White Man Bullies Indigenous Woman And For Once It’s News…

Now I need to be careful here because I know that while a lot of people think that everything is political correctness gone mad, there are still even more people that think that it’s wrong to be racist and sexist…

That doesn’t mean that they don’t spend their day doing racist and sexist things because they do them without thinking. It just means that when someone else does it, they jump on them to demonstrate that their heart’s in the right place.

So, like I said, I want to be careful here because I don’t want to offend anyone and when we talk about matters like race, sexism, bullying and privilege a lot of people do get offended and I’m trying for clarity because, well, it seems to me that there’s a lot of confusion about things and if I can be clear, at least, I won’t offend anyone unintentionally

Recently, the ubiquitous Hollie Hughes told us: “A wealthy white man from the North Shore of Sydney is condemning an Indigenous woman from the Northern Territory and calling her basically a racist for not being with his point of view.”

I should add “allegedly” because I didn’t actually hear her say it but it was on social media and someone was quoting a newspaper article and I know how the media sometimes get things wrong. I mean, even social media gets things wrong occasionally. For example, I just discovered that it wasn’t true that 173% of all Covid deaths were actually from vaccinated people.

Yes, the word, “allegedly” is very important when telling people about something a Liberal politician may or may not have done. We still need to remember the presumption of innocence because that’s the way things work, so one shouldn’t go around accusing Hollie Hughes of saying anything without actual proof that she said it because she, like everyone else in her party, is entitled.

Not so much Peter FitzSimons, who apparently bullied Jacinta Price. The Murdoch media don’t seem to be using the word “allegedly” in quite the same way that we’ve grown used to. And the left aren’t outraged enough about his bullying because apparently – according to one newspaper article – the left only “like minorities who know their place.”

Which suggests to me that the article thinks that there is a place for minorities and that’s definitely progress when it comes to the Murdoch media because they general argue that minorities don’t have a right to be anywhere at all.

Now let me backtrack a little here and make the point that if it’s true that FitzSimons was bullying Price then he should be condemned and told that bullying is wrong. However, as so often happens when those on the alleged conservative side of politics get involved, bullying consists of putting forward an opposing point of view. What actually happened with FitzSimons and Price is not something I feel in a position to comment on because I haven’t seen all the facts and I’ve only read about it in and there’s a whole range of possibilities.

But whatever the case in that particular incident, the whole concept of bullying and pile-ons has become a little bit silly over the past few years. While it’s good and proper that we reject bullying and make efforts to stamp it out, we’ve now reached the point where it’s those who are used to being the bullies who are complaining because someone objects to their bullying. When a student threatens another student with what will happen to him or her if they come to school, that’s bullying, but if a teacher threatens a student that they won’t pass the unit unless they start handing in work that’s simply a statement of fact unless it’s accompanied by shouting or threats of violence.

Similarly, if I write that I think when Sussan Ley added an extra “s” to her name, it was an unnatural act and she should have stayed with the name she was born with because anything else is against the will of God, I can’t call it bullying when someone points out that Sussan was given the name “Susan” after she was born and her parents decided that she should be called that and God had nothing to do with it even if She exists, then I can’t complain that I’m being bullied just because someone has a different point of view. If on the other hand, someone threatens to arrange a meeting between myself and Ms Ley so we can sort out our differences that is not only bullying but a contravention of the UN charter which bans cruel and unusual punishments.

But it’s not this one incident that made me start thinking about things today.

It’s not even Hollie Hughes confused syntax.

I just find it fascinating that people who’ve ignored Indigenous voices for years, are now saying that we need to listen to one Indigenous voice because she happens to agree with them. It’s rather strange really. Apparently, all those involved in the Uluru Statement from the Heart who were arguing for a Voice to Parliament can be ignored because it’s practical solutions that are needed and clearly if they think they want a Voice then they’re wrong and we’re not going to take any notice of them, but if you’re someone who disagrees with Jacinta Price then you only listen to “minorities who know their place” like the ones agitating for a Voice, which seems rather contradictory to me.

But then we also have certain people commenting on the FitzSimons/Price situation who are the same people who told us that we couldn’t presume to know all the facts about certain MPs because there was an inquiry into the things that they did.

Allegedly.