Australian Politics
Truth telling Victoria: Great grandson of Alfred Deakin apologises for something his ancestor did NOT do
The article below is grossly misleading. In my usual pesky way, I have gone back to the original source and read the Act concerned. It is here:
https://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/hist_act/tapa1886265.pdf
The Act was a genuinely charitable act designed to protect and support Aborigines in various ways and says NOTHING about taking part-Aboriginal children away from their parents.It is in fact thoroughly modern in that it defines who is an Aborigine by their associations. Regardless of your ancestry, you are an Aborigine if you associate with Aborigines. A person who is of mixed ancestry can still be an Aborigine for legal purposes. That is pretty much still the law to this day
Amazng! Our ancestors have been greatly and unfairly vilified by biased reporting
The great-grandson of Australia's second Prime Minister has apologised to Aboriginal Australians for the harm inflicted by his ancestor.
Peter Sharp, a descendant of Alfred Deakin, believes the role his great-grandfather played in enabling the devastating Stolen Generations has been downplayed.
The revelation was heard at Victoria's Yoorrook Justice Commission which is investigating claims of ill treatment of Aboriginal people since colonisation.
Mr Sharp said he had grown up believing his famous ancestor was a 'wonderful man', 'a storyteller' and a 'playful' person but had discovered the truth in 2017.
'To all those viewing, who themselves have been and still are being impacted by the introduction of laws and policies in which a member of my family played such a significant role, I say that I am personally and profoundly sorry,' he said.
'It came as a shock to learn that the attempted elimination [of First Nations peoples] continued after frontier violence diminished and I say 'diminished' because it really probably hasn't ended.
'It was a greater shock when I stumbled on the evidence that indicated that a member of my own family had enabled the attempted elimination to be put into law.'
Mr Deakin was a young minister in the Victorian government that passed the Aborigines Protection Act 1886.
Commonly known as the Half-Caste Act, it sought to remove children of mixed Aboriginal and European heritage from indigenous communities to be raised by the state.
The Victorian law was matched in various forms by the English colonies that then existed across Australia prior to federation in 1901.
The practice of removing children from Aboriginal communities has been termed the Stolen Generation, and many studies have testified to the impact upon Aboriginal families then and into the future.
Mr Sharp believes Mr Deakin, then Victoria's chief secretary, had intentionally destroyed the state's Aboriginal population in order to create a 'White Australia'.
'I believe that now after nearly 140 years, the evidence shows that Deakin played a key role in ensuring that the critical element of the 1886 Act was to categorically deny any Aboriginal people of mixed heritage the right to be recognised as Aboriginal and, furthermore, to forcibly deny them contact with those deemed Aboriginal, thereby destroying their culture, kinship and language,' he said.
'I believe that the evidence shows that he intended it never to be known and disguised his hand in every way he could. Suddenly I realised he actually meant this. This was deliberate.'
The Yoorrook Justice Commission is due to deliver a report to the state government by June 2025 that will make recommendations for reforms.
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Arrogant Muslim causes trouble for himself and the police
Charges against a man accused of biting and resisting police during a violent melee have been dismissed after a court found his initial hotel room arrest was unlawful.
"If this form of behaviour is not called out by the courts, [police officers] may think it is appropriate," special magistrate Marcus Hassall said on Tuesday following Adam Ahmad Jabal's two-day hearing.
The behaviour in question included a senior police officer "forcibly" pulling Jabal across a bed without verbally placing him under arrest or reasonably suspecting he was continuing to commit an offence.
The territory police officer with 37-years of experience told the ACT Magistrates Court he agreed there was no lawful authority that allowed him to grab the man to, in his words, "sit him up".
Detective Sergeant Brian Tadic later conceded he had used force to "drag him across the bed" at Braddon's Avenue Hotel last year.
'Act like a man'
Mr Hassall found the officer grabbing Jabal without evidentiary basis, which was followed by a melee involving Tasering and capsicum spray, "on the authorities constitutes an assault".
"Act like a man, you're not f---ing sleeping," Detective Sergeant Tadic told Jabal, who had ignored police demands to get up and claimed he would "come down in five minutes".
The magistrate said the police team leader was the first to show an "impatient, agitated attitude" toward Jabal and the first to initiate force, "foul language" and threats against non-compliance.
"He sets an example for other officers," the magistrate said.
Mr Hassall also found officers had not complied with police guidelines which emphasise negotiation and conflict de-escalation "as being primary considerations prior to using physical force".
Jabal was grabbed less than a minute after police entered his hotel room. The magistrate said there had been clear opportunities to inform him of his arrest, also in line with guidelines.
"You didn't ask him why he hadn't left. You didn't make any effort to get his side of the story," defence barrister Anthony Williamson SC, instructed by Kamy Saeedi Law, asked Detective Sergeant Tadic during cross-examination.
The officer replied: "No, we didn't."
Mr Williamson said negotiating involved a two way dialogue, not just "barking demands at a person".
In submissions to the court, the barrister said his client not being told why he was being taken into custody was "inexcusable" and any purported arrest was "demonstrably unreasonable".
'Police expected to be perfect'
Mr Hassall ultimately said he was satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt Jabal had committed offences of assaulting a frontline community service provider and resisting a territory official at the Northbourne Avenue hotel.
But the charges were dismissed on Tuesday after the magistrate did not allow any evidence acquired after the unlawful arrest and therefore "obtained in consequence of an impropriety or a contravention of Australian law".
Mr Hassall also dismissed a charge of failing to follow a direction to leave a premises.
The magistrate noted Detective Sergeant Tadic made numerous appropriate concessions during his evidence, including that the incident could have been handled better.
Mr Hassall acknowledged several times the difficulties involved in community policing and the high standard to which officers and their actions were held.
"It's easy for the courts to perform the role of a 'Monday morning quarterback', in that police are effectively expected to behave perfectly at all times when those who they provide front-line community services to often, perhaps regularly, do not," he said.
The magistrate also said if Jabal had not been "obtuse, stubborn and non-communicative", the situation would have been different.
"The defendant did not have to behave the way he did, he did not have to resist the way he did," Mr Hassall said.
The hotel incident
Police were called to the Avenue Hotel about 2.15pm on November 26 of last year after staff were unable to obtain identification from Jabal so he could formally extend his booking.
During the hearing, the court heard the man repeatedly promised to fulfill the requirement after handing over $150 to the night staff earlier in the day to extend a booking initially under his wife's name.
The magistrate said it did not appear Detective Sergeant Tadic was aware the money had been accepted by the hotel and that Jabal believed he was entitled to stay in the room.
Body-worn camera footage showed the senior officer appearing "to become agitated or irritated by the defendant's non-responsiveness".
When police pulled Jabal off the bed and tried to escort him out, he planted his feet and was said to move his arm in an "explosive" way toward one officer before an extended struggle.
The court found Jabal thrashed and bit the hand of one police officer while another received a knock to the head.
The man was ineffectively Tasered before being drive-stunned and eventually capsicum sprayed twice.
The court did not make any findings about police's use of force but prosecutor Henry Robinson said it had been "reasonable and necessary" and the response of officers was proportionate to Jabal.
"The defendant is actively making the jobs of four police officers who are detaining him significantly harder," Mr Robinson told the court.
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University of Sydney Jewish staff make workplace claim against ‘vicious, racist campaign’ on campus
Several Jewish employees at the University of Sydney have filed a workplace claim against university management for “psychosocial harm” following a “vicious, racist campaign” on campus, and sought criminal sanctions against vice-chancellor Mark Scott.
The SafeWork NSW claim says the claimants have had their safety impacted by “a vicious, racist campaign”. It was co-signed by some non-Jewish staff.
“We have been reporting psychosocial hazards at the workplace to the university since October 7th, 2023,” they said.
“We assert that the university is a psychologically unsafe environment for Jewish staff and students and we contend that the university ought to have taken steps to minimise this entirely foreseeable harm.”
The workplace action comes after a turbulent first half of the year at Australia’s oldest university as it was rocked by allegations of anti-Semitism amid a long-running pro-Palestine encampment protest on the Quad lawns.
Separately, The Australian has obtained a copy of a prescient letter 31 staff members sent to university management at the start of the year – before the protests began – urging the university to designate a campus area “not in the main student thoroughfare” so “students do not feel intimidated and threatened”.
Once protests started, Jewish students reported there were “no-go areas” on the campus.
Professor Scott in May told 2GB “it’s a very large university and it’s very possible to work your way around … and not be confronted by the encampment”.
The letter, dated January 17, also urged university management to ban the Socialist Alliance and other groups “advocating the intifada”, and a rule against interruption of classes or other university events. The Socialist Alliance played a central role in the protests and the university found itself in hot water when pro-Palestine students interrupted a lecture and ignored directions from to leave.
The SafeWork NSW claim listed examples of the alleged psychosocial harm, such as student protests on campus calling for “intifada”, a graffiti tunnel on campus the claimants said called for “Jewish genocide”, posters with “violent, offensive images”, and a recent student representative council motion that “affirmed violence against Jews”.
The claim singled out Professor Scott.
“Mark Scott must face criminal sanctions,” it read. “SafeWork NSW must prosecute Mark Scott for his failure to meet his obligations … to protect the psychological safety of Jewish students and staff in the workplace. Not only has he failed in his legal obligations to the relevant stakeholders, he has rewarded a campaign of violence and intimidation with involvement in appointments, investments and curricula.”
The claim also asked for investigations on the part of SafeWork into students and staff over anti-Semitic behaviour. The claim was made in one ex-staff member’s name but was signed by 18 other staff members and two students.
Professor Scott is scheduled to appear before NSW budget estimates on Wednesday afternoon.
When contacted for comment, a university spokeswoman said “ensuring the safety of our staff and students is always our top priority”.
“When the encampment was first established, we quickly put in place additional measures to help students and staff continue to move around the campus safely, including additional security and personal escorts where requested,” she said. “We’re providing comprehensive wellbeing support and continue to assess and control the psychosocial hazards on our campuses.”
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Jim Chalmers’ attack on bank reeks of political expediency
John Howard
The Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, wrote his PhD thesis on another – much better – treasurer, Paul Keating. The former treasurer once boasted in parliament that he had “the Reserve Bank in his pocket”. Strange, then, that his admirer, Dr Chalmers, should have openly attacked the present Reserve Bank governor, Michele Bullock, for the current high level of interest rates.
Chalmers’ clumsy attempt to shift blame for the painful consequences of high interest rates has badly backfired.
The West Australian best caught the mood with its Tuesday front page displaying photographs of the Treasurer and the governor book-ending the headline “It’s not me it’s you”.
Interest rates are determined by domestic and international economic conditions, not by personal caprice of the Treasurer or the board of the Reserve Bank. It is well accepted economic belief that if government spending is too high, that exerts upward pressure on interest rates. There is little argument that the Albanese government has lost control of expenditure.
The Treasurer has fended off claims he's undermining the Reserve Bank after declaring rate rises are “smashing the economy”.
Dr Chalmers’ attack on the RBA a few days ago had a tone of desperation about it. They were the words of a treasurer who has lost his grip.
After all, Bullock was appointed governor only 11 months ago, and by the Albanese government on the recommendation of the Treasurer. Her appointment was widely praised, enjoying the full support of opposition Treasury spokesman Angus Taylor. She was well qualified for the job and has demonstrated the wisdom of her appointment.
She does not deserve the Chalmers broadside. Since she has been in the chair, the level of inflation, as well as government spending and other pressures, has left Bullock and her colleagues no alternative other than that pursued in relation to interest rates.
The relationship between a treasurer and the governor of the Reserve Bank is crucial to the smooth stewardship of the economy. It can be challenging. Co-operation and respect are important.
The independence of the Reserve Bank in setting interest rates, confirmed in an exchange of letters between Peter Costello and Ian Macfarlane, respectively treasurer and governor in 1996, was widely supported in the financial community. It gave confidence that interest rates would be set reflective of economic conditions, rather than immediate political considerations.
Macfarlane was outstanding as Reserve Bank governor. He was without peer among those who advised my government on economic matters. He worked seamlessly with Costello, who had recommended his appointment.
Not every decision Macfarlane took gave my government unalloyed joy. Unlike the current Treasurer, my government did not dump Macfarlane at the first whiff of grapeshot.
If Chalmers thinks he is being politically astute in openly trying to shift blame regarding interest rates, and ahead of the next election, he is sadly mistaken. The government does not control interest rates, and most particularly the timing of future decisions about the level of those rates.
He also underestimates the impact of interest rate increases on savers. Although many of them are better off than borrowers, equally a lot of them lack income flexibility and are less able to absorb higher rates, naturally preferring them to be on the upside or pointing in that direction.
As treasurer I recommended to the Fraser government the appointment of Bob Johnston as Reserve Bank governor.
My government accepted the recommendations of Costello to appoint Macfarlane and then some years later Glenn Stevens as governors.
Johnston played a major role in advising the Hawke government to float the Australian dollar. This decision has frequently been cited by me as the most influential economic decision taken by any Australian government in the past 40 years.
As governor, Stevens demonstrated his independence by raising interest rates on the eve of the 2007 election, won convincingly by Kevin Rudd. Stevens’s decision was uncomfortable for me and other members of my government but not unexpected.
Despite any wordy protestations to the contrary, Chalmers has tried to shift the blame for the pain experienced by borrowers at present on to the shoulders of his own anointed Reserve Bank governor. It is not only an unworthy deed but it is also transparent.
The Australian public is far more economically literate than many political figures and media commentators give it credit for. My experience was that it well understood that on occasions there could be tension between the treasurer and the governor; each having different constituencies to serve, but both ultimately in need of a stable, smooth-functioning economy.
Also, treasurers occasionally must carry out government decisions with which they personally disagree.
By his opportunistic and quite disloyal remarks Chalmers has diminished himself, not Bullock.
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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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