2013 - The Year of the Conscience Vote; The Age recommends Labor; the spirit of Cronulla comes to Canberra; liberty, justice, equity, compassion, openness.

The Age believes in economic and social progress, in liberty and justice, in equity and compassion, and openness of government. We believe the role of government is to build a strong, fair nation for future generations, and not to pander to sectional interests. It is with these values in mind that we endorse the Labor Party in this important election.

Just wanting to make sure that people did not miss out on seeing this 

from The Age in Melbourne.  

Clearly, the Fairfax Press remains independent considering 

Roger Corbett's display on Lateline a couple of nights ago 

when he spoke, it seemed, directly from

the Liberal politicians' sheet of talking points.

I'm a great believer in natural justice and I believe that we reap what we sow.  Australia is on a tipping point in my view.  We can choose compassion and inclusion or we can demonstrate that we are truly insular and xenophobic and worse.    I believe that leaders of a nation are duty-bound to bring out the best in their people - not to pander and grandstand to bigotry, racism, sexism and greed. To-morrow as individuals we can choose to coalesce around national ideals of decency and a fair go, of honesty and unselfishness.  I know that many who read this will agree with just about everything I have said in this paragraph.  I know there will be some for whom, like me, decisions at this election are fraught.

In case Networkers had not figured it out yet -  I am died-in-the-wool Labor.  I was a member of the ALP for about three decades.  I believe in trade unions - and even in retirement I am still a union member.  My history goes back to the 1970s when I was an activist against the Vietnam War and Apartheid in South Africa. I was the first woman appointed to be an AWU organiser in Northern Australia and only the second woman appointed in AWU history.  I am not a member of the ALP any more and have not been for more than a decade.  I am no longer a member of any political party.  I resigned my ALP membership in the early 2000s because of certain circumstances in my life at the time.  However, if I had not left when I did, I would have soon after because of Kim Beazley and Tampa. In short, I belong to a small - and perhaps invisible - faction: Rusted on Labor that Sometimes Votes Green.

There is no way in the world that I could reward Labor with my No. 1 vote in 2013.  I want to see others mark Labor down for its lack of compassion and its destruction of many Labor values.  I want the ALP to note that there are things that "up with these we shall not put"!!!  So last Friday when I voted early because I will be out of my electorate this week-end, I chose to give my No. 1 to The Greens and my No. 2 to Labor.  (Apologies to Catherine King, Member for Ballarat and Minister for Minister for Regional Australia, Local Government and Territories. Catherine is an excellent local member.) 

As perhaps never before - or at least for a long time - this needs to be The Year of the Conscience Vote.  The LibNats have brought our national conversation into disrepute.  The spirit of Cronulla has come to Canberra - not only in the person of Scott Morrison (what a contrast from Bruce Baird) but in bringing the racism, antagonism, bigotry and xenophobia displayed in the Cronulla riots to our national capital and our national conversation.  Since when did it behove Australia's national leaders to stir up such sentiments - and I haven't even mentioned sexism and misogyny?  Perhaps we'd have to go back to Billy Hughes for that.  

From feminist misogyny to mainstream men - two men bell the misogyny cat. This feminist is grateful.

We all saw the Prime Minister's misogyny speech.  

It now appears to have been book-ended by Morrison's "You're not wanted" video.  

Perhaps some enterprising person will put them together 

as a collector's item to be marketed 

in the lead-up to International Women's Day 2014.

What now seems to have occurred is that calling out misogyny 

has left the limitations of feminist outrage 

to become mainstream - all because of the actions of two good men.

Thank you to Martin Boylen for his statement.

Thank you to Lieutenant General David Morrison

for his leadership and forthrightness.

Howard Sattler has form

Jim Reiher posted this on his Facebook site yesterday.

Howard Sattler – a nasty man who has had a radio voice for way too long. 

Consider this material from Joanna Robin (crikey June 14 2013).

Perth shock jock Howard Sattler quizzing the Prime Minister on whether her long-term partner is gay is just the latest in a long list of offensive quips the 6PR drive host has delivered in his 31-year broadcasting career.

In yesterday's interview (for which he has been suspended pending an internal inquiry) Sattler took the opportunity to "test out" a few "myths, rumours, snide jokes and innuendos" by asking the Prime Minister to respond to rumours on the s-xuality of her partner, Tim Mathieson, given that he's a former hairdresser.

Julia Gillard responded: "I don’t think in life one can actually look at a whole profession full of different human beings and say we know something about everyone of those human beings."

That's not a creed that Sattler himself seems to live by. Between 1989 and 1992, Sattler was the subject of 19 individual complaints to the Australian Broadcasting tribunal for comments by himself or his callers relating to Aboriginal people and culture.

On April 4, 1990, Sattler commented on the deaths of three Aboriginal children who had died while Perth police were pursuing a car they had stolen, declaring: "Well, I say good riddance to bad rubbish. That's three less car thieves. I think, they're dead, and I think that's good."

The comments sparked protests and much public outrage. Sattler was found to have contravened the rules of the Australian Journalists Association; however, the finding was later overturned.

The 6PR star was then heavily involved in orchestrating the 1991 protest Rally for Justice, which was designed to put pressure on the government to introduce harsher penalties for juvenile offenders. Sattler ran a strong campaign on a local "crime wave", predominantly Aboriginal crime, however crime statistics show there had been no increase in crime. Effectively, the protest gathered a lynch mob on the steps of the Western Australian state Parliament.

Sattler said himself in Demons at Drivetime, a 1995 documentary on the country's top drive-time hosts:

"When I went up there and saw a sea of people, must have been 30,000 people, surrounding Parliament House, I felt fairly uneasy, I've got to tell you. All of a sudden I realise what a position I'd been placed in. These people came here because largely I told them to, or asked them, implored them to go there. And now, to a degree, I had them in my hands and I could say things to them and they may do things that they would regret and I would regret later."

The shock jock also became embroiled in the 1999 cash-for-comment saga involving radio broadcasters Alan Jones and John Laws -- although not to the extent of that duo. Sattler had sponsorship deals with Optus, Qantas, Rams and Mitsubishi, and the Australian Broadcasting Authority found that 6PR breached the industry codes of practice 17 times.

In October 2009, Media Watch devoted a segment to examining Sattler’s on-air claim that refugees were ripping off our welfare system. Sattler lashed out: "They've got a cast of thousands putting that together -- disaffected journalists -- people who have just got a gripe on the world, who wouldn't make it in the real world of media."

Not like Sattler, of course, who noted in a 2011 interview given to mark his 30 years in radio that people often called him a racist in the street."You get tagged because you ask questions about Muslims, burqas and that sort of thing," he said. "You can tip-toe through the tulips if you like, but I think you've got to confront these things."

But to give him credit where it's due, Sattler spoke with Sunrise in May to offer his take on the Gillard-Vegemite-sandwich incident and conceded that people shouldn't actually throw things at the Prime Minister.

In his profile on 6PR’s website states that his most embarrassing on air moment was "interviewing actress Bette Davis, who disagreed with every statement I made about her".

Looks as though he has a few to choose from.

Glenda Jackson's 'tribute' speech for Margaret Thatcher - a marvellous book-end for Gillard's 'misogyny' speech

Looking for a book-end to Julia Gillard's 'Misogyny' speech?  I consider the speech given yesterday by Glenda Jackson in the House of Commons in London as part of the 'tribute' session for Margaret Thatcher to be an appropriate book-end.  Gillard's speech was delivered in response to the words and deeds of a man. Jackson's was delivered in response to the words and deeds of a woman.

Thank you, Glenda Jackson,

for another stunning performance.

Lest we forget

A tale of two troglodytes: how Julia called time and changed the game!

This blog is a participant in Blog Action Day 2012.

The theme is the Power of We -

which I believe the women of Australia

have demonstrated in support

of our first female prime minister, Julia Gillard,

and in support of reasonable civil discourse.

This is quite a story.

This post is Part 1.

I expect to follow up this afternoon with Part 2.

This wordcloud has come from  Turn Left 2013

I will leave it to a feminist PhD candidate to collect every last thread of this story.  Collecting the most recent and prominent threads has been enough.  Below please find a list of mainstream media links relating to Julia Gillard's speech last Tuesday 9 October 2012.  Among these links both the video and the transcript of the speech are available.

I believe a number of factors led to the speech of 9 October.

Firstly, the ongoing vileness day after day, week after week by conservative forces and the Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott.  Please go here to see some of the images used against Julia Gillard.  Many women face sexism and misogyny every day and have to let it go by with dignity - so it has been believed.  There is no doubt that Julia let it go by with dignity - but we do suspect she may have mentally rehearsed what she would actually say given the opportunity.

Secondly, she faced the Canberra Press Gallery to answer challenges which had been going on for a long time regarding events in her earlier life. Julia stood there taking every question the gallery asked and answering in detail.  My view is that if they had stayed there until midnight, she would have kept up her strong demeanour and kept answering their questions.  As it turned out, the gallery ran out of questions after 55 minutes.  But it was a tour deforce with Julia remaining composed, answering lucidly, and even giving some interchange.

Thirdly, what doesn't break me makes me stronger. Unfortunately for the conservative opposition, the Liberal National Party Coalition, they have continued their hardline and vile tactics for over two years. Australia has a 'hung' parliament with the government holding on by a thread with support of a mixed bag of independents and teeny-tiny parties. For Julia and her manager of government business, Anthony Albanese, some days it must feel like herding cats.  Every day that parliament sits, the Labor government is only a vote or two or three away from defeat.  Yet Labor has not toppled as the Opposition expected ... and day by day their frustration, their hatred, their violent language has become more putrid.

So while some believe that Julia Gillard remains the Prime Minister of Australia by luck and with the help of petulant independents, her misogyny and sexism speech proves beyond doubt that this is a strong woman with a sound intellect who is competent, competitive, and determined.  This is what electrified and transfixed Australia - and, as it turned out, the world - last Tuesday.

Now we see and hear a mystified mainstream media trying to play catch up.  They focus on what led to the speech - matters surrounding the now resigned Speaker of the House of Representatives.  They say they had to give context to their reporting.  I have yet to hear any of our senior and serious journalists acknowledging that a number of narratives can co-exist and run concurrently, each with their own context.

The context of the eruption of social media was that a significant number of Australians - perhaps the majority - and possibly a majority of women were fed up.  We have been fed up with the negativity of the opposition.  We have been fed up with the vileness and violence of their language which has poisoned public discourse in Australia.  We want good government.  We don't want either our economy or our nation talked down to glorify the negative agenda of the Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott.  Over and over with spontaneity since last Tuesday Australians have said "Enough is Enough".  I am not sure whether we have to wait a little longer to declare Julia's speech cathartic, a national release, rejoicing, breathing out at last.  We will wait to see if that is really the case.

But last Tuesday was significant.  I believe that the women of Australia reached a new milestone then.  Our drooping shoulders could now be lifted and braced. The misogyny and sexism and ridicule and diminution of women would now be fought with dignity and strength.  Men who share the values of Abbott and Jones will have to either shut up or justify themselves, their words, their actions.  Game on! Thank Julia!

For a distinguished review of the vile things
that have been visited upon Julia Gillard
please go to Anne Summers site - The Looking Glass.
Please note Anne's warning: there is a vanilla version,
then there is the R rated version, and then the pictures.
~~~~~~~~~

Here are a few blogs to give you a flavour
of the mood among women in The Land of Oz

boeufblogginon

Turn Left 2012

Blue Milk

Cafe Whispers

I realise that these blogs are only a minute representation

of the blogosphere on this topic.

Please, Networkers, feel free to send me

the name and URL of your favourites for inclusion.

A tardis trip to legislating sex discrimination in Australia ... lest we forget

Picture from here

I would like to take Networkers on a trip down memory lane. 

With all this bleating from the Liberal National Party who appear to be deaf and ignorant in respect to sexism, let me put you in a tardis and take you back to 1984. 

Australia had ratified the UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). One of the obligations on a nation in ratifying a UN convention is that the there will be domestic legislation passed to give effect to the convention. Thus it was that the Hawke Government legislated and passed the Sex Discrimination Act 1984.

Perhaps, you may be saying, oh well that's all very ho hum. Well it wasn't. The forces of conservatism, sexism and ignorance rose up to fight this abomination. Conservative churches like the Assemblies of God were to the fore. (We hadn't heard much if anything about Brian and Bobbie Houston and Hillsong at that stage! And there was no Jim Wallace and the Australian Christian Lobby!) 

Rosemary Fenton as Miss Australia 1960

from here

And then there was the National Party. This was the year that Ian Sinclair became leader of the National Party. Ian was married to Rosemary Fenton a very lovely former Miss Australia. This was not connected to Miss Australia contests to-day. This was a major fundraiser for cerebal palsy organisations around the country. Then they were known as Spastic Centres. (I know this is a history lesson from another time and space!) 

The Nationals were dead against the SDA and who did they trot out to prosecute the case? None other than Rosemary (Fenton) Sinclair. How demeaning! A beautiful, intelligent woman pressed into service against sex discrimination! These are just some of my memories. 

The Destroy the Joint campaign against Alan Jones with the cream on the cake of Julia Gillard's attack in Parliament on misogyny and sexism, in my view, has achieved a new milestone for women. 

It has become clear in the reporting that there are still some men who just don't get it. But women do - except for those who live in mortal fear of Labor and The Greens. So it's onward and upward from here.

We have been given a very strong vaulting horse 

from which we can face the world 

with heads held high and arms out there flying!