introduction of the newer, slower timetable three years ago, he said. "It could also be expected that higher fuel prices have meant more people are leaving the car at home and taking public transport," the spokesman said. RailCorp said the introduction of 144 new Oscar-class carriages on outer urban services would progressively free up more Tangaras to run on busy suburban lines, increasing seating capacities in peak hours. A further 626 new suburban carriages are to be built under a public-private sector partnership.

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NSW: The decay of school discipline shows

DESPERATE teachers abused and attacked by students, other school staff and also community members in New South Wales have been forced to take out apprehended violence orders on more than 40 occasions. The protection orders have been sought as principals and teachers are assaulted, stalked, harassed and have their property damaged in schools. The revelations come after a string of incidents in schools across the state last week, including a 12-year-old boy who allegedly threatened a teacher with a replica pistol.

While the Iemma Government claims the number of AVOs taken out by teachers is falling, The Daily Telegraph can reveal some staff still feel so helpless in the face of their attackers that they seek outside help. Data on AVOs over three years to mid-2006 show a range of psychological and physical attacks on teaching staff in both primary and secondary schools. The figures have been obtained by The Daily Telegraph under Freedom of Information as five schools battle a wave of serious threats against students and teachers.

Students, ex-students, parents and community members are shown in AVO documents to have launched assaults or threats against school staff. In one terrifying incident, three high school teachers were forced to take out a restraining order against a former student who used a baseball bat to smash his way into an office. Last year police took out an interim AVO against a student, 16, suspended and charged with attempting to throttle his female teacher, 24. The woman was treated in hospital for severe swelling and bruising to her neck, chest and right hand.

A letter from deputy director-general (schools) Trevor Fletcher went out on Friday to all schools warning criminal behaviour could attract severe penalties including jail. He urged students to report any criminal behaviour they see or know is being planned. "Just because you are a school student does not mean you cannot be held responsible for a crime," Mr Fletcher told pupils. "Nor does the fact that you are playing a prank or a trick. You can still be punished as a criminal. "You should not see reporting a crime as dobbing in a mate - such action may in fact save someone's life or prevent serious injury or damage from occurring."

Opposition education spokesman Andrew Stoner called for more professional counsellors in schools because children with mental disorders were "slipping through the cracks". "We have seen the tragic effects of violent incidents involving school students in the US," he said. "NSW public schools are ill-equipped to deal with this."

The Education Department claims stiffer penalties for crimes in schools, tighter security and quick removal of serious troublemakers have contributed to the decline in AVOs sought by teachers. Education Minister John Della Bosca said good communication between students and staff in the incident at Crookwell High School - where shooting threats were made - enabled police to take swift action and ensure safety. "Schools work closely with police and parents when these type of incidents occur," he said.

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