Australian Politics

Was footballer Jarryd Hayne the victim of a false rape accusation?

This matter is even more problematical than it at first appears. The obvious problem is that he was released on technical grounds -- on the grounds that his most recent trial was not properly conducted. He was NOT exonerated. He was NOT found to be innocent. Bully for his lawyers, I suppose.

So in theory he could be tried on the same matters for a fourth time. That is unlikely to happen as he has already spent enough time in jail to satisfy most of the penalty that a new guilty verdict would bring

The problem that is not being highlighted, however, is the really big one. He could well be the victim of a false rape allegation. There have been several instances in the past when women have been found to be false accusers. Britain at one stage not long ago locked up some of the false accusers.

There appears to be no doubt that he had been promised sex when he arrived at the woman's place but what happened after that is in dispute. The woman claims he forced himself on her until she bled. Messages that she sent to friends after the event, however suggest that she had not told the full story. And that would make her open to have given false testimony, which would make HER the guilty party

So why would she lie? It's pretty clear. Hayne told the taxi driver he would only be a few minutes, showing that what he wanted and expected was a "quickie". But she could well have been dissatisfied with that. She was clearly heavily "into" him and expected a more prolonged and affectionate interaction. So her cry of rape could well be revenge for not getting what she expected from him.

But the truly obnoxious part of the whole affair is that the messages casting doubt on her story were NOT shown to the jury nor were Hayne's lawyers allowed to question her about them. Why on earth would that be? I suspect that it was part of another determination to enforce the feminist "believe the woman" doctrine. I suspect that Hayne has been much maligned. I suspect that he was at most guilty of bad manners

Former rugby league star Jarryd Hayne has walked out of prison after his sexual assault convictions were quashed on appeal.

Mr Hayne left a correctional facility in Sydney's west just before 5pm on Wednesday after being granted his release on bail.

The 36-year-old was found guilty in May last year of sexually assaulting a woman at her Newcastle home on the night of the 2018 NRL grand final.

It was the third time he had been tried over the incident and the second time he was found guilty.

His first trial ended in a hung jury, he was convicted after the second but then won an appeal, and the third trial resulted in this now-quashed conviction.

The NSW Court of Criminal Appeal was split 2-1 over the decision.

Justice Stephen Rothman said the appeal succeeded on two grounds: one concerning the trial judge's decision not allow further cross-examination of the complainant and another concerning a direction to the jury about how to treat allegations the woman had lied.

"The outcome is that the appeal from each conviction is allowed … and the court will quash the two convictions in order that there be a new trial," he said.

"Whether there in fact is a new trial is a matter for the Director of the Public Prosecutions."

Mr Hayne, who has been in prison at a minimum-security jail at Lidcombe in Sydney's west since last year, has been granted bail, which was not opposed by the prosecution.

It was granted on a number of conditions, including that Mr Hayne pay a $20,000 surety and not attempt to contact the complainant or enter the Newcastle local government area.

The Director of Public Prosecutions said it would consider the Court of Criminal Appeal's ruling before deciding whether Mr Hayne should face a fourth trial.

In his written judgment, Justice Rothman noted: "In the current circumstances, it is unlikely that a new trial will occur before the expiry of the non-parole period and most of that period has already been served" and suggested there is "good reason for there not to be a fourth trial."

Mr Hayne, who appeared via videolink from prison, gave little reaction upon hearing the news his convictions would be quashed.

His lawyer Lauren MacDougall said Mr Hayne was "really, really looking forward to getting home to his family".

Hayne's lawyer argued the interaction was 'entirely consensual'

During the trial the jury heard the woman had contacted Mr Hayne via Instagram a little less than two weeks before their first in-person meeting and the messages progressed to a "sexualised" nature.

It heard he arrived at the woman's home, having negotiated a $550 taxi fare back to Sydney, and told the driver to wait outside.

The court heard Mr Hayne tried to kiss the woman, at one point grabbing her by the face, with "forceful" actions despite her telling him to stop.

The jurors were told Mr Hayne's charges were in relation to two forms of sexual activity — oral and digital penetration — and the complainant had said "no" and "stop".

It allegedly lasted for about 30 seconds, and stopped when the complainant's genitals started to bleed.

During the trial Mr Hayne's barrister, Margaret Cunneen SC, said the activity was "entirely consensual" and he "didn't mean to cause her any harm at all".

Mr Hayne's lawyers argued in the appeal that messages deleted from the woman's phone showed that she was consenting and should lead to his acquittal.

The complainant was said to have told the friend Mr Hayne "went down on her", but made no reference to her injury and blood, or to the sexual activity having been forced.

Mr Hayne's lawyers argued that the judge should have allowed them to further cross-examine the woman about why she had failed to disclose the messages to police around the time of the sexual assault.

They argued the issue was central to assessing the witness's credibility.

'The jury were deprived of evidence'

In the judgment Justice Rothman wrote that the cross examination should have been allowed as "it was for the jury to determine whether to believe the complainant" and that "demeanour would have played a significant role".

Justice Deborah Sweeney concurred writing: "The jury were deprived of evidence which had significance for their assessment of the honesty of the complainant."

"By not permitting counsel to cross-examine the complainant on those topics and then telling the jury that in considering the submission that the complainant had lied about matters including deletions from her phone, they should consider whether that was "fairly put", this created an unfairness in the accused's trial".

"The combined effect of those circumstances was to cause a miscarriage of justice in the trial."

Mr Hayne was sentenced in May 2023 to four years and nine months in prison, with a non-parole period of three years.

With time already served, he was eligible for parole from May next year.

Mr Hayne's first trial ended in a hung jury.

He was convicted after the second, but then won an appeal before being tried for a third time.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-12/nsw-jarryd-hayne-sexual-assault-conviction-quashed-jail/103967572

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Peter Dutton puts carbon emissions target on Labor’s back

Peter Dutton will go to the next election opposing Labor’s 43 per cent carbon emissions reduction target by 2030 but keeping to zero emissions by 2050, opting for a radically different energy policy to Anthony Albanese that prioritises more gas in the short term and nuclear in the long term.

The Opposition Leader declared there was “no sense in signing up to targets you don’t have any prospect of achieving” and promised the Coalition in government would not “destroy” agriculture, manufacturing and investment nor create sovereign risk with trading partners by agreeing to unachievable climate change targets.

Mr Dutton said he would take a different gas policy from Labor to the next election to ensure a successful shorter-term transition to renewable power and clarified that nuclear power, which would not be delivered until the 2040s, would be aimed at achieving the net-zero target by mid-century.

In an interview with The Weekend Australian to mark his second year as leader of the Liberal Party, Mr Dutton said: “They (Labor) just have no hope of achieving the targets and there’s no sense signing up to targets you don’t have any prospect of achieving.

“We’re not going to destroy agriculture. We’re not going to stifle investment. We’re already seeing investment being withdrawn. We’re not going to create sovereign risk with our export partners, as Labor is doing with Japan and Korea.”

Mr Dutton said there had “never been any doubt in my mind that gas is absolutely essential”.

“And without it, there’ll be catastrophic failure in the energy market over the next decade,” he said. “You can’t have the Prime Minister saying we aren’t going to have coal, we aren’t going to have gas and were not going to have nuclear power and we are going to keep the lights on – that’s just fantasy. We now have a debate about energy which I think we can win.”

Mr Dutton said the next election, due by May next year, would come down to basic issues of economic management, national security and law and order.

He said the Prime Minister had failed to lead by example and come out more strongly against those promoting hate and anti-Semitism in society.

If a firmer stand had been taken “we would have seen arrests and we would have seen the ability for people to protest peacefully, but not with the incitement and the rage that we’ve seen in the university campus demonstrations”, he said.

“Nobody’s been arrested for hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage to the offices of members of parliament,” Mr Dutton said.

“I think the (police) commissioners take their lead from the premiers and from the police ministers and from the Prime Minister.

“I think there has been an approach of just keeping the peace, not taking sides because this is just another Middle East thing. Whereas I think the approach should have been to enforce the rule of law without fear or favour.”

On taxation, Mr Dutton indicated that the Coalition’s policy, which would not alter Labor’s tax cuts schedule that comes in on July 1, would be limited by funds available in the budget.

But he elevated economic reform across the federation as a longer-term aspiration that he would champion as prime minister, saying it was critical to reduce red tape and drive down costs for businesses.

“I think there’s a very compelling argument for the federation debate to be re-enlivened,” Mr Dutton said.

“I think we should be talking more about how we can eliminate efficiencies and waste within a three layers of government model.

“That is a debate that we would willingly join if the Prime Minister were to have any appetite.

“And in government it’s a debate that I want to start. Because we are over-governed (and) over-regulated.”

Mr Dutton said he believed the Coalition’s “superior ability to manage the economy, given that cost of living is so relevant and important to Australians” would appeal to all voters, including those living in more affluent seats held by the seven teal independents – once blue-ribbon Liberal electorates – as well as outer-suburban areas.

He said his two years as Opposition Leader, including his part in the defeat of the Indigenous voice referendum last October, had given people the chance to “reconsider” him as a leader and not accept the way Labor had painted him as an angry and negative person.

“My judgment is that people want a leader with strength and with a positive outlook and vision for our country, which we’re in the process of outlining,” Mr Dutton said.

The Prime Minister will ramp up his attack on the Coalition's nuclear energy plan, calling it a wasteful "rabbit… hole". Albanese will be using his speech at the Sky News- Australian Economic Outlook lunch on Friday to continue to prosecute the case against the Coalition’s nuclear energy push. He will More
“People have allowed themselves to reconsider who they thought me to be or who Labor had framed me as.

“I think what Labor says is at odds with who people see me to after being able to watch me in a different role for the last two years and dealing with the breadth of issues starting with the voice and other economic and security issues.”

On immigration, Mr Dutton reaffirmed his commitment to cutting the record intake and encouraging skilled workers.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/peter-dutton-puts-carbon-emissions-target-onlabors-back/news-story/9f92fdee1dc0a65105bae4ae21875f60

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‘Multibillion-dollar failure’: Aussie doctors rip into Covid response

A top doctor has ripped into Australia’s handling of the Covid pandemic, accusing the government of spreading “misinformation” and putting people at risk.

Dr Kerryn Phelps accused the government of fuelling mistrust of health authorities while overselling the “safety and efficacy” of vaccines, and ignoring those suffering serious adverse events from the jabs.

Dr Phelps, who first went public in late 2022 about the “devastating” vaccine injury both she and her wife had suffered after a Pfizer jab, said while there was “a lot that our public health agencies got right during this pandemic”, significant mistakes were made.

The former MP for Wentworth and Deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney, and past president of the Australian Medical Association (AMA), is one of dozens of doctors and medical professionals who made public submissions to the federal government’s Covid-19 Response Inquiry.

Dr Phelps slammed “confusing misinformation” spread by authorities early on.

This included claims that Covid was not airborne, there was “no need for masks”, children did not spread the disease and that “herd immunity” could be reached.

All of this turned out to be false.

She said the consequence of the “let it rip” decision in late 2021 led to a “massive number of infections and excess Covid-related deaths estimated by actuaries to be 20,000 in 2022”.

“Political decisions were made, and public health advice was provided based on this misinformation, fuelling mistrust in subsequent advice emanating from those sources,” she said.

Regarding the vaccine rollout, Dr Phelps said “doctors and the public were assured that the vaccines would reduce the risk of severe disease, hospitalisations and death from the virus” and the “information being disseminated emphasised their claimed ‘safety and efficacy’”.

“Of course, early in the rollout of the vaccines, little was known about the potential range of adverse effects of the vaccine,” she said.

“In the urgency to vaccinate as many people as possible as quickly as possible, patients who had suffered significant vaccine injury were encouraged or mandated to have subsequent doses with inadequate evidence for the potential damage this might do to someone who had already suffered an adverse reaction to the vaccine.

“It was extremely difficult for patients who had been affected to obtain a medical exemption.”

Another consequence of this lack of information about adverse events “was that many patients report that they were not believed, or their doctors initially did not recognise the diagnosis or did not have treatment protocols in place”.

“This meant that patients had to take matters into their own hands and set up advocacy groups such as Coverse to share experiences and provide much needed support,” she said.

“It also became evident that these were not sterilising vaccines, and that while they were reported to provide some protection against severe disease and long Covid, they would not stop infection or transmission or the development of long Covid.”

For future pandemics, Dr Phelps called for a “return to the precautionary principle and the fundamentals of public health and disease prevention” and a “comprehensive plan for research and development of treatments”, including sterilising vaccines.

Among the recommendations in her submission were for greater access to high-quality N95 masks with associated mandates in healthcare facilities, a “concerted and sustained effort” to reduce Covid transmission in schools, a return to isolation for infected individuals during the infectious period with appropriate financial support, and expansion of hybrid work and education.

She also called for research into the underlying mechanisms of vaccine injury, better follow-up of adverse events reported to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and identification of barriers to reporting such reactions, as well as better information for GPs and a review of the Covid-19 Vaccine Claims Scheme.

In a separate submission to the inquiry, Kooyong MP Dr Monique Ryan was strongly critical of the “extent and severity” of Morrison government’s “failures” during Covid.

In her submission she cited “lack of preparedness” for a global pandemic, inadequate quarantine and testing, delays in procurement and rollout of vaccines and failure to “combat widespread public misinformation” about the jabs.

But the Teal MP also said the government had failed to “adequately address community concerns regarding side-effects of vaccinations”, which she said were “not well communicated to the general public” contributing to “mistrust of the system”.

“Constituents also reported unreasonable delays and rejection of claims by the Covid-19 Vaccine Claims Scheme,” Dr Ryan said.

A number of submissions also highlighted human rights concerns around Covid measures.

The Queensland Human Rights Commission (QHRC) said it had received more than 1500 complaints, the majority related to border closures, hotel quarantine, and mandatory mask and vaccination requirements.

“Rights raised in relation to these complaints included recognition and equality before the law, the right not to be subject to medical treatment without consent, privacy and reputation, humane treatment when deprived of liberty, and freedom of movement,” it said.

Queensland GP Dr Melissa McCann, who is leading a vaccine injury class action against the federal government, said in her submission it was “difficult to know” whether the key Covid response measures “could have been managed any worse”.

“The Covid-19 vaccinations have been perhaps the most egregious health response measure in recorded history,” she said.

“The success of a vaccination campaign is not measured by the percentage of population who were convinced to be vaccinated, despite this being reported by various official sources as evidence of a successful program.

“A successful vaccination campaign ought to result in the majority of vaccinated persons not becoming infected with the disease the vaccines were designed to protect against.

“A successful campaign would result in reduced number of cases and reduced transmission of disease throughout a population following the vaccination campaign.

“It ought to result in small numbers of adverse events after vaccination and such events comparable with traditional vaccines. It ought to result in an overall reduction in severe disease, deaths caused by the disease and reduction in overall excess mortality across a population.”

By all of these measures, the Covid vaccination campaign “has been a complete failure despite the multibillion-dollar investment”, she argued.

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/multibilliondollar-failure-aussie-doctors-rip-into-covid-response/news-story/0310c30199e73cbe7392a95cfc3c2c3c

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Lefty Anthony Albanese facilitates union power growth

Anthony Albanese is facilitating aggressive tactics from under-pressure trade union leaders battling to keep their movement relevant as membership plummets in the face of technological advancements and evolving work patterns.

Seven months after Albanese’s election win, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released data showing the proportion of employees with trade union memberships had fallen from 41.1 per cent to 12.5 per cent since Bill Kelty ran the ACTU in 1992.

Labor’s sweeping industrial relations changes have emboldened ACTU secretary Sally McManus, the organisation’s president Michele O’Neil and other powerful union leaders to exert their influence more overtly as they scramble to keep pace with the fast-moving advent of automation, artificial intelligence and robotics.

The intersection between the Labor federal government and unions runs deep in Albanese’s cabinet.

If ministers had to recuse themselves over conflicts of interest with unions, the Prime Minister would be running the government virtually on his own.

Richard Marles, Penny Wong, Tony Burke, Katy Gallagher, Don Farrell, Amanda Rishworth, Ed Husic, Chris Bowen, Mark Butler, Bill Shorten and Brendan O’Connor worked for unions before entering politics.

Labor MPs list union memberships – aligning with the faction that blessed their political careers – under a section on the parliamentary register of interests that states “membership of any organisation where a conflict of interest with a member’s public duties could foreseeably arise or be seen to arise”.

In recent speeches to private sector crowds, Albanese has declared he was “pro-worker and pro-business”.

But when the Left-faction powerbroker spoke at the ACTU Congress in Adelaide last week, he paid homage to Labor’s union comrades who will fund the party’s re-election campaign and volunteer at booths on polling day.

“The mighty trade union movement has given us strength and inspiration,” Albanese said.

“In the trade union movement, you stand up for working people, each and every day – and you never stand still.

“You are always looking to the future, to the next challenge – and the next opportunity.

“That’s what our government’s vision for a Future Made in Australia is all about.”

McManus, ACTU secretary since 2017 and no friend of John Setka, is a formidable, ruthless and intelligent operator striving to keep the union movement relevant in the digital age.

Industrial relations policy wins for unions since the 2022 election include same job, same pay, the abolishment of the Coalition’s Australian Building and Construction Commission, multi-employer bargaining, “Closing Loopholes in labour hire” and progress on the Right to Disconnect.

Business chiefs and industry leaders – who expected the ACTU to flex its muscle under Labor – are increasingly concerned about the far-reaching influence of union leaders across government and the rise in direct challenges to corporate culture and management.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/lefty-anthony-albanese-facilitates-union-power-growth/news-story/54379358341e396d52e751f22ea2090a