A protest vigil will be held for 4 days at the electoral office of Anthony Albanese 334A Marrickville Road, Marrickville NSW 2204.
This event is part of a set of rolling actions across the nation aimed at obtaining visas.
There are ongoing protests at the Victorian electoral office of Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil.
Canberra is the destination for a sit-down refugee strike on October 17, 2023. A Tamil cyclist has also set out from Brisbane. He expects to roll up on 17 October, too.
The group of 23 women (mainly Tamil and Iranian) are currently walking from Andrew Giles’ office in Melbourne. They are due to reach Parliament House in Canberra on 18 October 2023.
While larger refugee organisations take no ownership of events organised by grassroots refugees, they are supportive of the campaign.
Some of the refugees in this cohort have been through offshore detention and indefinite Immigration detention onshore.
Protests have grown in intensity. The ALP Government shows no signs of addressing the plight of some 10,000 plus refugees stranded on temporary visas or without any visa altogether, despite healthy polling.
Many see the Ministerial Interventions granting permanent visas to Neil Para and the Bilo family as a precedent for what is possible when the campaign optics are right.
Independent politicians have been invited to speak at the Canberra events.
Refugee speakers in Canberra will include Mahboubeh Mirshahi and Maryam Khasri.
Like what we do at The AIMN?
You’ll like it even more knowing that your donation will help us to keep up the good fight.
Chuck in a few bucks and see just how far it goes!
Your contribution to help with the running costs of this site will be gratefully accepted.
You can donate through PayPal or credit card via the button below, or donate via bank transfer: BSB: 062500; A/c no: 10495969
In Melbourne, there have been rolling protests by refugees outside the electoral offices of the Minister for Home Affairs Clare O’Neil and Immigration Minister Andrew Giles for the past fortnight.
More rallies are planned.
The 500 or so protesters who have attended are people from multiple ethnicities who are still awaiting permanent visas. They aim to submit their contact details to the Ministers.
They represent another 10000 refugees in similar situations. This caseload of folk living in uncertainty is the aftermath of the LNP’s harsh Sovereign Borders deterrence policy. A cursory fast track assessment process sometimes trivialised the issues behind asylum claims.
Occasionally, such protest looks repellantly bleak. Some days have been a mixture of accented speakers emotively describing grim experiences of detention or depression into megaphones, the usual black and white signs, blocked traffic, dark clothing, angry chants in various languages. A man on hunger strike collapsed on 21 September 2023. Another protester has been sidelined by a thyroid cancer diagnosis.
Why should we care?
We should care because each protester represents an essential worker or a family that has run out of positive options. Almost every person protesting has been battling an unresponsive bureaucracy and heartless legislative system for 11 years. They are visaless or stuck trying to renew temporary visas every few months. They miss their ageing relatives.
Indebted to immigration lawyers, carrying court costs, they must still pay tax. Their children are charged international fees to study at tertiary level. It is not a happy situation.
However, there is also brightness in sharing common experiences, warm chats, the mix of women attending, smiling children play lego or ball games together. Upbeat western and traditional songs have protesters holding colourful blue and red heart signs swaying. There is hope that the vigils will bring new awareness and change.
We can all help. How about popping down there to show support and to experience this atmosphere for yourselves?
The brutality of Australia’s Immigration Policies must be redressed.
A “Fair Go” means Permanent Visas for those who are contributing to our nation while still stuck through over a decade of uncertainty.
A rolling protest is also planned for Albanese’s electoral office in Sydney this Tuesday to Thursday October 3 to 6. This grassroots refugee-run caravan then moves to Canberra. No organisations are pulling their strings.
Like what we do at The AIMN?
You’ll like it even more knowing that your donation will help us to keep up the good fight.
Chuck in a few bucks and see just how far it goes!
Your contribution to help with the running costs of this site will be gratefully accepted.
You can donate through PayPal or credit card via the button below, or donate via bank transfer: BSB: 062500; A/c no: 10495969
All the hyperbole about Pezzullo’s fall from grace is annoying.
Everything Pezzullo oversaw on Manus and Nauru was actually worse than all the insider grandstanding, the attacks on public service neutrality, the enabling of lobbyists, the damage to democracy, the filthy deals. He oversaw actual torture, restrictive practices, medical neglect, human despair, denial of access to lawyers, bashings, extreme corruption, abuse of youth.
The neutrality of the public service has always been a myth. But brutalising refugees is a very obvious low. Devastating more than 2000 lives is significant.
Media have been far too gentle with the Home Affairs culture for way too long.
Address that by all means, but also give the legacy caseload of refugees permanency now.
Like what we do at The AIMN?
You’ll like it even more knowing that your donation will help us to keep up the good fight.
Chuck in a few bucks and see just how far it goes!
Your contribution to help with the running costs of this site will be gratefully accepted.
You can donate through PayPal or credit card via the button below, or donate via bank transfer: BSB: 062500; A/c no: 10495969
Canberra: Following the announcement of the referendum date, the Tech Council of Australia (TCA) Board has confirmed its support for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament to be enshrined in the constitution.
Kate Pounder, CEO of the TCA said, “From launch, the TCA has made it a priority to increase diversity within the tech sector. That includes greater participation by Indigenous Australians in tech jobs, and more opportunities for Indigenous founders.”
“Supporting the Voice is consistent with our commitment to improve diversity because it can help empower Indigenous communities to have a greater say in policies and decisions that affect them. As a community of innovators, we know that solving hard problems and making improvements starts by understanding pain points listening to the people affected by them.”
“After more than a decade of trying to close the gap, there remains significant inequity in economic and social outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in Australia. While we are making progress in some areas, it’s clear that our current approaches aren’t achieving the scale of change at the pace that’s required.”
“Change will also require greater action by the tech sector to support Indigenous entrepreneurship and tech job opportunities. Tech companies are already taking action, but we know more can be done. We believe that we all have a responsibility to create a fairer and more inclusive future. This includes lifting our joint efforts to close the digital divide and ensure Indigenous Australians are strongly represented in Australia’s fast-growing, high-skilled and well-paid digital economy.”
Speaking on behalf of the Board, Robyn Denholm, Chair of the TCA said, “The Board agreed this position following a process of engagement and consultation across our membership. The Tech Council recognises that it has an important leadership role to help build support for this reform and to ensure the tech sector is informed with accurate and trusted information ahead of the upcoming referendum. We respect there will be different views on this topic, including by member companies who can take their own positions and as such this is non-binding.”
About the Tech Council of Australia
The Tech Council of Australia is the peak industry body for Australia’s tech sector. Providing a trusted voice for Australia’s technology industry, with over 160 members, the Tech Council comprises the full spectrum of tech companies.
We aim to advise and engage with Australian governments, businesses, and the wider community to help support the ongoing creation, development, and adoption of technology across industries.
Our vision is for a prosperous Australia that thrives by harnessing the power of technology.
Like what we do at The AIMN?
You’ll like it even more knowing that your donation will help us to keep up the good fight.
Chuck in a few bucks and see just how far it goes!
Your contribution to help with the running costs of this site will be gratefully accepted.
You can donate through PayPal or credit card via the button below, or donate via bank transfer: BSB: 062500; A/c no: 10495969
A new study by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOSCAR) that looked at the prevalence of coercive control behaviours in police domestic violence (DV) reports has found that in 57% of domestic violence (DV) events at least one coercive control behaviour was recorded by police. The most common coercive control behaviours were property damage and theft (present in 26% of DV events), intimidation and threats (24%) and verbal abuse (23%).
10% of recorded DV offences included a reference to threats of harm and 6% included a threat to kill.
Executive Director of the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, Jackie Fitzgerald, says the study used text mining to analyse the narrative description of police DV reports looking for mention of coercive control behaviours.
“Coercive control relates to abusive behaviours which can exert domination and control over another person. These behaviours, which can include threats, financial control, social-isolation and surveillance, represent a growing awareness of the breadth of domestic violence behaviours,” Ms Fitzgerald said.
Emotional abuse and stalking by a current or previous partner affects a large proportion of Australian women. It is estimated that in 2021-22, 23% of Australian women have experienced emotional abuse since the age of 15 (including controlling or threatening behaviours, incessant insults and intimidation by a current or previous partner), while 20% have experienced stalking (including following/watching the person, maintaining unwanted contact and using social media or electronic devices to follow or track the person).
“Over the five years to June 2023 the number of recorded DV Assault incidents in NSW increased by 13.5%. Domestic assault and sexual assault are the only major offences to show sustained increases over this time,” Ms Fitzgerald said.
Summary: Text mining police narratives of domestic violence events to identify coercive control behaviours
Topic
A new BOCSAR study examines whether a text mining approach can be applied to police narratives to measure the prevalence of coercive control behaviours in domestic violence (DV) events and whether this measure is a useful predictor of repeat offending.
Key
Analysis
The study found that in 57% of DV events at least one coercive control behaviour was reported to police, with property damage and theft (26%), intimidation and threats (24%) and verbal abuse (23%) being the three most common behaviours. In 8% of events, three or more distinct subcategories of coercive control behaviours were detected. The coercive control measure provided no improvement in the prediction of repeat violence over and above the demographic, offence characteristic and prior offending variables that are typically used to predict DV reoffending.
Key Analysis
A new BOCSAR study developed a text mining method to identify coercive control related behaviours from the free-text descriptions in police narratives of 526,787 domestic violence related events occurring between 1 January 2009 and 21 March 2020. This provided a measure of the prevalence of 48 separate behaviours.
The study found that in 57% of domestic violence events at least one coercive control behaviour was reported, with property damage and theft (26%), intimidation and threats (24%) and verbal abuse (23%) being the three most common behaviours. In 8% of events, three or more distinct subcategories of coercive control behaviours were detected. Other forms of coercive control, such as technological abuse, were detected but much less frequently.
For the four behaviours that were captured by both the police incident categories and the text mining system (stalking and intimidation, use carriage service to menace/harass/offend, property damage and trespass), there was substantial overlap with police offence classifications from fixed fields. However, the results suggest that, for all four of the categories examined, many more additional behaviours would be detected if the text mining measure was used in conjunction with the fixed field incident category recorded by police (between 30% and 60% more incidents of coercive control).
Notably, the study found that the coercive control measures provided no improvement in prediction over and above the demographic, offence characteristic and prior offending variables that are typically used to predict domestic violence reoffending.
This study highlights the inherent difficulty in defining, operationalising, and capturing coercive control. These challenges will also apply to any evaluation of the impact of the new coercive control legislation in NSW. If more than half of DV events that come to the attention of the police have at least one coercive control related behaviour reported (as estimated in this study), it is possible that a large majority of persons of interest identified in relation to DV events could potentially be charged with this new offence. Given the difficulties observing this offence, the way in which police record and enforce the offence (and the way in which victims report the behaviour) will largely determine how often the offence is used and the subsequent impact.
Like what we do at The AIMN?
You’ll like it even more knowing that your donation will help us to keep up the good fight.
Chuck in a few bucks and see just how far it goes!
Your contribution to help with the running costs of this site will be gratefully accepted.
You can donate through PayPal or credit card via the button below, or donate via bank transfer: BSB: 062500; A/c no: 10495969
The prospects for commitment to UN General Assembly’s sustainment development forum are being thwarted by a sharp escalation of the war in Ukraine. From the hard-line rhetoric in support of military solutions at the Security Council to surprise missile attacks on the headquarters of the Black Sea Naval Command at Sevastopol in the Crimea, the drums of war are being played with more militancy.
Addressing both the UN General Assembly and the Security Council, President Zelenskyy demanded only a complete cessation of a Russian influence in both the contested territories of Donetsk and the Crimean Peninsula.
Prior to the Ukrainian elections in 2019, Voldymyr Zelenskyy came to fame as a comedian, actor and television producer in the fictional Ukrainian television series Servant of the People. In this series, Volodymyr Zelenskyy played the fictional role of high school teacher Vasyl Holoborodko whose patriotic rants against corruption propelled this fictional character into politics.
After some initial ambiguities from the Biden Administration on the supply of medium range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine, The Guardian (24 September 2023) offered this news punchlinethat coincided with reports on a direct missile hit on naval headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol:
US presidentJoe Bidenhas decided to supply Ukraine with long-range army tactical missile systems (ATACMS), an important boost to Kyiv’s capacity to target Russian military logistics at long range distances as the country prepares for a second winter at war. Biden told Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelenskyyin a private meeting that a small number of the weapons would be transferred, NBC reported, citing US officials.
Ukraine has been asking for ATACMS for months. Officials in the US were reluctant as the country’s own stockpile is limited and because of fears Russia could accuse Washington of escalation… Fired from a mobile launcher, ATACMS can hit targets up to 190 miles (300km) away, allowing Ukrainian forces to strike far beyond the front lines. Potential targets include command headquarters, weapons depots and supply networks, including railways.
Ukraine’s acquisition of the ATACMS is the latest in a long-running and largely successful campaign to push western allies for more advanced weaponry, which has been bolstered by Ukrainian military successes on the ground.
When Russia invaded last year, guided anti-tank missiles were among the most hi-tech equipment sent to Ukraine. It now has western tanks, surface-to-air missile defence systems and pilots training to take over a fleet of F-16 fighter jets.
President Zelenskyy’s addresses to both the General Assembly and the UN Security Council in New York wasa restatement of Ukraine’s formulas for an end to the fightingwhich were conveniently summarised months ago by Al Jazeera News (28 December 2022):
The Ukrainian peace plan calls for:
Radiation and nuclear safety, focusing on restoring security around Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, Zaporizhzhiain Ukraine, which is now Russian-occupied.
Food security, including protecting and ensuringUkraine’s grain exportsto the world’s poorest nations.
Energy security, with a focus on price restrictions onRussian energy resources, as well as aiding Ukraine with restoring its power infrastructure, half of which has been damaged by Russian attacks.
Release of all prisonersand deportees, including war prisoners and children deported to Russia.
Restoring Ukraine’s territorial integrity and Russia reaffirming it according to the UN Charter, which Zelenskyy said is “not up to negotiations”.
Withdrawal of Russian troops and the cessation of hostilities, the restoration of Ukraine’s state borders with Russia.
Justice, including the establishment of a special tribunal to prosecute Russian war crimes.
The prevention of ecocide, and the protection of the environment, with a focus on demining and restoring water treatment facilities.
Prevention of an escalation of conflict and building security architecture in the Euro-Atlantic space, including guarantees for Ukraine.
Confirmation of the war’s end, including a document signed by the involved parties.
As President Zelenskyy parades at the UN and on overseas state visits in his iconic military fatigues, the mainstream media often overlooks the fact that he is also a canny populist leader who defeated the more moderate Petro Poroshenko in the run-off presidential elections in April 2019 after failing to receive an absolute majority at the first election tally.
While President Zelenskyy continued his rhetorical offensive with an address to the Canadian Parliament on 22 September 2023, medium range Ukrainian naval missiles hit the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol. This followed a Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian City of Kremenchuk according to DW News (22 September 2023).
In the midst of a worsening in global strategic relations Foreign Minister Penny Wong addressed the UN General Assemblyfor the second time in a year (DFAT 23 September 2023.
Our foreign minister strived to address the structural barriers to sustainable development in the spirit of the General Assembly’s current forum. Penny Wong identified the Albanese Government with the efforts of Foreign Minister Dr. Evatt in the Chifley era to support the UN as a multinational advocate for peace and development that would remove the scourge of nuclear weapons as false flags for peace and development which detract from the sustainable development goals of G-77 countries.
In the General Assembly, the G-77 Group of countries is eager to pursue its sustainable development goals as approved at the Summit in Havana. The G-77 group with the support of 135 members of the General Assembly has a clear majority in the General Assembly on 193 members and contains countries with a full range of ideological opinions on strategic and economic issues.
Member States of the G77
As shown by the distribution of the G-77 Group on the global map, the G-77 group extends across the globe from PNG, the Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste adjacent to Australia through Asia, Africa and Latin America.
During international crises in the Cold War era, moderation was often achieved through the efforts of diverse opinions from the leaders of developed countries. Electoral cycles in the post-1989 era have brought a drift to the right on strategic policies within the members states of the US Global Alliance. Sweden, Austria and Finland which have thrown in their lot to join NATO in the post-2021 era after the Russian penetration into Ukraine.
Penny Wong’s address to the UN General Assembly did offer an alternative to All the Way With The USA Rhetoric. Her welcome address to the General Assembly was a highly qualified alternative viewpoint from Australia as a staunch member of the US Global Alliance, it placed no pressure on Ukraine and Russia to seek alternatives to the current conflicts.
Support for military solutions has also intruded into responsible reporting and commentsfrom Australian military chiefs (16 September 2023).
This opinion piece from ABC News indirectly supports thewarning from Australian Defence ChiefAngus Campbell in relation to the erosion of democratic activism as a potent force in media manipulation (ABC News 14 September 2023):
Key points:
General Angus Campbell fears public confidence in elected officials will be damaged as AI and deepfake use accelerates
He fears Australians will increasingly struggle to separate fact from fiction
General Campbell has accused Russia of seeking to fracture allegiances between Western democracies.
In the historical traditions of the Holy See’s diplomatic activity during the Great War (1914-18), Pope Francis has endorsed the diplomatic mission of Cardinal Matteo Zuppi of Bologna to assist in promoting a peace agenda to the war in Ukraine in Washington, Kyiv and Beijing in the past week. Cardinal Zuppi’s three-day visit to Beijing clearly supports Win-Win diplomatic outcomes. While notes on the diplomatic missions by Cardinal Zuppi are covered by Vatican News and mainstream media, this coverage is completely short of detail on the actual content of discussions particularly in Moscow and Beijing. Initiatives from the Pope’s envoy were welcomed in reporting by China’s Xinhua News Agency (13 September 2023) and more recently by Britain’s Morning Star newspaper which is available online for perusal by readers.
The optimum traction of UN Assistance to countries at war and in crisis over recent disasters has been eroded by cut-backs in funding to UN agencies from wealthy countries as shown by thelatest UN budgetary data.
Overall revenue from mandatory pro-rata contributions of member states stagnated at $3 US billion in 2021 forcing greater reliance on voluntary contributions and the UN’s own fund-raising ventures. These contributions extended the UN’s revenue base to $US 7.555 billion or a 10.3 percent increase over 2020 levels. In contrast, the US supports the state of Israel with approximately $US 3 billion in the Foreign Military Financing Programme (FMF) which is more than three times its annual contribution to support Pro-Rata UN Contributions.
As a developing country itself, China is contributing above its weight in both pro-rate contributions rather than commitment to Voluntary Contributions as revealed from the latest UN budgetary statements for 2021:
To its credit, the Biden Administration had paid off some of the arrears generated by previous US Governments for arrears in contributions to peacekeeping operations as noted by a short paper from the US Congressional Research Service(CRS).
The return of a Republican US Government in 2024 will surely end President Biden’s relative generosity towards the UN during the 2022-24 time period (CRS).
Our current political activism for peace and disarmament is a long way short of Labor’s initial post-1945 initiatives. This commitment soon faded as the Cold War intensified. Labor Governments in both Britain and Australia made initial preparations for the testing of nuclear weapons in Australia. This became a reality under Australian conservative governments.
Meanwhile each state and territory has plans to deal with emergencies involving nuclear powered military vessels from Britain and the USA. The threat from nuclear traction fades into insignificance when attention is given to the nuclear weapons which are routinely carried by a variety of foreign submarines and aircraft carriers when they are making visits to Australian ports under the Don’t Ask Won’t Tell Protocols demanded by the US Global Alliance.
Given the disciplined requirements imposed by the US Global Alliance on its allies as an alternative to real consultation, Penny Wong has ventured as far as she can on our behalf in her address to the UN General Assembly.
Promoting the values of the G-77 Summit is the best shield for activists against plans to steer humanity into greater acceptance of the false flags of neoliberalism and militarism.
Denis Bright (pictured) is a financial member of the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA). Denis is committed to consensus-building in these difficult times. Your feedback from readers advances the cause of citizens’ journalism. Full names are not required when making comments. However, a valid email must be submitted if you decide to hit the Replies Button.
Like what we do at The AIMN?
You’ll like it even more knowing that your donation will help us to keep up the good fight.
Chuck in a few bucks and see just how far it goes!
Your contribution to help with the running costs of this site will be gratefully accepted.
You can donate through PayPal or credit card via the button below, or donate via bank transfer: BSB: 062500; A/c no: 10495969
It may be premature to write Emeritus Chairman Rupert Murdoch’s epitaph now that he’s ostensibly handed the keys of his media empire to his favoured scion and heir, Lachlan.
Bubba Lachie, you will recall, is the infantile drongorecently forced to payouton a rather silly defamation action against our feisty independent cousin, Crikey.com.au, after daddy’s flagshit Fox News Network settled a defamation action brought against it by Dominion Voting Systems, opening yet another vein on the corporate corruption of (some) journalists and journalism within Murdoch’s bespoke empire.
Bubba Lachlan and Naughty Crikey
Dominion’s victory also conveniently proved the legal case forCrikey.
In a deliriously audacious and courageous flourish, Crikey took out afull-page advertisementin The New York Times challenging Lachlan Murdoch to make good his threat to sue over an alleged defamation. Bubba took the bait. Silly sad boy, Bubba.
Dominian proved case for Crikey
Basically, Dominion proved a bunch of Trumpian Fox News stooges masquerading as journalists, commentators, experts and news executives, promulgated lies about Dominion’s role in the 2020 presidential election.
Ultimately, Murdoch and Fox News were hoisted by the one petard. Dominion did us all a favour. Into the public domain and courtroom was tipped a container load of Murdoch/Fox News documents and data from their countless devices that proved unequivocally they were guilty as hell.
The Murdoch machine had to shut down the case. They settled. They paid up. But hey, not before the squalid and unethical behaviour of these entitled dudes was writ large upon the internet’s skies sans frontieres.
At US$797.5 million, It was a helluva payout, even though it was only half of what Dominion sought for injury caused to its reputation and business by Fox.
Uncle Sam became Uncle Spam
At the time, the unelected President Donald Trump might well have been the network’s prime anchor, such was his Fox profile. Fox morphed into the Zombie Trump News network. It was like, Trump 24/7.
Too much Trump was never enough. The endemic mantra it churned was that the election was rigged and that really, Americans had unanimously re-elected Trump. Uncle Sam became Uncle Spam.
Trump: Clickbait for Fox advertisers
But even before that, whilst Trump was still president, any appearance or call-in by the big guy was advertiser clickbait for Fox and friends. Ratings mean advertisers. The talking heads were vying with each other to get Trump on their shows and incessantly talked about him and interviewed experts and others who talked about him to get a ratings uptick.
While they were at it, they spread even more conspiracies and lies. With impunity. As the records now show, they knew their boss, ever the dirty digger, felt no shame in them clothing the butt naked truth in a transparent cloak made from immoral fibres threaded with lies.
Mother Fucker Carlson, Yawn Hannity, Laura Ingraham frontline pit bulls and bitches
Fox’s frontline pit bulls and bitches like the man they call ‘Mother Fucker Carlson’ (aka Tucker Carlson), Yawn Hannity (aka Sean Hannity) and Laura Ingraham, whose sobriquet I do not know, were three heavy hitters who were let off the corporate leash.
All three were indisputable propagandists for Brand Trump. You would be forgiven for thinking they were on his payroll and certainly via the ratings, he was contributing to theirs. There were others.
One thing is certain. Fox News Network and its journalistic mercenaries, still have a case to answer over their collective role in theattempted political coup and insurrection on the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Fox: Flesh-eating ravings maul truth and democracy
Their on-air flesh-eating ravings contributed to the savage maulings of democracy, truth and journalism itself along with the unforgivable betrayal of the people by bearing false witness to the truth and the bleeding obvious.
If the Proud Boys were Trump’s Pretorian Guards, then Fox News, under the tutelage and watchful eye, we now know, of Commandant-in-Chief, Rupert Murdoch, provided the pussy grabber with a propaganda unit of whichJoseph Goebbelswould have been proud, such was its effectiveness in building upon nationalistic white supremacist fervor fueled by hate and fear, lies and more lies and fake news. Surely it/they, were the equivalent of a journalistic Squadrismo.
For the Fox juggernaut, raking in the money from advertisers and the pursuit of even more power and influence was the coveted prize. The Murdoch Machine collected the former whilst Murdoch pocketed the other. For him, power is a bottomless pit. Can’t get enough. Perhaps it’s what gets his rocks off. Perhaps he even covets power more than money.
Murdoch needed Trump. Trump needed Murdoch. Who was/is the neediest of them all? This is unfinished business. There is history yet to be writ.
Hannity goes gaga on Trump’s MAGA stage
Who can forget Hannity being summoned onstage by Trump at a Make America Great Again (MAGA) rally? Supporting causes is one thing, supporting messianic Trump, quite another. Supporting the Republican Party is one thing; endorsing Trump and exploiting his dangerous buffoonery and more, inflating Trump’s public persona to deific status, all served to turn America into Nation Trump. For a moment, Trump was America. And an America far removed from the nation that elected the likes of Barack Obama as its president.
In these dystopian times, such is the stuff of nightmares. Where was the American Dream on the day of the seige upon the bulwark of American democracy, once held up like Liberty’s lamp, as a beacon to the world? It was a warning to us all.
Murdoch’s journalism takes road most travelled
In all of this, are the globally wandering hands of an arch power monger: Rupert Murdoch. His kind of journalism invariably takes the road most traveled. How often he has sat back and commanded, encouraged, nurtured others to do his bidding.
Hannity’s odious master-servant relationship with Rupert Murdoch, emblematic of many, but certainly not all, of Rupert’s frontline journalistic mercenaries, especially those in the United States, Australia, as we here know only too well, and in the disunited kingdom, Britain, the off-shore home of our ownmeddling monarch, Charles.
This CNN video shows you that despite Hannity’s denials, his onstage appearance with Trump was clearly pre-ordained and for all we know, Trump wizened, puppeteer Rupert Murdoch himself, may have ordered this sickening display of media sycophancy and blatant ratings chase.
With breathtaking hypocrisy, his reflections reveal a brilliant and shrewd journalist who nontheless remains a deft proponent of industrial strength fake news, gross journalistic misconduct and Trumpian-like delusion on how he is perceived. Is he more King Lear than Citizen Kane?
The memo
Dear Colleagues,
I am writing to let you all know that I have decided to transition to the role of Chairman Emeritus at Fox and News. For my entire professional life, I have been engaged daily with news and ideas, and that will not change. But the time is right for me to take on different roles, knowing that we have truly talented teams and a passionate, principled leader in Lachlan who will become sole Chairman of both companies.
Neither excessive pride nor false humility are admirable qualities. But I am truly proud of what we have achieved collectively through the decades, and I owe much to my colleagues, whose contributions to our success have sometimes been unseen outside the company but are deeply appreciated by me. Whether the truck drivers distributing our papers, the cleaners who toil when we have left the office, the assistants who support us or the skilled operators behind the cameras or the computer code, we would be less successful and have less positive impact on society without your day-after-day dedication.
Our companies are in robust health, as am I. Our opportunities far exceed our commercial challenges. We have every reason to be optimistic about the coming years – I certainly am, and plan to be here to participate in them. But the battle for the freedom of speech and, ultimately, the freedom of thought, has never been more intense.
My father firmly believed in freedom, and Lachlan is absolutely committed to the cause. Self- serving bureaucracies are seeking to silence those who would question their provenance and purpose. Elites have open contempt for those who are not members of their rarefied class. Most of the media is in cahoots with those elites, peddling political narratives rather than pursuing the truth.
In my new role, I can guarantee you that I will be involved every day in the contest of ideas. Our companies are communities, and I will be an active member of our community. I will be watching our broadcasts with a critical eye, reading our newspapers and websites and books with much interest, and reaching out to you with thoughts, ideas, and advice. When I visit your countries and companies, you can expect to see me in the office late on a Friday afternoon.
I look forward to seeing you wherever you work and whatever your responsibility. And I urge you to make the most of this great opportunity to improve the world we live in.
Murdoch’s obsession with father, Sir Keith
Keith Murdoch in war correspondent mode Photo: Wikipedia
The memo reveals Murdoch’s well-known obsession with his father, Sir Keith Murdoch, on whose media foundations, Murdoch the younger built his monopolistic empire. In fact, Keith Rupert Murdoch was named for his father and seems to have spent his life endeavouring to prove himself as his father’s equal and more, to his much-loved mother and matriarch of the clan Dame Elisabeth Murdoch.
The beautiful, redoubtable and indefatigable Dame Elisabeth, a noted philanthropist and tireless community entrepeneur, she lived a life of enduring public service. She founded and/or supported so many community initiatives and was still involved up to the time of her death at 103 in 2012.
Indeed, she bequeathed the family home,Cruden Farm, with its famed gardens designed by Edna Walling, to the people. Cruden was where Rupert and his three sisters spent their childhood.
Elisabeth Joy Greene was a mere slip of a 19-year-old who caused a minor scandal when she married the handsome ambitious Keith, because he was 23 years older than she.
It is said that serial matrimonialist Rupert’s penchant for much younger brides, is due in part to the loving relationship and dynamism between his parents.
Dame Elisabeth adored the lauded journalist Sir Keith, ofGallipoli Letterfame and practically deified him after he died. Rupert’s endeavours could never match let alone eclipse that of her beloved husband. She disapproved of his salacious newspapers and the gratuitous Page 3 girls. And she certainly disapproved of Wendi Deng.
Dame Elisabeth gives Rupert Bollocking over turfing Anna for Wendi
An insider told me Dame Elisabeth gave Rupert a right bollocking about the way he discarded and divorced his second wife, Glasgow born Anna Torv, for Deng.
Anna Murdoch’s business acumen contributed to Murdoch’s empire building.
“As well as being beautiful, she has brains, she’s savvy, bright and clever, really sharp. She’s also very warm and has that ability to put people at ease. She’s a wonderful hostess and had no trouble adapting to New York’s high society, such as it was. She reeked old money rather than new. She has a grace about her. But she’s tough as tungsten, a bit like her mother-in law, or should I say her ex mother in law, who was very angry with Rupert. Rupert was a bastard, the way that he treated her at the end. She’s also well read, witty and very funny.
When Wendi Deng had an affair with Blair, I thought to myself, right, Rupert you bastard, now you know what it feels like.”
Deng Murdoched in cold blood
Wendi Deng, you will recall, was rather fond of Tony Blair’s “butt.” The publicly cuckolded Rupert expedited a speedy divorce. As usual. Deng, who has two daughters with the tichoon, was Murdoched in cold blood.
Blair has denied any liaisons with Deng, dangereuses or otherwise. But then, he lied about the Iraq War.
A Catholic, Anna Murdoch bore three ofRupert Murdoch’s six childrenby three mothers. Lachlan, James and Elisabeth just happen to be the key media players in the family.
In a world exclusive with David Leser in the then Kerry Packer owned Australian Women’s Weekly the usually discreet second wife, married to Murdoch for 31 years, told it like it was.
… She described her state of shock at the divorce, her wish not to appear as a victim and her feeling of “coming out of a deep mental illness”. She also detailed the way that, despite reports of an amicable separation, she was unceremoniously dumped as a non-executive director of News Corp. Of her once-admired partner, who she helped to secure a papal knighthood in 1998, she said: “I began to think the Rupert Murdoch that I loved died a long time ago. Perhaps I was in love with the idea of still being in love with him. But the Rupert I fell in love with could not have behaved this way.”
The since remarried and renamed Anna Murdoch Mann, was brutally honest and one can sense her pain and injury at that time.
… “I think that Rupert’s affair with Wendi Deng – it’s not an original plot – was the end of the marriage. His determination to continue with that. I thought we had a wonderful, happy marriage. Obviously, we didn’t.” She went on: “I don’t want to get too personal about this… but [he] was extremely hard, ruthless and determined that he was going to go through with this, no matter what I wanted or what I was trying to do to save the marriage. He had no interest in that whatsoever.”
She also revealed she’d been forced off the Board of News Corp on which she sat, alongside Lachlan. She wasn’t given a choice, she told Leser.
Perhaps to prove he is his own man and truly owns his chairmanship, Bubba Lachie might reconsider a role for the now Anna dePeyser.
In 1998, Rupert Murdoch joined dozens of prominent Southern California Catholics who were awarded a papal knighthood.
Murdoch, who was thought to have converted to Catholicism, stated a while back, he wasn’t baptised in the faith, but would accompany Anna to Mass.
Hisdonations of large sums of moneyto local Catholic churches was rewarded with the Order of Knight Commander of St Gregory the Great, conferred in 1998. It works in much the same way as donating monies to political parties, perhaps not so effective. Dame Anna also received the same papal award, although that fact received less attention.
It’s said that Anna leaned on Cardinal Roger Mahony who in turn, leaned on the Pope to secure their Honours.
The camel, eye of the needle and rich man Rupert
Because of the phone hacking and Dominion scandals, there have since been calls for Murdoch to be stripped of his papal knighthood.
Here’s Anna Murdoch’s clever quip after the ceremony, that had Rupert chortling:
Rupert: “I thought it was very spiritual and very moving. I was very impressed by what the cardinal said.”
Anna: “I think it was very humbling.
We’re both trying to get through the eye of the needle. Perhaps this is the beginning.”
Some of you will recognize Anna Murdoch’s wry and telling alluding to the words ofNew Testamentgospeller Matthew(verse 19.24) reporter-at-large for Jesus, quoted as saying:
“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
* Some scholars contend the translation of the word ‘camel’ should be ‘rope‘ but hey, let’s not get into the fake news bizzo.
Note Anna’s use of the word ‘humbling.’ Years later, after appearing before the UK’s House of Commons Committee investigating Murdoch’s News of the World phone hacking scandal in July, 2011, he referred to it as “the most humble day of my life.” Not only did he eat humble pie, but it was also the day he had a cream pie thrown at him, the security breach bravely thwarted by his then wife Wendi Deng. Talk about having the cake and eating it too.
Murdoch’s memo: He’s still on Planet Fox!
Murdoch’s memo wasn’t only to his minions. It was also a press release to the world and no doubt he hopes that obituary writers in due course, will quote the noble sentiments he espouses.
His words also reflect the pathos and reflection of those of us who hover closer to death than life. In his carnal pursuit for power, Rupert Murdoch has strayed far from the rebellious swashbuckling disrupter he once was. There is self-pity in his reckoning words, is there not? Truisms as well:
… But the battle for the freedom of speech and, ultimately, the freedom of thought, has never been more intense…
No mention of the fact that time and again such freedoms have been savagely mauled by he and his media outlets, News of the World, Fox News Network et al.
Then there is this:
… My father firmly believed in freedom, and Lachlan is absolutely committed to the cause…
Here’s an apt cliché whilst I get a fresh vomitbag. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Bubba Lachie is so committed to the cause of freedom, that one of his first grown up actions as chairman of daddy’s empire,was to nominatenone other than a man renowned for his suppressive rigid right-wing politics and views, former Prime Minister Tony Abbott for the board of Fox Corporation.
Who better than the bloke who scurried out of Parliament to avoid voting in the same sex marriage debate?
News.com.au’s Liz Burke fingeredAbbott this way:
“… But when it came time to vote – and he could have voted against it = he made a gutless lurch for the door.
Mr Abbott’s weak act didn’t have anything to do with democracy, it was a protest against it. And history won’t forget that.”
There’s a litany of testimonials about Abbott’s attempts to curtail, even abolish freedoms of all kinds, so I guess that makes him a perfect candidate.
Surely, disgraced ex Qantas Chief Alan Joyce, will be next.
Murdoch speaks of ethics, denounces elites
Perhaps the more egregious calumny embedded in Murdoch’s memo is this paragraph:
…Self- serving bureaucracies are seeking to silence those who would question their provenance and purpose. Elites have open contempt for those who are not members of their rarefied class. Most of the media is in cahoots with those elites, peddling political narratives rather than pursuing the truth.
Such abject hypocrisy. Such pathos. It smacks of Murdoch’s perennial interference with the truth; nothing more than a press release from which he hopes obituaries writers will quote. Nothing else to see here. No 13-year-old murdered Milly Parker phone to hack today. Don’t mention the war on truth.
Milly Dowler and her family were/are no elites. The cruel violation of their grief and family privacy was as an inside joke to the then News of the World.
Can you imagine a News journalist hacking Dame Elisabeth’s phone messages after she died? It wouldn’t be right. But Murdoch journalists and agents thought it was alright for little Milly.
How dare Murdoch give us a lecture on freedom and ethics. Both are beggars in the Murdoch millieu.
His words are from a man closer to death than to life, like many of us. What happened to that reforming swashbuckling disrupter of the media who lived and breathed journalism. At what point was journalism cast asunder for the power and the glory?
When I read Murdoch’s memo, the words about the elites rang a bell. Sure enough, Murdoch, who I’m told, has written his own obituary for publication throughout his media outlets, both electronic and print, must keep it in the second drawer on the right. Cop this 2015 tweet (X):
Much fuss and publicity in UK as horrible elites yak on about Page 3. Worry not, The Sun will always have great looking women – and men!
Certain people were alarmed that I’d discussed Murdoch use of SawPalmetto used, among other things for sexual dysfunction. He couldn’t get it up. No shame in that.
He had a wife 37 years his junior. Then again, age doesn’t matter when one is in love. Right?
Moreover, I’d seen and verified correspondence and the physician concerned also verified it to me in person. I was told that Murdoch was furious at the revelation – and comments I made in relation to his father Sir Keith. Sacred ground.
I thought of theMilly Dowler phone hacking scandaland the obscene, cruel and brutal invasion of that murdered little 13-year-old schoolgirl’s forever grieving family and the gross moral turpitude of the News of the World and I thought this is a man who can dish it out but can’t take it.
Milly Dowler, with her dad, Bob. Photo: Daily Mail
Imagine if a News of the World journalist/agent hacked Dame Elisabeth’s phone messages before or after she died.
We are publishing the article in full because it contains pertinent matters hardly discussed in the hagiography written about Rupert Murdoch’s abdication as Chairman.
Murdoch most foul
(Originally published on Independent Australia)
DOES it really matter if Rupert used Saw Palmetto to increase his libido to service his young wife?
Does it really matter that despite industrial strength botox and other wrinkle spakfillers Rupert Murdoch still looks like a pantomime Dame and decades older than his Mother?
You can’t blame him for wanting to be Peter Pan for his Wendi.
Here’s the headline. Came to me in a flash. “Linga Longa Denga” Gotcha!
Does it really matter that the late Professor John Avieson, who wrote a still unpublished and not entirely flattering biography of Sir Keith Murdoch, was warned by Dame Elisabeth Murdoch at a social gathering that the book would never see the light of day as long as she lived?
Does it really matter if Murdoch bought the Wall Street Journal in 2007 as marital insurance for his ‘China Doll’ (a more polite employee nickname than Chairman’s Mao) to call her own in the event of his premature death or ejaculation as Chairman or in the event of clan ructions or corporate infarction?
Well yes, brothers and sisters. It matters. And it matters mightily.
Okay, the WSJ might not be the Taj Mahal, but it’s up there in media mogul terms of journalistic prestige. Or was. Maybe now it will get its mojo back.
Of course, Rupert might have bought it for the former Deng Wen Ge (thank you Eric Ellis) toget backat the Bancroft family who’d owned it for 100 years, because just seven years earlier, the Journal published an article about Wendi he didn’t like.
You know, like the obverse of the famous ad – he hated the company so much he bought it.
He has a reputation as a man who cradles grudges and who never forgets a slight.
But intercorporate rutting is a boardroom artform. I believe the Bancroft family isstill representedon the Board.
This stuff is right up the rectal columns of stabloids like The Sun and The News of the World and the Murdoch media in general. Why shouldn’t it be? What’s good for the goose is good for the propaganda.
It isnews and it’s fit to print. But whilst you’ll read such things about celebrities and we of the great unwashed, you won’t read it about Big Daddy.
You won’t read about it in his newspapers. And you won’t read about it in other papers that he might as well own by default and by virtue of an extended coterie of power and influence.
We forget that the rebirth of The News of the World under Murdoch was baptised inmurder and mystery just as in the wake of its death throes, there is great sorrow and mystery at how the courageous whistleblower of the phone hacking scandal, journalist Sean Hoare was found dead in his Watford home on Monday.
Writing about him in yesterday’s Guardian, investigative journalist Nick Davies, described Sean as “a lovely man”.
Explaining why he had spoken out, he [Sean] told me:
“I want to right a wrong, lift the lid on it, the whole culture. I know, we all know, that the hacking and other stuff is endemic. Because there is so much intimidation. In the newsroom, you have people being fired, breaking down in tears, hitting the bottle.”
“He knew this very well, because he was himself a victim of the News of the World. As a show-business reporter, he had lived what he was happy to call a privileged life. But the reality had ruined his physical health:
“I was paid to go out and take drugs with rock stars – get drunk with them, take pills with them, take cocaine with them. It was so competitive. You are going to go beyond the call of duty. You are going to do things that no sane man would do. You’re in a machine.”
Nick Davies, it should be said, must rank among the more courageous of journalists in his relentless work to uncover and publish the truth about the News of the World Hacking Scandal.
I doubt that anyone in Australia would have easily published it here. And that is an indictment of the moral cowardice of our profession. Perhaps we will find greater courage now that the beast is wounded.
When one contemplates the blind and steadfast courage of the likes of Sean Hoare and lost lives of citizen journalists and correspondents in the frontline of war and terrorism, our comfortable and flaccid obeisance to a media tsar is a betrayal of all that we should hold dear and worthy.
I think of young journalists I know, who in the Bosnian war, daily risked their lives to keep radio stations and communications open for foreign reporters.
I think of Libya, of Egypt, of Pakistan, of Afghanistan and Somalia and Sudan and the wholesale slaughter of journalists in the Philippines and elsewhere.
I think of Iran. I think of revolutions perfumed with jasmine and blood and the stench of fear.
And I think of how easily we here and in Britain and the States, squander our freedoms. And how easily our silence is purchased.
And how often we do unto others that which we would never want done to ourselves.
And of how the Fourth Estate is so often barren ground. Of how truth and justice and compassion are spent seed upon its harsh surface.
It seems that Sean Hoare had a not untroubled life. But still he found in his heart and in his conscience a shared humanity that compelled him to knowingly jeopardise his life and most certainly his career to expose the truth to The New York Times and fine journalists like Nick Davies.
I am alarmed at how, almost immediately, police reports were filtering out stating there were no suspicious circumstances over Sean Hoare’s death.
Given the indecent alliances between the police, News Corporation and politicians, asking us to have faith in anything any one of these groups does at the moment is too big an ask.
Like most, Sean had his demons, but even they could not mar his sense of justice. At least he exorcised one by telling us the truth and he has undoubtedly altered the global media landscape in doing so.
If you read Nick’sfull articlehere, you will get a better picture of both Sean and Nick.
Writing in Sunday’s Independent, journalist Jonathan Owen backgrounded some unsavoury connections between the NOTW, private investigators and some interesting information about Rebekah of sunny Brooks animal farm.
Two former senior News of the World editors wanted for questioning by police
Detectives investigating phone-hacking allegations at the News of the World are keen to question two former senior journalists at the newspaper. Scotland Yard officers have been told the two, former executive editor Alex Marunchak and deputy news editor Greg Miskiw, were both key figures linked to the use of private investigators to access confidential information.
Rebekah Brooks appointed Mr Miskiw as the News of the World’s assistant editor in charge of news, and it was he who employed Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator at the heart of the phone-hacking scandal.
… After examining documents taken from Mulcaire’s home, police are anxious to question Mr Miskiw, who is living in Florida. His also featured in documents obtained by police following a raid on the Hampshire home of private detective Steve Whittamore, who was used by a large number of journalists to obtain information about public figures. Whittamore was later convicted under the Data Protection Act in 2005 at Blackfriars Crown Court of obtaining and disclosing information after passing information obtained from the police national database to customers.
Whittamore’s network was investigated and broken up by the Information Commissioner, who discovered he was accessing sensitive information from the Police National Computer, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority, British Telecom and a number of mobile phone companies.
The investigation, called Operation Motorman, showed 23 journalists from the News of the World hired Whittamore more than 200 times. The names include Rebekah Brooks, who allegedly commissioned access to confidential data from a mobile phone company.
Mr Miskiw is known to be a close friend of Mr Marunchak, a former crime reporter and senior executive at the NOTW. The two reportedly had mutual business arrangements including the importation of vodka from Ukraine. Mr Marunchak, who left the newspaper in 2006, claims to have been appointed as a special adviser to Ukraine’s UK embassy in 1999.
Mr Marunchak is said to be a friend of a private investigator called Jonathan Rees who was employed by the NOTW to help provide reporters with illegally obtained confidential information. Rees was later jailed for falsely planting cocaine in an innocent woman’s car but was re-employed by the NOTW’s editor Andy Coulson after he served his sentence. [My emphasis]
Detectives also suspected Rees of bribing corrupt officers to supply information to the media. A surveillance operation was carried out on Rees including a bug being placed in his office. It was later revealed that among the hours of taped conversations were many between Mr Marunchak and Rees discussing transactions involving thousands of pounds for work carried out for the newspaper.
[Clickhereto read the Independent‘s powerful larger story.]
The gutless self-censorship in this country about Rupert Murdoch and his various media dealings is disgusting. We have yet to address our own media cankers.
How many Australian or UK newspapers have ever retold the undoubtedly bizarre and ripping yarn ofthe tragic story of Muriel McKay, who was mistakenly kidnapped instead of Rupert’s then wife, Anna, a few days after Christmas Day in December 1969 – the same year Murdoch bought The News of the World?
The hapless Muriel, wife of Alick McKay, then Deputy Chairman of News of the World (he wasn’t made a Lord until 1976) was actually driving the Murdoch’s Rolls Royce whilst the Murdochs were in Australia.
Alick McKay returned to his Wimbledon home to find the doors forced and Muriel missing.
In a saga that belongs on the ‘tall tales but true’ shelf, it transpired that two brothers, Arthur and Nizamodeen Hosein, who were living beyond their means on a country estate and vainly trying to insinuate their way into a disdainful British establishment, apparently saw Rupert Murdoch being interviewed by David Frost and thought it would be a good idea to kidnap Anna for a ransom that would put an end to their financial woes.
The Jamaican-born brothers were subsequently caught and charged with kidnapping, murder and blackmail. Both were given life sentences. I understand that Nizamodeen Hosein is now back in Jamaica and have unconfirmed reports that Arthur Hosein is now out of prison and lives in England.
If ever there was a cold case begging to be re-examined, this is it; given the advances in forensic science and if there’s anyone left at Scotland Yard.
Tragically, Muriel McKay’s body still hasn’t been found. It is said that her body was dismembered and fed to the pigs.
Lucky that the sub editor who wrote theinfamous headline‘FREDDIE STARR ATE MY HAMSTER’ was not on duty that day.
Yes, we were cheap. And we were very nasty. Yes, we did fuck your mind over. Yes, it’s true; we did twist your moral compass completely out of shape so that you’d never ever remember you ever ever had one.
Because – and this is a tad difficult since I feel we’re now old pals – you never ever had one.
Here’s the rub, baby. We worked very well together. A great team. So good in fact, they’re gone now. All of them. And there’s no one left to speak for you.
IN THE BEGINNING …
“It’s time now to round up all these subversives and traitors.”
When supporting the NO vote in The Voice includes this Facebook statement we have a problem.
When it was preceded by “Witch” and followed by “She should be charged with treason”, it’s not just Professor Marcia Langton who has a problem, nor the two authors, but all of us.
The last time we went through this routine bigtime the footnote was,
“Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak for me”(1)
Given the movies documenting the descent from first line to last, one might suspect the line was placed mischievously. Yes, daily life is filled with boredom but …
This post isn’t to slag the creators of the comments nor defend the Yes vote, which is facing imminent defeat yet which on balance one can only advocate.
It’s however reminding how people can be easily transformed into cauldrons of hatred, and of the ramifications.
Germany 1930s from which the “Then they came for me …” poem sprang, saw Nazi media manipulators along with media and munitions Barons slavering for favour oversee the transformation.
(I feel like a crashing bore writing this stuff, ‘cos we already know this, It’s elementary, my Dear Watson, isn’t it?)
But us, Australians circa 2023; sophisticated, first-world, well-travelled etc, transformed?
Apparently yes.
Murdoch’s News Limited is gleefully consolidating its ability to twist our psyche into a contorted horror show.
No healing or counter will come from slavering Opposition leader Peter Dutton and his cabal whose only course is to ram the dark message home.
It’s inevitable: Blackfellas are going to face a more hostile, racist Australia than last year. What else besides?
(My fellow) Australians, don’t get sucked into feeding this growing vortex of hate.
Berlin mid-1930s images show a society going along just dandy until one morning footpaths were covered with shattered glass.
Australians are still at the Falling-In-Love stage with Fox News’ younger relative Sky News. Have we publicly considered its raison d’ etre? Why does it exist? Why that particular agro one-dimensional format? It’s new, glittering, polished, seductive, and we’re bunnies in the spotlight.
The polished art form which Fake-News-Obfuscation became during the 2016 US Trump-Clinton election was then ripe for export. Where next? Down Under?
CODA. Giving away trade secrets …
Orwell’s 1984? No, we’re Huxley’s Soma-fueled Brave New World, ‘cos you’ll never know you’ve been incarcerated nor that you’re on the stuff.’
We’re warm honey trickling through your veins. We’re here merely reminding you of what you already instinctively know. We’re a global money-spinning machine, baby, just keep dropping in the coins and we’ll keep pressing your booster buttons. We’re here for your pleasure. Relax, and enjoy. We’re The Future, baby.
We’re the voice.
(1) 1946 post-war confessional prose by the German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984). Wikipedia:
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out –
Because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out –
Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out –
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me –
And there was no one left to speak for me.
Like what we do at The AIMN?
You’ll like it even more knowing that your donation will help us to keep up the good fight.
Chuck in a few bucks and see just how far it goes!
Your contribution to help with the running costs of this site will be gratefully accepted.
You can donate through PayPal or credit card via the button below, or donate via bank transfer: BSB: 062500; A/c no: 10495969
A new tax incentive to drive diversity in Australia’s largest companies could powerfully shift the dial on equality in the country’s workforce – including its pivotal STEM sector.
In its submission to the Government’s Pathway to Diversity in STEM Draft Recommendations, Science & Technology Australia has urged bold thinking to tackle a lack of diversity in Australia’s workplaces.
The peak body proposes one powerful way to do this would be to broaden the Workplace Gender Equality Agency’s remit to collect data from large employers on broader workforce diversity, then offer a tax incentive to those organisations that meet staff diversity thresholds.
“Giving Australia’s big employers a financial incentive to drive stronger staff diversity would be a powerful motivator to turbocharge equality in the country’s workforce,” said Science & Technology Australia CEO Misha Schubert.
“Strong progress is typically made when you focus minds and metrics in the C-suite. Incentivising the nation’s senior business leaders to drive diversity in their workforces can accelerate the pace of change.”
The Pathways to Diversity in STEM Review was set up to recommend how to deepen diversity in Australia’s science, technology, engineering and mathematics sector.
“The recommendations the expert panel make to Government in their final report could have a crucial impact across Australia’s entire workforce,” said Ms Schubert.
“The Prime Minister has called for a future “powered by science”. To achieve it, we’re going to need to call on diverse expertise and talent from across society. A strong focus on incentivising diversity in workplaces will mean our big employers are casting their net wider in the country’s talent pool.”
Read the full STA submission to the Pathways to Diversity in STEM Review draft here.
About Science & Technology Australia
Science & Technology Australia is the nation’s peak body representing more than 90,000 scientists and technologists. We’re the leading policy voice on science and technology. Our flagship programs include Science Meets Parliament, Superstars of STEM, and STA STEM Ambassadors.
Like what we do at The AIMN?
You’ll like it even more knowing that your donation will help us to keep up the good fight.
Chuck in a few bucks and see just how far it goes!
Your contribution to help with the running costs of this site will be gratefully accepted.
You can donate through PayPal or credit card via the button below, or donate via bank transfer: BSB: 062500; A/c no: 10495969
I remember that as a teenager we had to sing ‘God save the Queen’. This was done at school, in cinemas and public events. Often this was linked to stories of horrific battles and wars. I was told that it was a good thing to fight for ‘Queen and country’. I really did believe as a child that somehow it was the job of young men to save the Queen and once that was done, whoever was left would save the country. It always involved saving virtuous people from complete bastards. I once asked if the Queen had been involved with less savage projects, building farms or housing estates. Apparently not, she was our Sovereign a very abstract concept that meant that ‘God had anointed’ her and placed her over me to rule me.
I looked up what ‘anointed’ meant and found that involved senior clergy and holy oil. The process of anointed was not included in the films of the coronation. Turned out that the staff had forgotten the recipe for that oil and that new supplies had to be made in a hurry.
Here I was, 12 years old and discovering that my Queen was my ruler by right of birth and a concoction of manmade oils applied by men wearing flowing dresses and that she was attributed with all kinds of magic, least of all the ability to motivate large numbers of young men much like me to go forth and kill large numbers of men just like me and of course the people of her ‘dominion’ and selectively anyone who seriously annoyed her. There were cenotaphs (empty tombs) all over the countryside attesting to what appeared to be divine will.
By the time I was 19, the dream had worn off, in the reality of life it seemed that our Sovereign had little interest in the wellbeing of ordinary folk and that pomp and circumstance, catering for tourists and occasionally foreign wars summed up her imagined role. As a figure head she became more and more irrelevant. Killing foreigners seemed to be more of a state function designed to protect assets and investments, resources. Moral high ground was always found or created to justify what in hindsight was state sanctioned murder. Of course, wars and created chaos are ways of advancing a state’s plans, that is the sad reality.
I met, on my journey through life, many who were once the enemies of my Sovereign and when times were good, we became friends. It’s funny how you can wake up, feel the rising sun and see the blue skies above and then, in an instant, you find your mind’s eye looking at a cenotaph. If we had all been honest at the start, accepting of the fact that there was no more holy oil that created rulers and that all of this was in essence an arrangement by mutual consent, maybe we could have built farms and houses instead of cenotaphs.
Like what we do at The AIMN?
You’ll like it even more knowing that your donation will help us to keep up the good fight.
Chuck in a few bucks and see just how far it goes!
Your contribution to help with the running costs of this site will be gratefully accepted.
You can donate through PayPal or credit card via the button below, or donate via bank transfer: BSB: 062500; A/c no: 10495969
I’ve read that you have been confused and outraged that the number of people laying claim to Aboriginal ancestry is increasing. If you bear with me, I think I can explain.
I’m a middle-aged white woman who was raised in a very white-seeming rural community. As far as I knew, I had minimal contact with anyone who was of Aboriginal descent. Looking back, I can remember families who were darker than the Spanish, curlier haired than the black-haired Welsh and Irish… and I now know many of these people had Aboriginal ancestors because, while they didn’t ever speak of it back then, they’ve spoken about it now, or written about it in their family trees.
But when I was growing up, if someone’s Nanna was one of the tens of thousands of brown skinned young women who’d been taken from their Aboriginal homes, raised on a mission, and sent to serve as domestic help in the homes and farms of our country, most avoided talking about it. If they were fair enough to pass as white, they never mentioned their Aboriginal family origins because they saw and heard the nasty treatment that their darker-skinned relatives got. They saw that they were less likely to be treated decently. Less likely to get a job, more likely to be bullied, bashed, arrested, or even killed. They were very quiet about their family tree, or they invented a family mythology that explained the darker features of their complexion.
It was discrimination that they wanted to avoid, and fear that fascism could return and see whole sections of society being marked out as inferior, even marked for genocide. It wouldn’t be the first time. Nobody wants that kind of horror visited on their children, or their grandchildren. They watch the news, and see the surges of fascism, racism, neo-Nazis wearing swastikas in public and throwing salutes at rallies. I don’t think their fear was unreasonable.
Sadly, they thought it best to let the heritage be lost – so much of it was destroyed already; what was the point of putting a target on your family’s back in an effort to preserve or re-claim a cultural heritage that was mere scraps of what it had once been, when the risks were so clear, and so harsh? Loving parents quietly allowing their children and grandchildren to become completely assimilated into white society is a safe, if tragic, option.
Whole generations have arisen while the elders of these nominally white families are still holding to their resolution to bring their descendants into the safety of the mainstream.
There are many in these families who know the truth. It’s a bit of an open secret, and as time passes and the old people pass away, the secret becomes a dilemma; should the children know? We’re in a safer society now. Most of the younger kids pass as white without question, and the darker skinned members of the family look well-tanned and maybe… nobody really cares about their skin colour anymore. Or nobody who matters. Only a handful of white supremacist dickheads think anything of it if their nurse, vet, retail assistant, or magistrate isn’t obviously pasty-white. Aboriginal heritage doesn’t carry the risk of bringing an automatic social downgrade anymore, especially for people who pass as white enough not to get brutally discriminated against by police, bouncers, nurses, security guards, employers, prospective in-laws etc.
This brings another dilemma for the younger generations: if they “come out” as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent, they will also “out” their family members. What if their cousins don’t want to be identified as anything but generic white people? Is it fair to claim your own cultural heritage and ancestry if doing so will expose your cousin or siblings to nasty racist discrimination?
So, Pauline, I think that the increasing number of people who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander is a great reason. It’s because racist fearmongering is having a diminishing impact. Despite the best efforts of racists everywhere, Australia is smarter and more knowledgeable about race now. Not as many people are as deeply racist. Not as many people fear the resurgence of genocidal fascism in this country. Not as many people feel it’s necessary to hide their heritage.
More Australians now accept that “white looking” Aboriginal people have every right to ‘tick the box’. It’s becoming normalised that regardless of whether a person with Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander heritage has been raised on country in their ancestor’s ancient traditions, or whether they grew up in bland suburbia, the people who are claiming or re-claiming their cultural heritage should do so freely. Sure, they may get a job or a scholarship that’s been designated for Aboriginal people – but guess what? Aboriginal people now come in all shades. Some of the palest people I know (and I mean kids so white they have no visible eyebrows, and you get snow-blind just looking at them in sunlight) are first cousins to some who are quite noticeably brown and of obvious Aboriginal descent.
And for the Aboriginal people who are quite obviously of Aboriginal heritage, there’s no point in not marking the ‘of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent’ box. It’s not like the discrimination against your dark skin goes away if you deny your genetic heritage.
So then there’s the people who are in-between. Most of the time, nobody cares about their skin colour. They might or might not be marked as Aboriginal for the purposes of discrimination. They may or may not have been raised in households of intergenerational trauma and poverty caused by the destruction of their originating culture. Should they tick the box or not? I’d say it’s up to them.
It’s certainly not up to you or me, Pauline.
Like what we do at The AIMN?
You’ll like it even more knowing that your donation will help us to keep up the good fight.
Chuck in a few bucks and see just how far it goes!
Your contribution to help with the running costs of this site will be gratefully accepted.
You can donate through PayPal or credit card via the button below, or donate via bank transfer: BSB: 062500; A/c no: 10495969
Planksy, a highly experienced fitter, turner and boilermaker, cracked his head on the hoist after forgetting to let go a runaway rattle gun, also severely damaging a green Mitsubishi Magna, so no real loss there. But following HIA protocol, the shop steward sent Planksy off for a mandatory 11 days.
But so as not to be a burden on society, Planksy undertook free government transition training to be an Area Controller of a solar farm conglomerate, a change from being on the tools. He declared the course quite straightforward, apart from some new terminology and, as expected in the government-sponsored RoboTrans, TMFAs.
Because the transition course was, strictly speaking, incomplete, the course instructor subcontracted a Personal Trainer to direct exercise classes – a healthy body makes a healthy mind, said the PT, gibberishly – and as is the wont of said profession, punctuated their endless drivel with ‘Awesome!’.
Then a well-earned counter lunch before a gruelling afternoon session, known as ‘brainstorming’. Planksy and the others had to work out what the course should involve. The participants did a pretty good job, Planksy opined after the role play. It even reminded some students of a TV series!
* * * * *
It’s 2030, and surprisingly, the atmospheric CO2 has barely shifted since the 2022 election, and the Labor/Greens coalition governments that followed cannot agree amongst themselves, and are both going to go it alone, like the Libs and Gnats did after their destruction at the 2025 election. But unlike the earlier dissolution of the conservative coalition, the government parties are hoping to retain sufficient relevance to maintain their parties’ registrations. But the ever-increasing Indies see that as a bridge too far, as they finalise the Private Members Bill to at last legislate the UBI. (If there are any survivors left in the climate-damaged country to take advantage of this belated necessity.)
Meanwhile, at the International Head Office of Spark Central, Planksy has a problem. ‘We’re expecting to be about 15 gigawatts short over the peak’ said Planksy. ‘Someone ring the store and stock up. Get 20 gigawatts while you’re there. Can’t discount a possible outage, with the floodwater lapping at the panels and the substations partly submerged. I’ve been trained to manage this sort of common, unanticipated disappointment. My comprehensive training course included advanced Disappointment Management modules, featuring another prominent guest lecturer, who unfortunately failed to show up for the practical. And someone said the voltage was down a bit. Better get a truckload of volts, to be sure.
I’m not trying to be a prevenient naysayer. About 30 years ago, after I stopped working for da man, I helped a CBT facilitator to secure a State government contract to develop audio-visual Computer-Based Training modules. We developed a 60 second pilot as a sample for just over $70,000, but there were three of us. The module showed trainees how to effectively wield a broom safely, with the background wall featuring the three different types of fire-retardents. A work of art!
And I did a TAFE course myself about 20 years ago in Damage Mitigation, known by most people as venomous snake handling. Sure, I was about 60, and all the other participants … weren’t. But you wouldn’t feed any of them, far less having them in any way responsibly for your well-being!
If the transition to renewables hasn’t been mapped out in detail for the transition training, implementation and ongoing management of the new way, then Labor has failed. They’ve been spruiking Global Warming and Climate Change for the past decade, but they haven’t done their homework. They were excused for not announcing detailed plans before the election, just to see it squandered by relevance-deprived fifth columnists, but they’re the government now, and they can come out of hiding. Not that the LNP can even spell AGW!
The operation was successful, but the patient died.
Like what we do at The AIMN?
You’ll like it even more knowing that your donation will help us to keep up the good fight.
Chuck in a few bucks and see just how far it goes!
Your contribution to help with the running costs of this site will be gratefully accepted.
You can donate through PayPal or credit card via the button below, or donate via bank transfer: BSB: 062500; A/c no: 10495969
Today I heard of two Tamil women living with immigration uncertainty who were ringing around their community at dawn asking what sort of walking boots to get.
Does a Fair Go in Immigration require 10000 refugees or visaless minorities already struggling in uncertainty to don fluoro, backpacks and walk 1000km each for permanency? No.
Does it require a refugee being passed like a parcel from well-meaning ally to ally in a relay of 70 towns? No.
That is way too extreme.
Many asylum seekers have bravely walked before: to mixed effect. It is however possible for refugees to campaign for a better visa from their precarious Aussie homes (such as they are).
Recent precedents offer hope to some Tamils who left Sri Lanka 12-16 years ago. The in-country conditions of the time are now mapped out for Tamils applying to Immigration.
If you are not Tamil, you can still assemble the evidence of conditions in your country at the time you were forced to leave and submit it with your application.
Refugees cannot all access mainstream multi-media campaigns. Refugee sector resources are not there. Moreover, your privacy is precious.
Right now, it seems that “getting a go” does require each refugee to put in an application for Ministerial Intervention through their lawyers … even if things have not gone well in the courts or by negotiation with Immigration before.
Will you buy new hiking boots plus podiatry … or a lawyer? It’ll cost at least $250 for either. I promise you, you’ll need a reputable lawyer, so start there.
Hard-pressed refugees don’t need to abandon their responsibilities at home to obtain a future. Keeping families safe is vital.
Skip the boots. Get someone to help write up your story and assemble home country data.
Perhaps you feel up to engaging with your local community (in the same way some high-profile families have) to become better known.
Bona fides & connection or trust do help speak to your character.
As we all know, volunteering is a great way to build up language skills, recover mental health and learn the written and unwritten rules of a place. But also protect your own interests; give of yourself only when you can.
Beware the patronisation of Anglo allies. We all have egos and agendas. We are all scrambling to show off what we think we can do. Being pulled in many different directions may not be what you need. Try to define your situation yourself.
But have courage. There are signs that greater fairness is possible.
We see you. Tell activists what you need. We are here to be educated and to help.
Let’s give uncertainty “the boot”. Get those applications and petitions in. We need a register of applications made.
Otherwise, “These Boots Are Made For Walking” and there will be a fluoro-clad, backpack-laden throng of all ages and stages bootscooting outside APH until everyone has permanency. Those optics could be pretty overwhelming for any government.
Graphic by Aja Bon
Like what we do at The AIMN?
You’ll like it even more knowing that your donation will help us to keep up the good fight.
Chuck in a few bucks and see just how far it goes!
Your contribution to help with the running costs of this site will be gratefully accepted.
You can donate through PayPal or credit card via the button below, or donate via bank transfer: BSB: 062500; A/c no: 10495969
Eight generations ago, my dirt-poor Celtic ancestors were colonisers. They logged trees, eroded the land. They brutalised animals. They farmed, fought, bred and built for themselves.
They probably also abused Aboriginal women or stockmen and participated in genocide. The evidence is well hidden but pops up in hints such as Aboriginal families bearing my surname across the rural area where my great-grandfather worked.
This has been minimised by subsequent generations determined to steep their identity in middle-class suburban “niceness”. They claimed to be “self-made” bankers. Land ownership has been an obsession for all of them.
The same Aborigines who were told by my forebears that they didn’t polish the silver properly could not have any level of dominion over their own lives. They were only given the vote in 1967.
“Money spent on them was wasted,” said the same patriarchs who stole their wages.
Perhaps white women should identify with Aborigines more. Yet Aborigines have always been welcoming to refugees, hospitable to me. The Aboriginal passports sent to refugeeson Manus are a case in point.
So why should new migrants care? Because erasure and homogenisation keeps happening. You may have come here to escape discrimination, but you also want to protect your own precious cultural heritage.
And where was the equalityJacinta Price speaks of, that day in 1993 when we saw an Aboriginal woman turned away from a half empty church-run women’s refuge in Eastern Sydney? White hookers who had actually injected drugs in the waiting room of Childrens’ Court (while awaiting custodial hearings) were treated better.
Where is the equality when the nearest petrol station is many hours drive from where you were raised and where a handful of green beans costs $20?
The level playing field does not exist. The LNP are the first to claim every advantage or opportunity for themselves before kicking the ladder away. They socialise their losses while privatising profit. Then they whine about red tape … when not tangling lowlier Australians up in it.
I will be voting Yes proudly. Affirmative action of any kind is not handicapping the rest of us. It is redress.
And no matter how hard or tedious the dialogue is, it is honorable and necessary.
Like what we do at The AIMN?
You’ll like it even more knowing that your donation will help us to keep up the good fight.
Chuck in a few bucks and see just how far it goes!
Your contribution to help with the running costs of this site will be gratefully accepted.
You can donate through PayPal or credit card via the button below, or donate via bank transfer: BSB: 062500; A/c no: 10495969
On 10 September 2023, at the end of refugee Neil Para’s marathon 1014 kilometre walk from Ballarat to Sydney, it was made public that Neil, his wife, Sugaa, and two daughters, Nivash and Kartie, had been granted permanent visas (his youngest, Nive, was born in Australia, and she was made a citizen when she turned 10).
But this fact is taken from the middle of this story.
The Traumatic Start
Neil fled war-torn Sri Lanka for Malaysia in 2008. At the time, Sugaa was pregnant, but he felt he had to temporarily leave her to find a safer and more stable home for his family. By 2012, the family was reunited, now with two girls, Nivash and Kartie, with Sugaa pregnant with a third child. The young family made the perilous journey from Malaysia to Indonesia then to Christmas Island on board a small fishing boat carrying in excess of 200 asylum seekers.
On arrival, the family was detained for a period, and then finally released into the Australian community with working rights. The family went to Ballarat in 2013 on a Bridging Visa, where they were welcomed by the community, most notable, Kath Morton. After four months, however, their working rights were inexplicably revoked, which meant they had no visa, no rights to work, no Medicare and no tertiary study rights. By then their youngest, Nive, was born.
The people of Ballarat generously pay the family’s bills and rent. In return, Neil is a tireless volunteer for the SES and leads a crew, while Sugaa volunteers in aged care and the Ballarat Visitor Information Centre. Both are also actively involved in community committees.
Living and raising children when one’s status in Australia remained uncertain, however, was understandably excruciating. They applied many times for permanent protection, without success. Their many appeals against the rejection, and for ministerial intervention, were also unsuccessful.
Walking for Freedom
Neil felt that the only way to be heard by the authorities would be to make the long trek through two states on foot to the Prime Minister’s electoral office in Sydney, petition in hand. And on the way, it was not just his story that he would share with the people he encountered, but also the stories of over 10000 refugees who were in similar straights, 2000 of which are families.
This was an incredibly brave act on the part of a refugee who had so much to lose by bringing his situation to the attention of the public in this way, not to mention the physical and mental toll of making such a trip. Sugaa also confirmed that it was the first time during their stay in Australia that he had been away from the family for such a long period of time. Preparing and training for his trek also forced him away from his wife and children for hours every day for months.
Neil took this risk because he wanted to put a spotlight on the fact that over 10000 refugees were living in uncertainty, many for over 10 years, on visas with inconsistent and onerous conditions, or on no visas at all. Many refugees on these visas still do not have work rights, study rights, Medicare, or basic income support. Many are also dependent on the goodwill and charity of the community for a home and employment.
Touching Hearts and Minds
Neil was convinced that the public would be interested in these refugees’ stories and respond with sympathy and support.
He was correct. At every town through which he travelled, people welcomed him, communities and some politicians supported him, and councils arranged receptions. Supporters travelled from as far as Tasmania to walk with him, as well as fellow refugees from Iran, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Afghanistan, who travelled from Melbourne and other towns in order to be walking partners and to share their stories, including a large group who gathered at Shepparton’s Mosque in Victoria.
Neil’s walk also garnered the support of Melbourne’s Refugee Action Collective who helped coordinate the walk, supported by Rural Australians for Refugees (RAR) groups in both Victoria and New South Wales, and refugee support groups such as People Just Like Us. Long-time supporters, Ballarat RAR, led by convenor Margaret O’Donnell, were pivotal. Behind the scenes, hundreds of volunteers ensured Neil was accompanied by a support vehicle daily, and RAR members and other community members fed, housed and supported Neil, provided companionship and blister relief. Keiran Magee, a volunteer with Refugee Action Collective Victoria, meticulously detailed the daily route and logistics while a number of refugee advocates in New South Wales and Victoria coordinated media coverage. Supporters had weekly zoom meetings to ensure everything ran smoothly.
Individuals and groups donated funds for this journey – including the Iranian Women’s Association in Melbourne – and overly 20,000 Australians signed Neil’s petition – almost 20,000 electronically and others were handwritten – asking for permanent protection for refugees. The electronic petition was delivered electronically to the Prime Minister’s electoral office on 12 September.
Neil said: “My walk has achieved something by raising awareness about the refugees. I have provided evidence to the government that people support this move.
“I reached many teenagers which helped them understand the refugees’ plight.
“I enjoyed the beautiful colour of canola and made friends for life. Every Australian welcomed me with open arms. People opened their house to me, made meals, took care of me, drew signs and banners, businesses supported me.
“Road users were friendly, some stopped to talk, take a selfie or photos, ask me why I was walking, wished me good luck and shouted me coffees.
“It was also an honour to receive shoes from (Aboriginal Voice to Parliament Yes advocate) legend Pat Farmer and run with him and a privilege to have photos with him.
“I also met others like me and heard their stories; met their children, born here, wanting the right to study, live and work here. Met men who have not seen their fiancé or wife and children for years, and a teenager who won a law scholarship but cannot access it.
“I am really proud I was able to do this with my amazing team; without them and without any support along the road, I wouldn’t have been able to do this. So many friendly drivers, so many supporters, so much encouragement from all types of organisations, thank you everyone for supporting this walk.”
Paul Power, CEO of the Refugee Council of Australia, walked one stretch with Neil. Power told Neil: “It’s great to see the support you are getting as you walk across the country; it’s been effective in mobilising and drawing attention to the people left in limbo for so long.
“There are thousands of people for whom it is untenable to return to their country of origin. There are many with compelling cases that need to be examined. The situations you are highlighting are shared by thousands in Australia and we are trying to raise this issue with the government.”
The Journey Ended in Sydney
When Neil arrived in the Greater Sydney Area, a dinner was organised jointly by the Australian Tamil Refugee Council, Consortium of Tamil Organisations NSW/ACT, TRACK (Tamil Rehabilitation and community Konnection), THADAM (an NGO based in Sydney which focuses on mental health in the Tamil community), the Australian Tamil Congress Uniting Church Tamil congregation, and the Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce of National Christian Council.
The Jesuit Refugee Service and the Catholic Alliance for People Seeking Asylum also welcomed and supported Neil in the Sydney section of his journey. Sutherland Shire Refugee Connection covered his accommodation and meals, and their members joined the final leg of the walk, as did the Sydney-based clients and volunteers from the Asylum Seekers Centre, who hosted a dinner for Neil on his second night in Sydney.
On 9 September, after Neil’s walk from Liverpool to Canterbury, he was reunited after 40 days with his Sugaa and their girls. Fabia Claridge, co-convenor of People Just Like Us, a refugee advocacy organisation based in Sydney, said: “We hope the massive community support shown for Neil and his achievements will inspire the Australian government to act to make sure these people are no longer left behind.”
On 10 September, dozens of supporters walked with him and his family on his final 6 kilometre stretch from Canterbury to Marrickville. “Sun in my eyes, wind in my face, joy in my heart as I cross the finish line,” Neil reflected. At the picnic that concluded this event, it was made public that four members of the family had been given permanent protection (Nive was granted citizenship when she turned 10).
Neil Para reunited with Sugaa and the girls after 40 days apart (Photo by Sumitra Vignaendra)
The Story is Not Over
In February Immigration Minister Andrew Giles granted access for 19,000 who held Temporary Protection Visas and Safe Haven; however, in excess of 10,000 refugees in Australia remain in limbo.
Ian Rintoul from the Refugee Action Coalition has said that Labor recognises the flaws in the fast-track system introduced under Morrison but has done nothing to rectify those flaws; despite policy, the fast-track system has not been abolished. Nor has Labor provided any systematic way to review the flawed decisions.
“Despite many approaches to the Minister, Andrew Giles is still unwilling to fix this glaring injustice,” said Rintoul, “Yet, ministerial intervention over the Biloela family and now Neil Para’s family has shown how simply it could be fixed.”
With great perversity, Australia punishes the people who are most in need – those who have escaped violence and horror in their birth countries, leaving families behind, both dead and alive. Australia’s mistreatment of refugees is not only at odds with human rights conventions that Australia has ratified, it is also at odds with the second verse of our own national anthem: “For those who’ve come across the seas, we’ve boundless plains to share.”
To manage this glaring disjuncture between what we say about ourselves and what we do, we fabricate false narratives about refugees, demonising them as people asking for more than they deserve, which is in stark contrast to the truth. A common feature of refugees is their willingness to freely offer their time, services and kindness to help others in straightened circumstances. When one experiences perils, one appreciates the value of community.
Throughout his journey, Neil has highlighted the massive contribution of refugees to the Australian community, including their willingness to freely offer their time, services and kindness to help to others. He has also shown his respect for the first peoples of this land, their rights, and value of their cultures. The day after his arduous walk, when he had earned a much-needed rest, he still made time to write the following to his Tamil compatriots in Australia: “My advocacy for refugees and asylum seekers will continue regardless of their country, language, religion, abilities, gender etc. … Please vote YES for Aboriginal people.”
More photos by Sumitra Vignaendra of Neil’s incredible journey
Sumitra Vignaendra is a research scientist and is undertaking a PhD in philosophy of science on the topic of Big Data. She has been a social activist for 40 years and has written about race, social class, sexuality, gender, higher education and the flawed criminal justice systems in Australia. Born in Malaysia of Tamil heritage, she immigrated to Australia with her family, aged 8.
Like what we do at The AIMN?
You’ll like it even more knowing that your donation will help us to keep up the good fight.
Chuck in a few bucks and see just how far it goes!
Your contribution to help with the running costs of this site will be gratefully accepted.
You can donate through PayPal or credit card via the button below, or donate via bank transfer: BSB: 062500; A/c no: 10495969
The Jamaican-born brothers were subsequently caught and charged with kidnapping, murder and blackmail. Both were given life sentences. I understand that Nizamodeen Hosein is now back in Jamaica and have unconfirmed reports that Arthur Hosein is now out of prison and lives in England.
