Australian Politics
‘Not reflective’: Former Nationals MP Andrew Gee turns on party over Voice to Parliament stance
This is good for the No vote. It will make clear that the refererndum proposal is controversial -- and controversial refereda tend to be lost -- which will be good riddance to racist legislation
Long-serving Nationals MP Andrew Gee has turned on his own party, claiming it is “not reflective” of regional Australian communities after quitting to join the crossbench in federal parliament.
Mr Gee, who holds the federal NSW seat of Calare, announced on Friday he would quit the Nationals to sit as an Independent.
He said the party’s opposition to the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, along with the wake of devastation from recent flooding, was the catalyst for his decision.
Speaking with reporters later in the day, he said he had “lost the faith” in the Nationals amid their dwindling numbers year on year. “The National Party today is very different to the National Party I grew up with,” he told ABC News.
“The National Party you see today is not necessarily reflective of the way our regional communities are growing and developing.”
A month ago, Nationals leader David Littleproud announced the party would be opposing the Voice policy as it would not deal with the real issues faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. “It will not economically empower Indigenous people,” Mr Littleproud said.
“We believe this will be a voice for Redfern, not for Indigenous communities in regional, rural and remote Australia, in places like Cunnamulla, Alice Springs and Carnarvon.”
Mr Gee said he supported the Voice and had made his position clear to members. “Any party needs opposing political points of view … it makes for a robust discussion and good policy,” he said.
“What was purported to be a united front opposing the Voice was put forward, which was not my position. I don’t know why it had to happen so quickly.
“The rest of Australia will get a free vote at a referendum, yet for National Party MPs, a party position has been taken with an expectation we will fall behind that, and vote accordingly. “There just comes a point where you can make too many compromises.”
In a statement, Mr Littleproud said he was “disappointed” in Mr Gee’s decision to leave the Nationals but said he had always been free to make his own decision and vote accordingly on the Voice.
“We will continue to work hard for western NSW and find a candidate who will best represent them at the next federal election,” he said.
Mr Gee has held the NSW seat of Calare since 2016. He was also elected to the NSW Legislative Assembly for Orange in 2011 and served as the Defence Personnel Minister from 2021 to 2022.
Mr Gee said he felt the Nationals’ decision to oppose the Voice to Parliament and witnessing the devastating NSW floods “really brought home to me the importance of being able to stand up and be counted”.
“I can’t reconcile the fact that every Australian will get a free vote on the vitally important issue of the Voice, yet National Party MPs are expected to fall into line behind a party position that I fundamentally disagree with, and vote accordingly in Parliament,” he said in his statement.
“While I respect the views of my colleagues, this just isn’t right.
“As the discussion on this issue around Australia builds, I want that freedom to put forward my point of view as I don’t foresee the Nationals’ policy on the Voice changing.
“While I accept that in politics compromises have to be made, there comes a point where not speaking out freely can compromise the interests of those we represent.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it was an “extraordinary political development” but that he respected Mr Gee’s position. “Andrew Gee’s statement is one of principle,” he said.
“I look forward to working with him and members of the Liberal Party, crossbenchers across the board who want to recognise – who see this as an opportunity to unite our nation.”
He said he was pleased Mr Gee would be pushing for a “yes” vote on the change. “Andrew Gee has made a principal statement about his commitment to constitutional recognition for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, but also a constitutionally recognised Voice to Parliament,” he said
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The tiny Australian town gripped by a child sexual abuse crisis: 'If this was happening in Melbourne or Sydney it'd be front page news'
Reading between the lines, the offenders were Aboriginal. Aborigines tend to be treated leniently by the courts. It's "the soft bigotry of low expectations"
The tiny Northern Territory town of Tenant Creek has been rocked by the actions of two vile rapists who are set to be released from detention mere months after they were convicted of their horrific crimes.
Ezekial James, 28, who sexually assaulted a 12-year-old girl in a community near Tennant Creek in the Top End in 2017, causing her to fall pregnant, is eligible for parole only four months after he pleaded guilty to the grisly crime.
In another case close by, a teenager who raped a seven-year-old girl while he was out on parole for arson back in May last year is set to be released less than two months after conviction.
Both cases have sparked outrage over the leniency given to the rapists.
Sky News Australia's Rita Panahi, who spoke to the network's Darwin Bureau Chief Matt Cunningham who covered both crimes, relayed her shock. 'Frankly, if this was happening in Melbourne or Sydney it'd be front page news,' she said. 'It'd be leading the news service for a week.' 'How can such horrific crimes see such lenient sentences?' she asked Cunningham.
Panahi claimed there was difficulty in speaking out against these cases due to fears of being labelled 'racist'. 'How can we elevate these issues?' she continued.
'We'll talk about it on this program, we'll talk about it on Sky News but it seems so many people are terrified to broach this subject because there can be blowback.'
The pair referred to comments made by senator Jacinta Price on the network who suggested that 'until there's an end to domestic and family violence, there won't be an end to these sorts of issues'.
Ezekial James pleaded guilty to raping a 12-year-old girl when he was 23-years-old in 2017. He approached the child near a football ground at night and lured her back to his family's residence where he assaulted her.
The victim returned to her grandfather's home after the traumatising incident and discovered later on that she was pregnant. The girl gave birth at Alice Springs Hospital in August 2018 after being in an 'extremely anxious' state.
Justice Barr described the girl's situation as 'horrible' and the birth as 'very traumatic for a young teenager who did not have the psychological resources to deal with the very stressful situation'.
James was taken into custody by police in December 2021, four years after the 2017 rape, when DNA evidence linked him to the child. He has previously been in prison for multiple offences including two cases of aggravated assault against women and recklessly endangering life.
Justice Barr said it was unlikely he would reoffend before his sentence was suspended.
In the other case, a 16-year-old boy groped a seven-year-old girl while she was watching TV at a house in the Top End.
The teen, who was out on parole for arson, then forced the child into a bedroom where he raped her.
The girl was later flown by the Royal Flying Doctor Service to a clinic in Alice Springs for treatment. She currently struggles to sleep, is too scared to go outside and wants to leave Tennant Creek.
The boy was arrested four days later and was sent to a youth detention centre. He pleaded guilty to the assault and was sentenced in the Northern Territory Supreme Court on November 30.
The boy, who is now 18, is set to be released from detention less than two months after his conviction.
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Why ‘abusive’ dating app users are being outed on Facebook
While our governments dilly dally on a national domestic violence perpetrator database, women across the country are finding innovative ways to alert others about the abusive men on dating apps.
It’s not ideal for citizens to be taking matters into their own hands - not the least because the women at the forefront of this movement are doing so at great risk legally and exposing themselves to trolling and possible payback.
But as the country’s domestic violence toll climbs higher with every passing week and the policy leadership void grows ever deeper, it’s pretty clear females fear they have little choice but to take action.
By my count, 55 women have been killed unlawfully this year. At least 24 of died as a result of violence allegedly perpetrated by current or former partners.
I can’t help but wonder, how many women could have been saved if we did have a national DV perpetrator database accessible by normal Australians.
Sucha database it could also connected be to dating apps to ensure businesses like Tinder, Hinge, Her, Bumble and other online connection tools are blocking abusive people from their platforms.
The death this week of Dannielle Finlay-Jones really rams home the need for a federal database.
Dannielle - a 31-year-old student support office and dedicated women’s footy advocate - was staying overnight at a friend’s place in Cranebrook, NSW, with Ashley Gaddie, who she had only been dating for a short time.
Dannielle did all she could to remain safe, including ensuring she was with others when seeing her new lover.
It’s alleged Gaddie assaulted her sometime between the evening of December 17 and the morning of December 18.
It is also alleged he left her injured in the bed and fled from the scene by crawling out a window.
Dannielle’s friends found her in a critical condition. Sadly, she could not be saved.
Gaddie was arrested after a 12-hour intensive stand-off with cops in the Blue Mountains.
Had Dannielle been able to request his domestic violence history from a federal database, she might still be alive.
But that database does not exist despite extensive lobbying of state and territory governments and the federal government by high profile Australians including journalist and former MP Derryn Hinch.
Joining Hinch in his crusade are the loved ones of domestic violence victims, including Lee Little whose daughter was killed by her partner in late 2019.
A national database can only work if every police force, court and government across Australia works together to share information.
Currently, there are major issues with information sharing between police and courts in each jurisdiction.
Even when details are shared between authorities, civilians are not able to access it.
In Australia, about one quarter of women experience emotional abuse in their relationships, one in three are sexually violated and the same number are assaulted by current or former lovers.
In other words, everyone knows a woman who has been abused and in most cases that woman is themselves.
With such high levels of violence against women, it makes sense to have a shared domestic violence database - accessible under strict circumstances - by women who have concerns about their, or another’s, safety.
Broken Crayon’s Still Colour Foundation founder Rach Mac is a survivor of intimate partner violence.
She is also the creator of a large social media group offering Aussie women the chance to find information on men they are planning to date.
Run at great risk by Rach, the group is the only one in Australia. It’s membership sits around the 4000 mark and it grows daily.
Members post photos and domestic violence histories of the men they know in the group so others can be aware of who they should avoid.
And other women post photos and the dating app profiles of their would-be dates as well as their names, locations and any other relevant information. In someone in the group knows the guy, they will point out any red flags.
Obviously, Rach faces major legal issues including the potential to be sued for defamation should a man find out he has been wrongly spoken about and the risk some women might make untrue allegations.
But Rach says she takes every precaution, including asking to view criminal histories or domestic violence orders.
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Microdosing may be on the rise, but what are the dilemmas?
Many Australians start their working day with a strong hit of caffeine. Sam, a 32-year-old filmmaker, sometimes prefers to take a small amount of LSD instead. "It's like having a strong cup of coffee that last[s] the whole day without the crash," he says.
Sam's not alone. In Australia and around the world, there's been increased interest in people experimenting with tiny doses of illegal drugs in the hope of improving their productivity, creativity and focus at work.
It's a practice known as microdosing.
It involves taking small amounts of psychedelic substances, such as LSD or psilocybin, on a regular basis, explains Vince Polito, cognitive psychologist and senior research fellow at Macquarie University.
Dr Polito is among the academics leading microdosing research in Australia.
"People vary in how often they do it, but ... people tend to microdose a couple of times a week," Dr Polito tells ABC RN's This Working Life.
"It's a completely different ballpark to the type of experience that you might typically associate with psychedelics. People are taking doses that are almost imperceptible."
He says the average Australian microdosing may be "a bit older than what you would expect".
Dr Polito's research published in 2019 tracked 98 people who practised microdosing.
"The average age was mid-30s. They were fairly well-educated, and about 75 per cent had some form of tertiary education, and roughly 70 per cent were either working or studying," he says.
"The sort of broad picture that we got was of people who were microdosing [as] pretty normal members of society."
Dr Polito says the potential negative impacts of prolonged use are still unknown, as more long-term research needs to be done in this area.
Sam, who also works as a university lecturer, says microdosing allows him to drop into a "deep, flow-like state" with his work.
He says creativity is "a big part of my work" and something he can access "a lot more easily with the LSD".
"So rather than having to sort of stick it out for six hours and getting distracted, I [can] drop in for two hours in really deep work and accomplish more than I could otherwise."
Photographer and retail worker Trina, aged 51, has also felt an improvement in her productivity at work since she began microdosing with psilocybin six months ago.
"My productivity was sort of heightened [while microdosing] ... because I was processing ideas quite quickly and had this impatience to bring them to fruition," she says.
"Something that it might take me [about] three hours to put together and photograph would probably take me half the time."
But she's hesitant to mention it to anyone in her workplace.
"I just have a sense with the kind of … people that I work with that they wouldn't really understand what it was, and they probably would just think that I'm taking drugs," she says.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-22/microdosing-in-the-workplace-this-working-life/101760506
************************************Also see my other blogs. Main ones below:
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM -- daily)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
http://jonjayray.com/blogall.html More blogs
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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
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