Australian Politics
Tuesday, March 09, 2021
Christian Porter: Rape claim would have struggled ‘even with the woman’, says NSW Police Commissioner
She appears to have undergone recovered memory therapy, which is notorious for implanting false memories that are sincerely believed. The denial below is simply an assertion with no evidence offered
The NSW Police Commissioner said a historic rape claim against Christian Porter may not have proceeded even if the woman was alive.
The NSW Police Commissioner said a historical rape claim against Attorney-General Christian Porter may not have proceeded even if the woman was alive.
NSW Police closed the investigation stating that there was insufficient evidence to proceed, and there are no witnesses who can corroborate the woman’s version of events.
Hours before her death, the alleged victim also withdrew her statement to police.
Amid rising pressure for an independent inquiry into the allegation, the force’s commissioner Mick Fuller said today that the case would have struggled to get to court.
“It is not impossible but almost impossible to proceed with a matter like this without the (alleged) victim,” Mr Fuller told 2GB radio.
“The matter itself, even with the (alleged) victim, probably would’ve struggled to get before a court. These are challenging matters, particularly when they’re historic.”
Meanwhile, it has been revealed the woman who claimed she was raped by Mr Porter spoke of it eight years ago in a therapy session with a sexual assault counsellor.
Four Corners will reveal tonight that the woman first sought help from the counsellor in about 2013 and saw her six times.
The Attorney-General vehemently denies the woman’s claims a rape occurred in 1988 after she and Mr Porter had been out in Sydney.
The counsellor told Four Corners the woman spoke of a boy called Christian that she had been debating with.
She said she was “extremely articulate”, “not delusional”, and volunteered the allegation of her own volition – blowing open the idea, that has been reported over the weekend, that she somehow “recovered” her memory of the attack by visiting a controversial Sydney psychologist.
Mr Porter last week addressed the media to strenuously deny all allegations against him, saying “it just didn’t happen”.
“I was 17 years old and the other person was 16. We were both selected, with two others, on the Australian Schools Debating Team and we went to Sydney University for an international competition. It was a long time ago and I’d always remembered it as a happy time,” Mr Porter told reporters last week.
“But I can say categorically that what has been put in various forms and allegations simply did not happen.”
The psychiatric history of the Adelaide woman and two factual errors in her statement have prompted speculation that she may have used repressed memory theory to access her trauma.
However, the counsellor who spoke to Four Corners, said the woman didn’t need to “recover” her memories. “She told me she had always remembered it,” the counsellor said. [She would, wouldn't she?]
She also told the show the woman was torn about pursuing the matter knowing it could ruin the man’s life.
The woman made a report to the police in 2019, however did not complete her formal statement before dying by suicide in Adelaide in June 2020.
The Prime Minister said on Friday that a coronial inquest was a matter for SA authorities.
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Australians aren’t keen on electric cars according to survey
A new survey from global auditing and accountancy firm Deloitte shows Aussies have little desire to go electric.
Out of more than 1000 local buyers surveyed only 4 per cent said they would be looking for a fully-electric vehicle as their next purchase.
That compared with 70 per cent who would be looking for a conventional petrol or diesel vehicle and 18 per cent who would be looking for a hybrid vehicle.
In the first two months of this year electric cars made up just 0.3 per cent of new car sales, according to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.
That figure doesn’t include Tesla sales, as the US maker refuses to report sales numbers to the industry body.
At the moment, Nissan, MG and Hyundai are the only mainstream brands to offer an electric car, although Mitsubishi has a plug-in hybrid. Kia and Mazda both plan to launch EVs soon and Ford has a plug-in planned for later in the year.
Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, Audi and BMW all have electric vehicles on sale, but sales are slow.
Deloitte’s research shows just how much of an uphill battle it will be to make the new tech popular in Australia.
Several issues were identified, including the price premium and the lack of charging infrastructure.
Currently the cheapest electric car on sale is the Chinese-built MG ZS EV small SUV priced at $43,990 drive-away. This undercuts the competition by almost $10,000, but is still expensive at $11,500 more expensive than the priciest petrol-powered MG ZS.
The most expensive is the new Porsche Taycan Turbo S at $366,000 drive-away.
Charging infrastructure isn’t widely available in Australia and can be expensive.
Late in 2020 Tesla raised the price of its Supercharger network by 24 per cent. The price hike meant it’s more expensive to fast-charge Teslas than to refill some petrol-powered rivals.
Analysis by electric car experts at EVCentral.com.au shows it would cost $9.78 per 100km to run a Tesla Model 3 if it was charged exclusively on the brand’s Supercharger network.
This compares poorly to petrol powered machines such as the BMW 330i at $8.00 per 100km and the hybrid-powered Lexus IS350h at $6.76.
Earlier this year the global boss of Jeep, Cristian Meunier, revealed to New Corp Australia why he thinks Aussies aren’t ready for electric vehicles.
Meunier said selling fully electric cars would be a challenge in Australia because of a lack of investment and incentives from the government. He said the Australian government needed to help stimulate the investment and building of charging stations and electric car infrastructure before the brand could successfully sell an EV down under.
“The governments are essential for the technology to accelerate and for these new technologies to become more mainstream. We can see that in Europe and markets like California,” said Meunier.
“Australia today is definitely not ready for BEV (Battery Electric Vehicles) because of the lack of infrastructure. And there is no point trying to push something without the help of the government.
Lee Peters, the co-head of Deloitte Australia’s automotive, believes that the initial spark has been ignited in Australia for electric vehicles but buyers need greater reassurance on these issues to fan the flame.
“Awareness among Australian consumers of, and interest in, all-electric, or at the very least hybrid, is certainly there, and is growing.” says Peters.
“In a country where we often need to travel long distances, we shouldn’t be surprised that issues such as range, price and charging opportunities are front of mind, and influencing purchasing choices to largely stay with the technology we all know.”
The survey also revealed online sales of new cars was likely to remain subdued as buyers still preferred the face-to-face experience, with eight out of 10 people expecting to head to a dealership to buy their next vehicle.
Deloitte Australia’s co-head of automotive. Dale McCauley, believes that unlike other retail sectors, purchasing a new car is largely expected to remain in-person for some time.
“Certain aspects of the buying process remain difficult to digitise, so the in-person experience will remain with us for some time. People still want to see, touch, and smell, and drive a vehicle before they buy it,” says McCauley.
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‘Lady tradies’ ‘depressing’ tales of sexism and harassment
It was designed to get more women into traditionally male-dominated industries, but the push for more female tradies has had unintended consequences, as Leftist policies usually do
Tradies can be a rough lot so expecting them to treat women sensitively is pissing into the wind
The Careers Department Co-Founder Samantha Devlin says there is still a reluctance for female students to take on careers in male-dominated fields such as Technology and Construction.
Women are being encouraged to enter male-dominated trades, only to face sexism on a depressingly regular basis, warns an employment lawyer for a major compensation firm.
While industry campaigns have spent years enticing “lady tradies” to pick up the tools in a male-dominated trade, sexual harassment and discrimination are too often the ugly reality of workplaces who pay lip service to boosting diversity while failing to “meaningfully confront” the power imbalance faced by women on the job, warns Maurice Blackburn principal Giri Sivaraman.
Mr Sivaraman, who heads the firm’s employment law division in Brisbane, said the reality undermined glossy industry campaigns to promote gender diversity in male-dominated workplaces, and was exposing bosses to the risk of costly legal action for discrimination.
“Sexual harassment and discrimination continue to occur on a depressingly regular basis because of structures of power that allow it to occur,” he said.
“It’s not enough to just pay lip service to the rights of women in the workplace.
“You have to address the structural issues that lead to gender inequity.
“It’s vital that women feel they can speak up about discrimination and harassment without fear of victimisation.”
Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union executive director Ann-Marie Allan has called on the Queensland Government to quickly push ahead with a compulsory code of conduct for workplaces with financial penalties – currently being drafted by the state.
She said she hoped it would help end the “shocking” behaviour toward apprentices generally, saying the argument it was the same “initiation” experienced by the apprentices’ now-bosses no longer flew as an excuse for the “atrocious” bullying and intimidation the vulnerable workers faced.
“Just because it went on when you were an apprentice doesn’t mean it should flow on to the 21st century,” she said.
The comments come as discrimination accusations are levelled against two major employers – Iveco Trucks, the Australian arm of the multinational industrial vehicle manufacturer, and the training arm of peak employer body Ai Group – by a young female apprentice mechanic from Queensland.
The woman, who has asked not to be identified, has penned an angry letter to the companies’ senior executives detailing claims she was sacked after reporting inappropriate behaviour by her superiors.
Sarah (not her real name) has spoken about her experience to the newspaper, telling how she was forced to complete stereotypically female jobs such as cleaning and filing paperwork over other male apprentices, had her biceps squeezed by a manager to check how strong she was, questioned whether she was pregnant, asked if she was in a relationship and hugged tightly by a manager after becoming upset about criticism she was too reserved.
Documents show Sarah was signed up to a four-year heavy commercial vehicle mechanical technology apprenticeship last year by Ai Group Apprentice and Trainee Centre at host workplace Iveco Trucks Australia.
‘Lady tradies’ have encountered resistance from some workmates.
‘Lady tradies’ have encountered resistance from some workmates.
She said she thought it was bizarre when an Iveco employee put her on the spot during her initial job interview by saying: “I shouldn’t be asking this, but what is your relationship status and age?”
Sarah said she was the only woman working in Iveco’s workshop, and was picked out over the other male apprentices for tasks such as filing and cleaning.
“I was told to clean like you’re cleaning your mother’s loungeroom,” she said.
She said she had overtightened the threading on a handbrake cable one day when a male manager squeezed her bicep, saying, with a straight face, he just wanted to see how strong she was.
Sarah claims he repeated the action on another occasion, suggesting she go to the gym. “I was a bit confused about what was going on,” she said.
Weeks into the apprenticeship, she claims a manager told her he wanted to take her out and get her drunk so she would more openly communicate.
She said she was also told she stood back with her arms crossed too much when she asked for feedback, then told to “man up” after becoming upset and told to sit in the training room.
Sarah said a manager then stood in the doorway of the training room and hugged her tightly.
“At the time I was definitely not OK with being hugged, and found the behaviour inappropriate for a workplace,” she said.
She said she reported her claims of inappropriate conduct to Ai Group, but was forced to attend meetings, including with a manager subject to the accusations, before the concerns were dismissed.
Sarah said she felt traumatised during the meeting and mentioned she had anxiety, which was then used to discredit her concerns.
She claims she was terminated by Ai Group days later, while she was still on probation, on the grounds she had anxiety, was distracted from the job and could present a workplace safety risk.
An Ai Group spokesman refused to respond to a detailed list of questions from the newspaper, saying: “We don’t comment on personal staffing matters.” Iveco also refused to comment.
Minister for Women Shannon Fentiman said in the past year there had been a 13 per cent rise in female automotive apprentices, and a 22 per cent rise in female engineering apprentices.
She said while it was great to see, it was important women, particularly young women, were encouraged and supported to bring about a cultural shift to safer and more inclusive workplaces.
Mr Sivaraman said basic measures including not forcing a woman to confront an alleged perpetrator, providing psychological support for the woman, having matters investigated externally, making sure the complainant had someone they could speak comfortably with and making it clear there was to be no victimisation of a person speaking up.
He said sacking someone because they have raised a mental health condition could become a discrimination or unfair dismissal issue.
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US campaign to ban kangaroo imports gains bipartisan support
Kangaroos are a pest species in much of Australia. There is nothing remotely "endangered" about them
The Australian embassy in Washington is pushing back against a bipartisan effort by American legislators and animal rights groups to ban the importation of all kangaroo products into the United States.
A Democratic congressman from California, Salud Carbajal and his Republican counterpart Brian Fitzpatrick from Pennsylvania last month introduced a bill into the US House of Representatives that would impose steep penalties on anyone importing kangaroo leather or meat into the US.
The coalition of animal rights groups behind the bill is running a sophisticated campaign called “kangaroos are not shoes” that features graphic images of dead kangaroos and joeys.
The group’s website, which encourages Americans to contact their local representatives about the issue, describes Australia’s kangaroo cull as the “largest land-based commercial wildlife slaughter in the world, ten times larger and far bloodier than the notorious seal slaughter in Canada”.
The website asks why two million kangaroos are being killed each year in Australia when other countries protect native icons such as the North American bald eagle, the New Zealand kiwi bird and the Chinese panda.
If passed into law, the legislation would be a massive blow to the Australian kangaroo industry given exports to the US are worth an estimated $80 million a year, making it the industry’s second-biggest export market after the European Union.
The primary aim of the Kangaroo Protection Act is to stop major brands such as Nike, Adidas and Puma from using kangaroo leather in their soccer shoes and bicycle cleats.
The bill has forced Australian officials in Washington to counter commonly-held views, including that kangaroo harvesters are targeting a “cute and cuddly” endangered species.
“When we heard this bill had been introduced we moved quickly because we wanted to make sure that lawmakers understood the basis on which the commercial kangaroo industry operates in Australia,” US ambassador Arthur Sinodinos said.
“It’s about providing context and information to dispel some misconceptions that are out there.”
Wayne Pacelle, the president of Animal Wellness Action, one of the groups lobbying for the bill, said he decided to launch the campaign after the death of thousands of kangaroos and other marsupials during the Australian bushfires of late 2019 and early 2020.
“People outside Australia consider kangaroos to be one of the primary icons and symbols of that continent so there’s an instinctive reaction when they hear that two million kangaroos are killed for their parts,” he said. “They are stunned.”
Pacelle said: “I believe we stand a very good chance of getting this passed.
“The animal welfare lobby in the US has passed a lot of major legislation, and there’s no domestic constituency for this enterprise. It’s an easy vote for Democrats certainly, and also for Republicans to show they are animal-welfare friendly.”
Selling kangaroo products conflicts with the long-standing US norm that only farmed animals - rather than those killed in the wild - should be exploited for commercial gain, Pacelle said.
Politicians as divergent as Jamie Raskin, who served as the Democrats’ lead impeachment manager during Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial, and Republican Matt Gaetz, one of the most pro-Trump members of Congress, have signed on as sponsors of the bill.
Australian officials and the kangaroo industry are hopeful that the bill, like most pieces of legislation introduced into Congress, does not become law. But it could still have an impact if it spurs corporations to cut kangaroo products out of their supply chains to avoid a backlash.
Kangaroo Industries Association of Australia executive officer Dennis King said: “The bill is misguided, it’s not grounded in the facts. No threatened species are commercially harvested in Australia, nor are any kangaroos harvested for their hides. It’s all part of a government-regulated, humanely managed wildlife management program that has operated for 30 years.”
The industry argues that kangaroos, far from being a threatened species like the panda, are so abundant that their population needs to be controlled. The Australian government estimates that there are 43 million kangaroos in NSW, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia, up from 27 million a decade earlier.
“Even if there were no commercial industry, conservation culling would occur anyway to avoid overpopulation and mass starvation during droughts,” King said.
“Kangaroos may look cute and cuddly but they can do immense amounts of damage to farmers’ properties,” he added.
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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)
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Evelyn Rae, a conservative Australian political commentator
Margo Robbie -- a beautiful australian
My son Joe at ANU
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