Categories: News

Australia disagrees but Turnbull dithers as Abbott sools Dutton’s homophobia

PETER DUTTON’s verbal gay bashing is yet another of his obsessive compulsive assaults on social justice and gender equality.

But Independent Australia has been informed that he was fortified in his latest outburst by none other than those cheeky little haplorhines of the Monkey Pod Club led by the still grieving needy former PM, Tony Abbott who wants his tiara back.

Dutton’s insulting reference that instead of campaigning for samesex marriage, he’d prefer CEOs of publicly listed companies to “stick to their knitting” is contemptuous of the right to freedom of speech — a notion alien to many in our dysfunctional Parliament.

It is also contemptuous of the right to love whom we please, how we please and to equally share in civil rights without being discarded as aberrations of the flesh, freaks of nature or criminals.

LGBTIQ adults are not the only ones injured in all of this.

The systemic bullying of our children, built into the anti-marriage equality case by supposedly mature politicians, aided and abetted by religious zealots and vested interest groups, causes irreparable psychological damage, alienation and low self-esteem, and is indisputably a form of psychosexual child abuse, perpetrated and sanctioned by the state and institutions.

Just days ago, former Labor leader and Sky TV News schlock jock Mark Latham was sacked after a snide remark about a teenager’s sexuality.

How gutless is that?

As if our young people don’t have enough to contend with in the chaotic world we have bequeathed them, without foisting upon them our own irrational insecurities about sexual identity and preferences.

The general public is becoming increasingly intolerant of these stand-over tactics.

Against the backdrop of the child pornography pandemic and the related gross sexualisation of children in advertising, this is hypocrisy writ large.

Why are we adults bullying children?

IN CORPORATE GROUP HUG TO PM, CEOs VOTE FOR MARRIAGE EQUALITY

On 16 March, in an historical group-hug to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull published on the Equality Campaign website, Australian CEOs of some of our more prominent “brands” argued a lucid, helpful, eloquent, constructive spin-free ethical, humanitarian and logistical business case in support of marriage equality, basically asking the government to legislate and get on with it.

Here’s the full text:

It continues:

The letter is signed by:

IMAGES: Signed with love to Malcolm from: Mark Bernhard, Andrew Clark, Geoff Culbert, Robert Cutler, Michael Ebeid, Shayne Elliott, Tracey Fellows, David Gallop, Richard Goyder, Todd Greenberg, Brian Hartzer, Cindy Hook, Tony Johnson, Alan Joyce, Tony King, John Lydon, Steve McCann, Anthony Moore, Stephen Moore, Ian Narev, Peter Nash, Paul O’Sullivan, Andrew Penn, Kerry Purcell, ,Tim Reed, Heather Ridout, Luke Sayers, Ann Sherry, Rachel Stocks, Peter Tonagh, Louis Vega, Andrew Vesey, Jennifer Westacott and David Zehner. (Image via qnews.com.au.)

CEO ACT OF LOVE FROM SECTOR BETTER KNOWN FOR VENAL THAN VENUS

These names represent uber-national and international influential advertising brands like Amex, ANZ, Apple, Commonwealth Bank, Deloitte, Football Federation Australia, Holden, KPMG, MYOB, National Rugby League, Optus, PwC, Qantas, Telstra, Westpac, so their collective employee pulling power is impressive and numbers in the millions.

The letter was an act of love from business and sporting sectors better known for more venal than Venus pursuits.

It was an heroic act of remarkable corporate courage embodying the impatience felt by the wider community towards a cowardly government that would rather be held to ransom by a handful of conservative politically regressive anal-retentives than heed the heartbeat of the nation.

COALITION CLAIM FOR PLEBISCITE MANDATE IS DISHONEST

Given we already know that the majority of Australians support same-sex marriage, it is ludicrous for the Government to continue with its facile claim of a “mandate” for a needless and money-squandering plebiscite.

It has no such mandate, and to claim otherwise is dishonest and politically expedient.

Long before the last Federal election, it was well known that the majority of Australians supported same-sex marriage. Besides, the Coalition was barely re-elected. In November last year, the Senate gave the $170 million-plus plebiscite the finger.

The plebiscite was Tony Abbott’s silly idea in the first place and from the backbench he continues to fan its embers, using stooges like Peter Dutton, his personal aide-de-camp in the cabinet, to prosecute the anti-marriage equality case at every opportunity.

TURNBULL TOOK PLEBISCITE BATON FROM ABBOTT IN RELAY ALREADY LOST

Its raison d’être was ostensibly to halt the burgeoning momentum in favour of marriage equality, to enable the galvanising of the minority like-minded political and religious conservatives, as well as vicious bigots and homophobes, and to buy time — to hijack and suffocate public debate, and to convert the rest of us into becoming accomplices in such ugliness.

In his continuing and seemingly futile fight to appease Abbott’s dissidents, Turnbull unwisely took the baton from his nemesis, to run a relay already lost, thus identifying himself as Abbott’s proxy — a follower and not a leader.

Turnbull is famously pro same-sex marriage, but he is infamously reticent to lead the charge to implement it.

Despite his entreaty to the party unfaithful at Saturday night’s Liberal Party State Council meeting in Melbourne not to dress to the right, Turnbull should practice what he preaches.

Parliament entire should simply grow up and vote on the matter. The people have outgrown them again on this one.

DID AUSTRALIA POST DECLINE TO SIGN MARRIAGE EQUALITY LETTER?

IA understands several organisations declined informal approaches to add their signatures to the list — among them Australia Post, whose CEO Ahmed Fahour recently announced his resignation not long after his whopping $5.6 million salary package was made public, consigning him as an expensively registered parcel loitering in the “out” tray until he leaves in July for another postcode.

Australia Post was “sounded out” on the basis that it is a Government-owned entity and thus owned by Australians.

It employs about 36,000 people and, statistically, most of those would surely support marriage equality — and, of course, in terms of sexual orientation, discrimination by employers is an offence.

But what of Australia Post’s board? Ah well, that is quite a different matter.

In a joint press release in May last year, Minister for Finance Mathias Cormann and Minister for Communications Mitch Fifield announced their former colleague and dismal failure of a minister for veterans’ affairs (ask any veteran and stand back), one-time Senator Michael Ronaldson, had been appointed to Australia Post’s board.

AUS POST DIRECTOR MICHAEL RONALDSON NO FRIEND OF DOROTHY’S FRIENDS

Michael Ronaldson is clearly not a friend to “friends of Dorothy’s” seeking marriage equality.

He is a serial marriage equality denier.

In fact, according to the They Vote for You website, whilst in office, Ronaldson has a dismal record in 12 voting opportunities on the subject.

Perhaps it is too strong to say he scurried away to avoid his voting responsibilities, but Ronaldson was absent for seven of those opportunities and when he was there for the other five, voted no — indeed, as did the majority of the House.

Those who are deliberately absent are just as disgraceful as those political cowards who abstain from voting.

Did Ronaldson put the kibosh on Australia Post endorsing the CEOs’ letter?

Signatories of the press release, Ministers Cormann and Fifield are also vehemently against same-sex marriage. Minister Cormann thinks the best way to insult an opposition leader is to call him a “girlie-man”, as he did Bill Shorten.

Tess Lawrence

Tess Lawrence is a broadcaster, journalist advocate and specialist in ethical media services and crisis management and consultant in media strategy, contentious multi-cultural, interfaith, human rights and issues of injustice. She has taught at a number of institutions, including Deakin University in Ethics and New Reporting and is a forensic researcher and analyst (communications) and implemented, underwrote and directed the campaign seeking sanctuary for the surviving Iraqi soldiers responsible for the rescue of Australian hostage Douglas Wood. Tess Lawrence was the first female feature writer 'allowed' to sit in the previously all male newsroom at the Melbourne Herald. She has the distinction of travelling around Saudi Arabia sans a male chaperone and sought sanctuary in ' the empty quarter ' in the company of the bedu who protected her from regime spies as she spent time in the desert after the first Gulf War. She was nonetheless arrested three times by the religious police. She remains a defiant ' adulte terrible ' and is a passionate advocate of citizen journalism and believes it to be an authentic voice of the journalist as witness. She is in awe of the young hearts and minds of the pan Arabist children of the revolution. She is about to launch a campaign for journalist Julian Assange to be the next Dr Who. She is addicted to English Mars bars and loves her Aunty Audrey to bits. Although a lapsed Catholic, she still lights candles in memory of her beloved Boxer dogs Bunyip and Gumnut. She is besotted with Australian marsupials and unashamedly incorporates words such as ' cobber ' and ' drongo ' in her political reports and analyses.