Telling the truth about Aboriginal family dysfunction is still under attack

The Left have been trying everything to get at Channel 7.  This feeble claim is their latest attempt

Seven West Media is being sued over a controversial segment on its Sunrise breakfast program which aired last year.

In March 2018 Sunrise broadcast a segment on non-Indigenous families caring for Aboriginal children who have been subjected or exposed to abuse, reports the ABC.

Residents from the small Aboriginal community Yirrkala, approximately 700 kilometres east of Darwin, have filed a lawsuit alleging the program defamed 15 applicants by broadcasting slightly blurred background footage of them during the panel discussion.

Lawyer Peter O’Brien said even though a blurring filter had been used, the adults and children were still easily identifiable.

“Our clients are extremely unhappy with being recklessly depicted in such a negative manner,’ said Mr O’Brien, principal solicitor of O’Brien Criminal and Civil Solicitors.

“The plaintiffs assert that the segment about child sexual abuse and the forced removal of children while showing identifiable images of innocent people is defamatory.”

The footage was originally shot with the resident’s permission who understood it was to illustrate a story on a positive health initiative in the small community.

The controversial chat on Channel 7 breakfast show, which was later found to have breached the commercial television industry code of practice, came after children’s minister David Gillespie’s proposal white families should be able to adopt indigenous children to save them from rape, assault and neglect.

Sunrise host Samantha Armytage introduced the segment by saying: “Post-Stolen Generation, there’s been a huge move to leave Aboriginal children where they are, even if they’re being neglected in their own families, wrongly claiming indigenous children could not be fostered by white families.

The segment sparked a massive protest in Martin Place which provides the backdrop for the morning show. But as the crowd grew, producers went to great lengths to hide it from their audience, closing soundproof blinds in the studio and broadcasting stock exterior footage behind the hosts.

In a statement, Mr O’Brien’s law firm said it will be argued in the Federal Court that the context of the commentary resulted in defamatory imputations that the people featured in the footage had been abused, assaulted or neglected children.

“The plaintiffs are Leftist lawyers Aboriginal people from a remote part of Australia, they should not be depicted in this manner in the context of this program, just because they are Aboriginal,” said Mr O’Brien in the statement.

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University cheats in Australia face jail and huge fines

Cheats who take exams or write essays on behalf of university students could be jailed for two years if the Morrison government wins the next election.

Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan is also threatening university cheats with fines of up to $210,000.

Mr Tehan does not want hardworking students to have to compete with swindlers and frauds. "It's simply not good enough," he told reporters in Canberra on Sunday.

"It's not fair for those students who are doing the hard yards, for those students who are doing all the work, for those students who put hours into studying."

The minister is especially wary of highly sophisticated cheating services based offshore.

"If you're a cheating service, understand now you are going to face the full force of the law if you provide those services to students here in Australia," he said.

"For those services based overseas, we are going to use blocking to make sure that they cannot provide those services.

"For those who are here and operating in Australia, understand that we will come after you."

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`Shock, concern' at new laws

Australian media and technology companies say they are shocked and concerned by the federal parliament's bipartisan backing for rushed new laws preventing violent footage appearing on social media platforms.

NewsMediaWorks chief executive, Peter Miller, told The Australian he was very surprised by the "risky" decision to pass the legislation, when the government had been advised by a number of media businesses to "take a deep breath".

"There was so much coverage in the press this morning saying settle down, and they haven't done so. It seems very risky. We'll be talking to our members to understand their position," Mr Miller said.

NewsMediaWorks is the industry body for news publishers, News Corp, Nine and Seven West Media.

The legislation has united small and large publishers in opposition after they were caught up in regulation aimed at the tech titans such as Facebook and Google that live streamed and enabled sharing of footage of the Christchurch massacre with a global audience.

This morning the Sharing of Abhorrent Violent Material bill passed through the House of Representatives with the support of Labor, despite the opposition's legal affairs spokesman Mark Dreyfus noting eight issues with the legislation. The Bill passed the Senate on Wednesday evening.

Free TV chief executive Bridget Fair, who represents commercial free-to-air television broadcasters, said the body remained concerned with the news legislation.

"We would welcome an opportunity to work with the Government to consider these issues in more detail," Ms Fair said.

"There is a fundamental difference between reporting the news and the streaming of unedited live terrorist footage with no editorial decision making process. FreeTV does not believe that criminal sanctions are an appropriate mechanism in relation to public interest news reports by legitimate Australian news providers."

"While we support the intention of the legislation and welcome the Government's measures to limit the exposure of news reporting, we remain concerned by any attempt to criminalise public interest journalism which serves an important role in a healthy democracy," a Nine spokeswoman added.

Chris Wirasinha, co-founder of Pedestrian Group, which runs Pedestrian TV, Business Insider and Gizmodo, said while the move to legislation was a step in the right direction, the rushed approach raised strong concerns.

"The ability for news organisations to publish often difficult or challenging material in the public interest is an important part of the news media's role in society. This effect will be felt particularly strongly by journalists from smaller and independent organisations without access to legal teams," Mr Wirasinha said.

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Second interim report on freedom of religion or belief in Australia

Australia’s laws must change to align with international conventions

The report was tabled today by Chair of the Human Rights Sub-Committee of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, Kevin Andrews.

Mr Andrews says the report makes two recommendations as to how Australia can strengthen its commitment to protecting the human right of all citizens to freely practice their faith, follow the belief system they choose, or choose to have no beliefs at all.

“The right of individuals to believe in, and a society’s tolerance towards, differing religions or beliefs is a fundamental component of any healthy democracy,” Mr Andrews said.

“Striking the balance between these human rights and giving everyone the opportunity to pursue their faith whilst respecting the human rights of others in society is not an easy task for societies to accommodate, but the importance of doing so is self-evident.”

The report recommends that Australian law be reformed to fully align with Articles 18 of both Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Political and Civil Rights and  recommends that the states, territories and Commonwealth governments work together to achieve this.

Mr Kevin Andrews MP (Menzies, Victoria), Chair of the Human Rights Sub-Committee of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade

Contact: Cristy Elliott on (03) 9848 9900 or mobile: 0422 291 454.

 Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).    For a daily critique of Leftist activities,  see DISSECTING LEFTISM.  To keep up with attacks on free speech see Tongue Tied. Also, don't forget your daily roundup  of pro-environment but anti-Greenie  news and commentary at GREENIE WATCH .  Email me  here