Australian Politics
Yet again: A high achieving Aborigine turns out to be a white girl
Nicole Wade remembers being a young student wanting to be invisible at school, hoping to "blend into the walls" and "into the carpet" and praying a teacher wouldn't ask her a question.
She felt a strong disconnect from students and teachers alike, who didn't recognise her as an Aboriginal person despite her deep sense of pride in her Noongar heritage.
"Maybe [it was] around the colour of my skin, maybe they didn't think that's what an Aboriginal person would look like," she said.
"I think that disconnect from something I felt so connected to really started to impact the way I felt I was valued in the school community."
It got so bad she would run away from school. Sometimes the principal ended up chasing her down the street but she could never be caught.
Good sprinters run in the family. Her grandmother Joan Eggington would often race against champion Shirley Strickland in Western Australia's wheatbelt where she grew up.
"[She] was able at times to actually beat her. But Nan at that time wasn't able to compete in the Olympics because she wasn't recognised as an Australian citizen," Nicole said.
The 40-year-old grew up in Villawood, in Sydney's south-west, where social disadvantage surrounded her.
She became a mother at 17 while still in high school. A year later, she was pregnant with her second baby.
But the challenge of being a teenage mother didn't stop Nicole from chasing a dream. In fact, it pushed her to pursue a career in the very industry she felt so disconnected from.
"You'd never think now, looking back, that I would ever become a school principal myself," she said.
"I reflected on how important education can be and that's why I wanted to become a teacher — so that no other child would feel what I felt."
Just days after giving birth to her second child, Nicole sat her HSC biology exam. Completing her schooling took her two years via distance education, through "many late nights, pushing the pram".
She achieved a universities admission index (UAI) of 94.5 and was the dux.
She's now principal at Minto's Campbellfield Public School in Sydney's south-west, where the school population has doubled during her six years in the job.
The 43 Indigenous students enrolled at the school exceeds the state's average of 8 per cent.
Implementing Indigenous culture and history into the curriculum has drawn increased enrolments from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families out of the area.
"We've only seen it continue to grow," she said. "In fact, our kindergarten, year 1 and year 2 enrolments are our strongest enrolments."
She says the school aims to teach children they can use their voice and be "change agents" despite where they grew up.
"It doesn't matter that you're living in a low socio-economic community. In fact, they're our strengths," she said.
"They can be lawyers, doctors, teachers, engineers. [We're] setting up a culture and community that really allows that to thrive and flourish for our kids."
The school runs regular culture classes, yarning circles, and it recently launched its Junior Aboriginal Education Consultative Group, which gives students a say on the Aboriginal syllabus.
*************************************
The Sinister Push for Rape Star Chambers
Bettina Arndt
Wake up, people. I know most of you have had a gutful of watching zealots impose mob rule on our society but now is not the time to tune out. This is happening on our watch and we must find ways to stop it. This is a defining moment and needs proper attention.
What we have just witnessed this week in Canberra was not just a shameful feeding frenzy by a partisan media determined to take out Attorney General Christian Porter and hence the Federal government. This is simply the latest round in an ongoing campaign to discredit our justice system and establish an alternate system designed to find more accused men guilty in sexual assault cases.
For years now, activists have been working hard to undermine the authority of our justice system by alleging rape victims don’t receive fair treatment, that rape is rarely reported, and wrongly asserting that convictions are rare in such cases. They prepared the ground and now have decided it’s time to declare their hand. “The gloves are coming off,” proudly announced Michael Bradley from Marque lawyers this week, declaring an end to the victimisation and silencing of women.
Bradley’s greasy paws are all over this campaign. Bradley was the lawyer who supported the alleged victim in Christian Porter’s case when she was preparing to go to the police. He popped up again representing Brittany Higgins this week following Defence Minister Linda Reynold’s intemperate remark dismissing Higgins as a “lying cow,” when speaking to her clearly less-than-loyal staff.
Michael Bradley and his feminist crew at Marque Lawyers provided legal support for End Rape on Campus activist Nina Funnell’s Let her Speak campaign, which gave Grace Tame the platform that led her to become Australian of the Year. And for years now Bradley has played a critical role in trying to silence me, including sending defamation threats to media outlets where I defended myself during Funnell’s attempts to cancel me.
This is the lawyer who has provided pro bono advice to the activists who have succeeded in setting up our campus kangaroo courts. He was the main legal player behind the establishment of this quasi-judicial system which has usurped criminal law, a system of secretive independent investigations making decisions behind closed doors, disrupting the education and ruining the lives of accused male students across the country.
What a surprise to find Bradley now out there declaring that the police and the criminal courts can’t offer justice to rape victims and calling for an independent inquiry into the Christian Porter case. Just listen to him here – as he spells out the advantage of this new system. What he proposes is an independent system, taking evidence far from public scrutiny and messy due process rules. And its crowning glory? It would use a lower standard of proof, just like the campus kangaroo courts – the “balance of probabilities”. Much easier to nail the guy that way.
Independent inquiries suddenly all the rage
That’s been the overarching theme right from the start of this latest episode in the Year of the Rape Victim. The protagonists must have been disappointed at the short run of the Higgins affair which fizzled out remarkably quickly, despite the best efforts of feminist commentators to maintain the rage.
So our ABC, leapt into action leaking news of the upcoming 4 Corners Program based on comments from friends of a deceased alleged victim of a historical rape by a Cabinet Minister. Then came Samantha Maiden, political editor of news.com.au, whose tweet framed the debate that would follow, claiming the friends sought an urgent investigation “like High Courts on Dyson Heydon.” (Of course, this actually means a one-sided investigation where the accused never gave evidence.)
That’s it – the game plan was exposed. No matter that the police then announced the case was closed since there was not enough admissible evidence. And that the alleged victim had withdrawn her initial complaint before she tragically suicided. And that her poor parents had not wanted her to proceed with the complaint, warning their daughter suffered mental illness and expressing concern she might have “confected or embellished” the allegations. And that her accusations against Porter emerged after recovered memory therapy, including hypnotic techniques subject to evidentiary restrictions in Australian courts because of their potential to affect memory.
The politicians and media who took up the charge had no interest in any of that, downplaying these inconvenient facts in their media barrage against Porter and anyone who supported him.
They stuck to the script, calling for a better way of dealing with these cases - an independent inquiry. How frightening to see Kristine Kenneally, the Shadow Minister for Home Affairs responsible for the Federal Police, suggesting we need an inquiry to determine whether Porter was a “fit and proper person to be at the Cabinet table”. And Pauline Wright, past President of the Law Council of Australia, arguing an independent inquiry would give Christian Porter the opportunity to clear his name. And look at this hogwash from a law professor.
What great timing that Grace Tame happened to be speaking to the Press Club on the same day as the media attack on Porter. Even commentators prepared to speak the truth about the Porter mob attack were able to virtue-signal by praising her bravery and showing their support for rape victims.
We saw Paul Murray on Sky News waxing lyrical with praise for Tame as a “really special lady” prior to presenting this excellent summary of the mob attack on Porter. But there was one glaring note in his analysis – this appalling comment about men convicted of sexual assault. “If you are someone who commits sexual assault, you deserve to go to gaol and I hope when they slam the door they break your arm on the way through.”
Really, Paul? But what if that rapist was an 18 year-old boy? The son of one of your friends, a relative, perhaps. Falsely accused of assault after a drunken encounter with a girl who made up a rape accusation after being caught out cheating on her boyfriend?
That’s exactly what happened to a Queensland woman’s son who is featured on the new Mothers of Sons website. She uses the name “Erin” to protect her son who is still shattered years after being acquitted of rape charges after his accuser was found to have DNA from two other men inside her vagina on the night in question, but none from Erin’s son.
This mother is irate that police refused to charge the accuser with perjury, telling her they are under orders not to act on false allegations because it might deter genuine rape victims coming forward. That’s why Bradley and his mob can boast about the low incidence of false rape accusations. It is police policy to keep those numbers down.
newsletter@bettinaarndt.com.au
***************************************
China’s cynical embrace of ‘racism’ to sow chaos
Forget undersea drones and warships in the South China Sea. Beijing has embraced a “cynical” new weapon to weaken Australia and the West – and it might be working.
China’s increasing attacks on Australia as a “racist” country are part of a calculated effort to “ignite simmering domestic tensions” and deflect from its own human rights abuses, a leading defence policy expert says.
Michael Shoebridge, director of defence, strategy and national security at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, says the Chinese Communist Party’s cynical accusations of racism – frequently levelled against the United States last year – are “even more useful as a technique when countries have sizeable numbers of citizens with a degree of Chinese ethnic heritage, as Australia does”.
“But it works equally well when there are important debates like that around Black Lives Matter,” Mr Shoebridge told news.com.au.
“Claims of racism against almost any developed country – and almost any country – are helpful here, because they ignite simmering domestic tensions and debates and can spark off exactly the kind of distracting discussion that reduces the focus on the Chinese government’s actions.”
He added, “And I’m sure that the Chinese government calculates that accusing countries like Australia or the US – even New Zealand and Canada – of racism has the potential to resonate well with anti-colonial sentiment in other parts of the world.”
This week, China seized on a survey from the Lowy Institute think tank that suggested Chinese-Australians had experienced a rise in racist incidents over the past year.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the Chinese government was “deeply concerned” about the findings, calling on Australians to “own up” to racism and become “better citizens”.
“We hope that the Australian side will own up to the problem, make their people better citizens, solve the problems of racism and discrimination at home and safeguard the safety and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens in Australia,” he said.
Natasha Kassam, director of the public opinion and foreign policy program at the Lowy Institute, stressed that the ‘Being Chinese in Australia’ survey highlighted a “broad diversity of views and experiences for people of Chinese heritage in Australia”.
“While there is very clear and worrying evidence of discrimination, this is not the entire story,” she said.
“The majority of Chinese-Australians say they feel accepted as a part of Australian society and Australia is a good place to live. They also express mixed views towards China and the Chinese government, including with regards to human rights, economic reliance and foreign influence.”
Mr Wang’s comments came as the Chinese Communist Party ramped up its attacks on Australia as a “racist” country, amid worsening relations and ongoing trade sanctions targeting key exports including beef, wine and barley.
*****************************************
'They have no place in Australia': Foreigners who commit domestic violence and forced marriage face being deported even if they're NOT convicted under tough new rules
Foreigners who commit domestic violence and forced marriage face being deported even if they are not convicted as the government clamps down on the shocking crimes.
Tough-talking new immigration minister Alex Hawke has signed a direction ordering officials to take the offences more seriously when assessing visas.
He announced his new rules in a speech at the Western Sydney Women organisation on International Women's Day.
'Being a member of the Australian community is a privilege and it comes with a responsibility to respect and abide by our laws,' he said. 'Family violence and crimes against vulnerable members of the community have no place in Australia and will not be tolerated.'
Under Australia's migration laws foreigners can have their visas rejected or cancelled if they fail to pass a 'character test'.
A visa holder who is jailed for more than a year will automatically fail - but for shorter sentences officials have the power to decide whether they should be deported.
Ministerial direction 90, which was signed by Minister Hawke on Monday, orders officials to assess family violence as a 'primary consideration' when making their decisions.
The direction also lists conduct that is 'viewed very seriously by the Australian Government and the Australian community'.
The list includes acts of family violence and forcing someone to marry 'regardless of whether there is a conviction for an offence or a sentence imposed'.
In the absence of a conviction, officials are urged to consider if 'there is information or evidence from independent and authoritative sources indicating that the non-citizen is, or has been, involved in the perpetration of family violence.'
The direction states: 'The Government has serious concerns about conferring on non-citizens who engage in family violence the privilege of entering or remaining in Australia.'
The serious conduct list also includes crimes against vulnerable members of the community such as the disabled or elderly, who are often targeted by fraudsters.
'These changes align with the Australian community's expectation that non-citizens who commit serious offences will not be permitted to enter or stay in Australia,' Mr Hawke said.
The father of four, who represents Mitchell in north Sydney, took over as immigration minister during a cabinet reshuffle in December.
He made headlines in his first few weeks when he threatened to deport backpackers who broke Covid rules by having a party at Sydney's Bronte Beach.
************************************
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)
***************************************
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