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Let’s Try To Be Fair And Balanced About This…

Trigger warnings.

One of the problems with politics was best expressed when a Liberal politician was attacking a policy that she thought was Labor’s, only to be told midway that it was, in fact, Cormann who said it. Suddenly it became good policy.

I always try to separate the person from the politics but that’s not always easy. Just like when Andrew Bolt says something you agree with, you wonder whether you should reassess your views or your whole life.

And, of course, when it comes to anything that Christian Porter may or may not have done, it’s hard not to be influenced by one’s previous experience of him. When you look at the stuff that 4 Corners revealed and his performance as a government MP, any thinking person must conclude that he is clearly a… man with a defamation lawyer by his side.

But even if there was no defamation lawyer there, it’s always worth taking the personality out of the equation and asking yourself how you’d feel in general terms.

Yes, this is a noble ambition, but unfortunately, there is never any general terms, so what we’re left with in individual situations which we try and make consistent rules about. Take drink driving. We know that it’s wrong and dangerous so we accept that people should have some sort of penalty unless they work for the PMO and can get a letter from George Brandis… I was going to write Attorney-General but someone might think that I mean the current one and as I said before, he’s a man with a defamation lawyer standing beside him so I wouldn’t want to say anything that would sound like I’m criticising him.

So let’s deal entirely in hypotheticals here, but let’s keep them non-party specific so that we can establish the general rule and then look at whether or not there should ever be an exception. Let’s give Christian Porter his time off and accept his statements at face value and believe him when he says that he has never been made aware of any of the allegations at any time and he strenuously denies them even if he has never been made aware of what they were except by Scott Morrison who hadn’t read them either but somehow knew that Christian Porter was the person to ask about the allegations of which neither of them had the specifics. Yes, as Christian said, everything he read about the woman who made the complaint suggested that she was a troubled soul…which would be confusing owing to the fact that she hasn’t actually been named in the media and he hasn’t been made aware of the allegations so it’d be quite amazing that he knows who she is, were it not for the fact that Christian has probably read a lot about a lot of women and he understands that they’re usually troubled souls when it comes to him.

Let’s be clear to everyone and, in particular, to any defamation lawyers reading this, anything I write from this point on has no relation to Christian Porter or any other Christian or pretend Christian. (Note to my lawyer: Please check that Scotty can’t sue me for the pretend Christian remark.)

Scenario: Woman accuses man of rape. Before this is investigated thoroughly, woman dies. Allegations against man are leaked to media who report them in general terms without naming individuals involved.

Due to the standing of the man accused, this becomes controversial so it’s referred back to the police who say there’s not enough evidence to proceed because the woman died before making a formal statement.

In general terms, what would you have happen here? An independent inquiry led by a judge with coercive powers? A fearless Woodward and Bernstein combination of journalists determined to find the truth. A request that the police waste their precious resources by preparing another statement that they won’t be able to find enough evidence for a criminal conviction but they will at least ask the accused man and tell you if they think he’s dodgy. A whisper campaign to destroy the man. Social media to hang him in effigy.

Well, of course, all these things would go against natural justice. No, from what I understand the best thing is to do nothing because an independent inquiry into accusations from a dead person would mean that no person in public office would ever be safe again. All that it would take to destroy a reputation would be for someone to accuse a high profile person and they’d be forced to have an inquiry into their actions which might find out almost anything and nobody would be safe from vexatious accusations from people who suicided just to gain a political advantage.

Yeah, simple. Piece of fucking cake.

On another note, what a pity that Grace Tame is already Australian of The Year because wouldn’t it be great to be able to make her Australian of the Year after today’s speech.

If you feel alone, don’t, because you’re certainly not. Go into the street and shout “I”m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it any more!” I suspect that this is one day that you won’t be alone, if that doesn’t work here’s the Lifeline number 131114.

(Actually, I always thought that the best line from Network wasn’t I’m mad as hell, it was “All I know is, you’ve got to get mad. You’ve got to say, “I’m a human being, goddamn it. My life has value.”)

 

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23 comments

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  1. Phil Pryor

    The message of a dead woman to relieve her oppressive burden of her charges against minister Porter are totally convincing, yet lack legal weight if investigations and charges are to proceed. Porter is unreliable, a boasting womanising, lurking, preying, smirking rooter and as such not a reliable type in his assertions. He knows he seems clear and clean in law and its requirements. This government of monumental filth carries on in brazen contempt for civilised, honest, decent ways and attitudes, led by such a lying shithead that only the worst examples are set. A government full of excremental low grade turds is revoltinly uncivilised, Un-Australian, intolerable. Boasting, dodging, hypocritical, lying, distorting, dishonest filth LIVES and it Must Go.

  2. Graham

    Let us talk about drawing inferences – just hypothetical ones you understand.

    I am a very famous person with enormous resources and the power to utilise them to find out things.

    Someone accuses me of something infamous and while everyone and their dog seems to know all the details and was able to find out those details without much effort, nobody I know brings any of those details to my attention. All I know is the little I read about it in the media and I still don’t know the details.

    The inference everyone should draw is:
    a) I am a busy man and have been too busy to pay attention;
    b) My enormous resources were all busy on other matters and have neglected to bring the details to my attention;
    c) I don’t have any other contacts anywhere I can ask just what those details are;
    d) I am just not curious, even after my boss tells me that I am accused of something infamous that he does not know the details of;
    e) Everyone who knows the details is too scared or embarrassed to bring them to my attention in case it upsets me.

    Now what might some other inference be?

  3. Baby Jewels

    Did I, for one second, believe him? No. But I was already biased against him before this afternoon’s performance. You see, I’d already seen what he wrote about women in that university publication.. So I already knew he has no respect for women, seems to revile them, in fact. A few tears didn’t come close to swaying me towards him. Quite the opposite. I think about how this would have come out if the victim was alive…and how convenient it is for him, that she isn’t.

  4. Vikingduk

    Now, there was a certain baggage handler, nameless, of course, after all who needs to know the names of the lackeys. Well, so the story goes, at this baggage handler’s school, just as a jape by those jolly lads, they decided it was a necessary right of passage to rape the lassies. Our bum boy achieved the feat, so they say and went on to a distinguished career as a mysogynistic arsehole, craven coward and quite incompetent at pretty much anything he laid his hands on.

    He has a mate, surprisingly, wears glasses, name escapes me for the moment, my sauces (from the Heinz factory) inform me. Well, many a night was spent over the brandy and cigars reminiscing the good old days, when men were men and those females new their place on their hands and knees ready to have their lives destroyed. A good christian, apparently, perfect man for those scum suckers of the lnp/ipa.

    Me and the hound are unsure, well I’m unsure and she is certain she ain’t no human, she maintains us humans damn well need to learn respect, to appreciate all lives have value and that the world we have created is a decadent, rotting travesty. The whole of society has been mirrored by the disgusting display of our politicians, particularly the smirking jerk who has shown is totally devoid of the competency, the sense of responsibility, empathy and any other worthwhile trait.

    The hellsong happy clapper, the sanctimonious liar from the shire, our very own smirk and mirrors man, scotty, the crime monster. Tick tock scotty, the bell tolls for thee.

  5. Kerri

    I refer to him as the A.G. The Accused Guy!
    And watch Porter’s legalise language closely. Is he yet to say he did not “rape” her?
    And if he is so innocent why was his Wikipedia page cleaned up??

  6. JudithW

    Fabulous. Best explanation of this story so far. Especially like that you clarified how the PM and AG were able to contest the accuracy of facts they were unaware of and cast aspersions on the woman even though he didn’t know who she was.
    Stanley Cohen says a number of things about denial but 2 are pertinent here 1. Denial is our normal state of affairs for a number of reasons but 2. You cannot deny a situation of which you know nothing. So if someone denies an event took place while saying they were not aware of such an event, it would seem that either they are lying when they say they knew nothing or they are lying in their denial because one cannot deny something the existence of which one is unaware.

  7. Kerri

    #Graham
    The Libs all worship John Howard who was a great proponent of the same principles as the current NSW Premier of “I don’t need to know about that”

  8. wam

    The 4 corners and his reported life in parliament give rise to an arrogant man who has displayed no evidence of respecting women at all, much less as equals.
    Hence, since Nov, I have avoided listening to him or tudge.
    My darling told me about the boys coming in to her room for an ironing lesson.
    My query to the NSW police, what about the other boys in on the ironing have they been interviewed??

  9. calculus witherspoon.

    “…it’s hard not to be influenced by one’s previous experience of him”.

    On so many issues.

    How then does it help to appoint his female equivalent, Cash, as acting AG? Should Morrison and the government be accused of cretinism, or outright arrogance, or both?

  10. Dee

    Did anyone watch Fran Kelly interviewing Malcolm Turnbull about the AG? He had a very interesting comment which he repeated at the end of the interview.
    It’s on ABC IVIEW

  11. Williambtm

    JudithW, I don’t believe there is any need to further speculate about the pompous misogynistic culture and the atrocious attitude that prevails in the LNP party government in its leadership role. (One must never forget how this scurvy of buccaneers had selected Tony (the budgie smuggler), Abbott, to fill the role of Australia’s Prime Minister. That should have portended the lack of proper discernment among these lawyer types of individuals that go on to seek their profits from people’s misfortunes in almost all of Australia’s communities. A disgusting species of humanity.

    I note the relevance held in the comment of Kerri above.
    It has shown to be factual that John Howard had set the lowest of low in how such a person of his sly-dog ilk… had been thrust forward to sully the chair by our most treacherous Prime Minister.

  12. New England Cocky

    A most underwhelming performance by a person with a track record that would make any reasonable civilised person blush.

    Another graduate of the Barnyard Joke School of “Family Values” like adultery, alcoholism, bigotry, corruption, deceit, egomania, fornication, misogyny, sexual harassment.

    Another good reason for Australia to call ”Enough!! It’s time ….. again!!”

  13. Harry Lime

    Our ‘Christian ‘Porter’s political career is fucked,as his miserable life should be. He has a form sheet in these matters that would make a professional criminal blush. There’s no way he’s coming back after ‘leave’,so the Liar has mounting problems looking him in his ugly, lying face.Looking forward to the next chapter in the demise of the worst pricks this country have ever endured.Over to you,you lying bastard.

  14. Andrew J. Smith

    Bizarre to witness, now two Ministers on leave and the LNP probably wishing they lost the last election? However, history shows that there is a good chance they will not be punished at the next election; once things settle and the ‘media’ start promoting govt./LNP agit prop and distraction with lots of irrelevant ‘noise’ most Australians will have forgotten…..

  15. Mark Golledge

    There comes a time when the point of no return is reached. The individual and the government must fess up or travel down the road of destroying any pretence of social and community standards.

    Not one government politician has had the courage to call this evil creature out. Leadership is non existent. Gutless self interest trumps decency and honesty.

    Many would argue that the point has well passed.

  16. John OCallaghan

    I could’nt bring myself to watch the bastards press conference so im wondering did any “journalist” ask him why his Wikipedia page was altered just a couple of days ago?

  17. Kathy

    Hi John, yeah towards the end of the interview he was asked, but answered ‘he didn’t know and didn’t know that debating championships were on Wikipedia.’

  18. New England Cocky

    @Phil Pryor: I think you have accurately described the situation, so I will forgive you overlooking ”adulterous” and ”alcoholic” when describing the Scummo COALition Liarbral Nazional$ misgovernment.

  19. Terence Mills

    ‘Couple of odd things in all this.

    The NSW police have closed their enquiry – that is before they had even interviewed the person towards whom the allegation was directed.

    How can you deem an inquiry closed when you haven’t interviewed the principal players ?

    Smacks of the forged documents issue and Angus Taylor where the police closed down their investigation without interviewing Taylor or his staff.

    It would seem that an independent inquiry into the whole affair is not only desirable but essential so that at the very minimum the alleged rapist can have his name cleared.

    The government say no inquiry is necessary, the matter is closed and Josh Frydenberg has been sent out to speak to the media enforcing that view.

    Isn’t this the very Canberra culture of secrecy and obfuscation that has been at the centre of recent happenings ?

  20. Henry Rodrigues

    Harry Lime…….

    “Over to you, you lying bastard”

    None in the party of bastards will ever have the decency or courage to say what needs to be said. They’re all breathing a sigh of relief, because the rapist’s accuser is dead, and our ‘illustrious’ law enforcement institutions have closed the book And so the prick at top of the compost heap, will now express some “regret” but urge us to put it all behind us and get on with our lives.

    The chief lying bastard and his band of “criminals’ will then carryon like they’ve been vindicated.

  21. andy56

    I have a few issues with the whole scenario. Who do you believe? Also one must note that justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done.
    Porter only has one recourse, resign. Nothing he says or does WILL EVER clear his name. Its not simply he said she said, she took her own life. That to me moves the line closer to her version, however accurate that may be. Also he has a track record of misconduct. Yes i expect pollies to set higher standards. If they dont want to play by expectations, they can leave anytime. As an analogy, he cried wolf and now the house is burning but nobody is listening.

    He needs to take the Lord Jim approach.

    Why wont it happen? The government collapses on the numbers. Pure and simple, its an existential problem for scott morrison.

    You can argue all you want about the hypocisy of his past statements, but he is looking after his own back. Fuck him.

  22. paul walter

    Gob smacked at the PM backing Reynolds after she bagged a rape victim as a “lying cow”.

    And of AL people, who would be least entitled to call ANYONE else a “lying cow” than this minister.

  23. Canguro

    Who, exactly, in this current crop of LNP ministerial fucktards stands out as a person of integrity? Not Morrison, not the dolt McCormack, certainly not Dutton or Reynolds, Cash, Taylor & Robert all dodgy, shifty, screechy, sly and mendacious, Ley weak in her prosecution, Tudge morally suspect, Payne weak and sycophantic, Birmingham spineless, Hunt also, the seven or eight remainders missing in action and then there’s Porter, mired in his own ordure. How did it come to this? Australians aren’t stupid, yet we continue to put this LNP cabal into the highest political office in the land. Why? What’s wrong with the electorate? Are we an antipodean version of the audience Bill Hicks enjoined to ‘go back to bed, America, there’s 56 channels of American Gladiator?’

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