Royal Australian Air Force pilots are taught to think of women and take a 'gender perspective' during bombing operations

This is extreme nonsense. Pilots are assigned a target and it is their job to hit it -- not to philosophize about it

The 'Gender in Air Operations' doctrine informs pilots what they should do before dropping bombs in war zones to ensure women aren't placed in danger.

It gives the example of how destroying a bridge used by enemy troops could force local women to walk further to fetch water or wood.

'Although destroying this target may provide a military advantage against the enemy, the second order effect may mean that, due to the gendered social roles, women need to travel further afield, on unfamiliar and less secure, well-known or well-lit routes to gather water and firewood,' the doctrine said.

The program has been designed to encourage a 'new way of thinking' in which vulnerable woman aren't at an increased risk of violence or threat. 

Australian Peacekeeper and Peacemaker Veterans Association NSW/ACT president Bruce Relph said the program will also protect pilots.  

'This is going to make the pilot hesitate, afraid he might be charged with war crimes, and that puts his life in danger because the enemy will not be hesitating to shoot him down,' he told The Daily Telegraph.

However former army officer Bernard Gaynor said: 'We need our Defence Force to train combat warriors, not social justice warriors. The sooner Defence returns to its core business the better.' 

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Electric vehicles can be risky, just ask Keneally

Bill Shorten’s electric vehicle policy troubleshooter Kristina Keneally knows more than most the dangers of pinning too much hope on the rapid rise of electric cars — her husband Ben Keneally was chief Australian strategist and marketer of failed EV venture Better Place.

The Israeli-founded company, which filed for bankruptcy in 2013, was an early mover in the EV business, developing a battery-charging and switching service that it planned to roll out across Australia.

Mr Keneally worked with the head of the company’s Australian arm, dot.com millionaire and one-time Victorian Labor MP Evan Thornley.

The company was named one of the world’s “top-50 green game-changers” in 2011, with Mr Thornley predicting EVs would arrive in Australia “in mass volumes” by 2012.

The business model was built around cars with interchangeable batteries. Senator Keneally told The Australian yesterday that Better Place had picked the wrong technology. “Better Place promoted battery-swap stations, which people didn’t want,” she said.

“Better Place’s main global competitor, Tesla, and its main Australian competitor, Brisbane-based Tritium, focused on ultra-fast charging stations and are going from strength to strength.”

She said the fast-charging technology that ultimately beat Better Place was “precisely” the technology that Energy Minister Angus Taylor endorsed last year with a $6 million taxpayer-funded investment.

Labor has been under pressure over its pledge last week to set a target for EVs to make up half of all new vehicle sales by 2030, and implement a tough new carbon emissions standard for light vehicles of 105gCO2/km.

Senator Keneally leapt into the role of EV policy defender, getting a Department of Environment official to confirm in Senate estimates committee hearings this week that the government’s carbon abatement policies assume a 25-50 per cent EV uptake by 2030.

She also dug up pictures of Liberal MPs in EVs, and articles by Josh Frydenberg expressing his admiration for the technology. Scott Morrison has claimed Labor’s EV policy would “end the weekend” by pushing Australians out of four-wheel-drive vehicles into cars that couldn’t tow boats or caravans.

“Here he is, Joshy hanging out with some electric vehicles,” Senator Keneally said on Monday, waving a photograph of the Treasurer in an electric car.

Mr Keneally worked for Better Place from 2009 to until March 2013. The company filed for bankruptcy in Israel in May 2013, and was liquidated in November that year.

When Senator Keneally was NSW premier, Better Place was reportedly invited to exclusively bid for a recharging network by the state-owned EnergyAustralia, which ultimately did not proceed.

The then premier said at the time that she absented herself from cabinet discussions whenever electric cars were discussed.

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Morrison: Vegan activists who target the homes of farmers could face a year behind bars

Vegan protesters who target farmers’ homes could face a year in jail under new laws proposed by Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
If re-elected in May, Mr Morrison plans to change the laws to prevent vegan activists from using private information about farmers to harass them.

“They are being targeted in the most mercenary way by an organisation that can only think of itself and not think of the real damage that is being done to the livelihoods of these hardworking Australians,” Mr Morrison told reporters in Launceston on Wednesday.

He promised to introduce laws banning people from inciting criminal activity against farmers, with jail terms up to 12 months.

The Aussie Farms website publishes an interactive map of farms across the country, which the organisation says exposes animal exploitation in a secretive industry.

Vegan protesters on Monday launched a cross-border campaign targeting a busy Melbourne street, plus abattoirs and farms in Victoria, NSW and Queensland. It resulted in scores of arrests, criminal charges and a renewed call for farmers to take action, with the federal government committing to underwrite legal claims.

Privacy laws were changed last Friday to potentially expose Aussie Farms’ website to significant penalties for publishing farmers’ addresses and contact details.

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Shorten to kill 4WD fun: claims PM Morrison

Scott Morrison has accused Bill Shorten of wanting to “end the weekend” by forcing Australians out of 4WDs, as the Opposition Leader sought to clarify his claim that electric vehicles could be charged in eight minutes.

The Prime Minister yesterday pressed his attack on Labor’s electric vehicle policy, declaring Mr Shorten would slash the options available for Australian car buyers, forcing them to “say see you later to the SUV”.

“The cheapest car you can currently buy, as an electric vehicle … including all on-road costs and the rest of it, is about $45,000 to $50,000,” Mr Morrison said in Sydney. “That’s the cheapest car Bill Shorten wants to make available to you to buy in the future, and I’ll tell you what, it’s not going to tow your trailer. It’s not going to tow your boat. It’s not going to get you out to your favourite camping spot with your family.

“Bill Shorten wants to end the weekend when it comes to his policy on electric ­vehicles where you’ve got Australians who love being out there in their four-wheel-drives.’’

But Mr Shorten said yesterday Labor would not dictate to Australians what vehicles they should buy.

“What Labor has said is that by 2030, we would like to see half of new car sales are electric vehicles,” he said.

“That doesn’t mean the government is going to go around in 2030 and confiscate someone’s ute. Let’s skip the scare campaigns.”

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 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