In Liberal MP Stuart Robert’s maiden speech he said “Children are 100 per cent of the future of every nation. We have a responsibility to protect our children and provide them with the best of education and care to preserve our nation’s future.”
A noble sentiment – one that is repeated in most conservatives’ maiden speeches as they wax lyrical about the importance of their very narrow definition of “family”.
But their actions belie their words.
How often do you hear conservatives like George Christensen lash out at Muslim leaders for not condemning acts of terror, despite their many published statements doing just that, but have you ever heard him express similar outrage at the endemic sexual abuse perpetrated by Christian clergy against children entrusted to their care?
Not only have our politicians been largely silent, they actively praise clergy like George Pell and Brian Houston who were complicit in covering up the abuse. NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione even attended child molester Frank Houston’s funeral and Tony Abbott wrote a reference for defrocked priest John Nestor describing him as “An extremely upright and virtuous man…. a beacon of humanity”.
This wasn’t one or two bad apples – it was systemic. It was covered up, and hence facilitated, by churches who would rather see children suffer continued abuse than for the church’s reputation to be tarnished. Thousands of lives were, and continue to be, ruined and far too many lives were cut short as victims suicided in despair at the injustice of being unheard.
We have all reeled in shock as more and more people come forward with horrific tales of childhoods sacrificed to the perverted sexual desires of many of the Christian clergy and teachers. Perhaps had the Safe Schools Program been in place in those days, children would have known how to recognise what was happening, how better to protect themselves and where to find help. But Christensen would rather children be kept in the dark, pretending that by ignoring sex entirely, our children will be safer.
When George Brandis took $7 million from the child sexual abuse inquiry’s budget to fund his Royal Commission into Pink Batts when there had already been 8 inquires, it showed this government is more interested in smearing their opponents than helping our children.
This constant refrain from far right politicians defining what a family should look like is also terribly damaging to children. I am sure they would like to get rid of no fault divorce laws if they could, sending us all off for counselling with Kevin Andrews instead.
After all, our last PM once advised “If we’re honest, most of us would accept that a bad boss is a little bit like a bad father or a bad husband. Not withstanding all his or her faults, you find that he tends to do more good than harm.”
The reality is that many of those sitting in parliament, just like so many in our population, were raised by a single parent or are themselves divorced or step parents or have adopted children. Many of them are gay or have gay relatives.
This notion that children are necessarily disadvantaged if they are not brought up by their two biological parents is rubbish. What the government should be focusing on is emergency refuges, affordable housing, community support groups, and adequate assistance for those most in need.
The best way to lift children out of poverty is to educate them. To say we can’t afford it, as we spend hundreds of billions on war toys that will never be used beyond war games, makes a mockery of any claim that we truly care about our children.
