Australian Politics
Thursday, March 04, 2021
Attorney General Christian Porter innocent until proven guilty
That uncorroborated allegations from a madwoman are being paraded is the real injustice here. They are obviously very distressing to the man
In this country we are still innocent until proven guilty. Porter has not been arrested or charged and that won’t happen. The police have closed the book on a criminal investigation due to insufficient evidence to lay a charge so he will never go to trial.
So does he deserve to lose his job? No. Will there be an inquest? Likely.
Is he still fit for politics and to represent ordinary Australians? Yes, as much as that might pain those wanting justice for a young woman who took her life last year, after she claims he raped her when she was 16 and he was 17 more than 30 years ago.
But will Porter want to continue in public life once he returns from mental health leave? That’s only for him to know.
It’s excruciating to read the complexity of detail and the processes she took to document her version of events.
People want to believe an alleged rape victim, such is the era of seeking justice and righting the wrongs of sex offenders who have got away with it.
It was compelling to watch Porter, his eyes pricked with tears and there was an unmistakeable sheen of stress across his face.
His voice was hoarse and unpredictable in pitch, demonstrating that strained throat feeling when your brain wants to speak but your body wants you to sob.
Dressed in business blue and his top lip tight and rolling inward when exasperation and emotion got the better of him, Australia’s Attorney-General asked us to imagine that the allegations of rape against him were wrong, that they were “just not true”.
He remembers that time 33 years ago as a happy one.
In response to a question asking if the AG needed to be beyond reproach, he said no one was beyond an allegation. And then the most unedifying part: “Just... Can I just, Can I, Can I,” his voice raised, trying to be heard over the press pack.
“If you could just imagine, and I know that we’re all cynics and this is a hard and tough environment, but just imagine for a second that it’s not true, that for whatever the recollection and belief that I’m sure was strongly held, it’s just not true, just imagine it for a second.”
Porter says he is no different from the person doing the job two weeks ago.
No doubt we are in a different time than 33 years ago but we still have a legal process.
**************************************
Millions of Australians now have access to world-first locally made spray that kills Covid-19 in 90 seconds - when the average disinfectant takes 10 minutes or more to do the same job
Millions of Australians will have access to a world-first spray that kills Covid-19 from surfaces in just 90 seconds.
ViroCLEAR - an Australian-made disinfectant approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration - will be made available to 5.5million workers in aged care, schools, universities, pubs and restaurants from Wednesday.
The product, which was developed by BioInnovate, takes less than two minutes to kill the virus from tables, handles and other surfaces, while other sprays take up to 10 minutes to work.
Covid-19 can live on plastic for up to 72 hours, cardboard for up to 24 hours and steel surfaces for up to two days.
'Think about when you go to the supermarket and someone passes you a trolley that has just been wiped down,' BioInnovate Chair Ross Macdougald told news.com.au. 'In reality, Covid-19 can stay on that surface for 10 minutes or longer and so it is highly transmissible.
'The same goes for handles and seats on public transport, university and school desks, communal food halls and on all surfaces in aged care homes, where 683 older vulnerable residents have died.'
Mr Macdougald said ViroCLEAR, which started being produced in Melbourne this week, is the first Covid-19 disinfectant in the world that combines speed, non-toxicity and can be used on surfaces and skin.
The product has been produced as a hand sanitiser and a surface spray for Aussies working on the front line of education, hospitality and healthcare.
At the end of the month everyday Australians will be able to access the disinfectant.
ViroCLEAR will also be rolled out to public transport users later in the year.
BioInnovate expects the product to be exported to the United States, Asia and Europe by mid-2022.
******************************************
First Sikh school hopes to create future leaders
I think highly of Sikhs. They successfully withstood the Muslims for 1,000 years. I personally know Sikhs well and see no danger in them. I actually have had young Sikhs living with me in my house so I put my money where my mouth is
There are no Sikh Jihadis. Like most Indians, Sikhs would rather talk than fight -- and give me Guru Nanak in preference to Mohammed any day. "Sikh" means "student" and Sikh Gurdwaras (temples) are open to all, regardless of religion, background, caste or race.
Sikh customs are all fine and can reasonably be accommodated among us -- because they do not bring hostility towards us with them.
The NSW government has approved construction of the southern hemisphere’s first Sikh school in north-west Sydney, which community leaders hope will nurture future Indian-Australian judges, politicians and sports stars.
Sikh Grammar School in Rouse Hill will welcome students of all backgrounds and denominations, but expects to attract mostly children with an Indian heritage, said Kanwar Jeet, one of the volunteers behind the project.
It will teach students from kindergarten to year 12, and will have boarding facilities, sporting fields, a pre-school and a Sikh temple. It will cost an estimated $200 million, funded by members of the Sikh community.
“It’s going to be a school for everyone,” Mr Jeet said. “But it’s in the vicinity of where a lot of migrants from an Indian background live. It will help give their kids that kind of culture that will inspire them to be the best.”
The school’s website said there were few younger people from the Indian subcontinent in national or state sporting teams, Parliament, media or the legal system. “This school will invest time, attention and money to create leaders of tomorrow,” it said.
The website also said there were more than 100,000 people from south Asia living in Blacktown and its surrounds, and about 50 per cent of them were aged between 25 and 40. Many of those would have school-aged children.
Strong support was demonstrated by the generosity of donations, the website said, which came from not only Australia, but also from the Americas, Asia and Europe.
Mr Jeet said Sikhism had three main principles; hard work, spirituality and service. “Because it’s a school for every religion and every faith, anyone can practice their own religion,” he said. “Sikh values are human values – no discrimination, nor oppressing.”
Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, Rob Stokes, said the school would be built near Tallawong metro station, on the north-west line.
“We have many different types of religion schools across NSW, including those of Christian, Jewish and Muslim faith,” he said. “This will be the first school dedicated to Sikhism teachings and the local Sikh community has been instrumental in making it happen.”
******************************************
Electric cars not selling well in Australia
Lack of encouragement from the government
New figures released today by the Electric Vehicle Council show Australian electric car sales stagnant at a time when the rest of the world is hitting the accelerator hard.
In 2020, there were 6,900 electric cars sold in Australia, a 2.7 per cent increase from the 6,718 sold in 2019. The 2020 figures show electric cars accounting for 0.7 per cent of total Australian car sales.
By comparison, electric vehicles in the EU increased their market share from 3.8 per cent in 2019 to 10.2 per cent in 2020. In the the UK, it was 3.1 per cent in 2019 against 10.7 per cent in 2020. In California, market share went from 7.6 per cent to 8.1 per cent. And in Norway, it rose from 56 per cent in 2019 to 75 per cent in 2020.
Electric Vehicle Council chief executive Behyad Jafari said the baffling Australian anomaly needed to end.
"Australian drivers are ready to join the exciting global electric car transition, but our politicians are yanking the handbrake," Mr Jafari said.
"There's simply no sugarcoating it at this point – Australia has marked itself out as a uniquely hostile market to electric vehicles.
"We have no targets, no significant incentives, no fuel efficiency standards – and in Victoria we even have a new tax on non-emitting vehicles.
"Our governments are apparently doing everything possible to ensure Australia is stalled with its hazards on while the rest of the world zooms into the horizon.
"The good news is that given Australia's abundant natural advantages, it would only take a handful of small changes from government to get us right back on track.
"If we follow the rest of the world and look to accelerate the shift to electric vehicles, we will be rewarded with clean city air, reduced carbon impact, enhanced fuel security, and a renewed manufacturing sector."
Mr Jafari said the Victorian Government's recent move to implement a special "tax on not polluting" was particularly baffling.
"Victoria is now doing what no other jurisdiction on earth does by discouraging people from buying electric vehicles by slugging them with a special tax," Mr Jafari said.
"When this policy idea gets pushed by the oil lobby around the world, they typically get laughed out of the room. Tim Pallas cut them a key to his office.
"The federal government’s inaction is bad, but even they’re not destructive enough to actively discourage electric vehicle uptake with a new tax."
Email. Contact: Behyad Jafari 0431 549 220 / Anil Lambert 0416 426 722
************************************
Also see my other blogs. Main ones below:
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com (TONGUE TIED)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
https://heofen.blogspot.com/ (MY OTHER BLOGS)
***************************************
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Evelyn Rae, a conservative Australian political commentator
Margo Robbie -- a beautiful australian
My son Joe at ANU
One of the happiest pictures ever -- Cleo Smith, aged 4
No comments:
Post a Comment