According to research by Domestic Violence NSW, nearly 50% of domestic violence workers said victim-survivors have delayed leaving a perpetrator by more than a year because of the difficulties leaving with an animal, and Women’s Safety NSW say that accommodation is a primary barrier.
Last year I held a roundtable in Parliament on domestic violence and animal abuse where we spoke with survivors, domestic violence services, animal welfare groups and enforcement agencies. One thing was clear – accommodation barriers had to be removed. Emergency housing is nearly impossible, with most refuges unable to provide animal accommodation, and for those that can afford to buy or rent, strata by-laws are creating dangerous impediments to those trying to find safety.
Olympian, Commonwealth Games gold medallist has joined transgender debate
Jane Flemming argued athletes born male had physical advantages over women
The track and field champion, 55, argued this made sport unsafe for women
‘The difficulty is that for the human species that’s been born biological male, if they go through puberty in particular, they have, absolutely, have some physiological advantages,’ she told the ABC’s 7.30 program.
‘Whether it is bone strength or extra capillarisation or larger muscle bulk, but then there are other aspects of that as well, not only does that affect performance but there is a health or a danger aspect.’
Of course, there were the usual suspects. Those repeat offenders (cough *Mark Latham, Malcolm Roberts) who seem to relish being as noxious as possible at any given opportunity.
But there were also some new faces including top gong (Gold Ernie) going to Jayson Westbury, CEO of the Australian Federation of Travel Agents who sickeningly suggested that Tracey Grimshaw deserved a “firm uppercut or a slap across the face” for her reporting of a travel industry refund scandal.
The Political Silver Ernie went to the previously mentioned, Senator Malcolm Roberts for his commentary on the family law system (and apparent defence of perpetrators of domestic violence) when he said:“But when you’re a father, and you can’t get access to your kids, and you can’t get access to the legal system properly, what else is there to do other than check out or hurt the other person?”
There was a dead heat for the Celebrity/Clerical Silver Ernie going to the Council of the Order of Australia for awarding Bettina Arndt an AM for her “significant service to the community as a social commentator, and to gender equity through advocacy for men”.
Ironically, Bettina Arndt was awarded her own Ernie (AKA ‘The Elaine for remarks least helpful to the sisterhood) for her commentary on the devastating murder of Hannah Clarke and her children in which she congratulated “the Queensland police for keeping an open mind and awaiting proper evidence, including the possibility that Rowan Baxter might have been ‘driven too far’.”
Unsurprisingly, Pauline Hanson stepped up for joint acquisition of ‘The Elaine’ for her comments as Deputy chair of the Family Court Enquiry, in which she suggested that women were fabricating stories of domestic violence:“A lot of the women out there abuse the system by instigating false DVOs against their former partners or their husbands. They use that to further their needs… Domestic violence orders have got completely out of hand”, she claimed.
And, in case these recollections aren’t enough to have you tearing your hair out to the point of baldness, let’s not forget the wonderful Shore school boys who also scored a Silver Ernie for their recent ‘Triwizard Shorenament’.The ‘muck-up day’ challenge manual that included instructions for students to have sex with a woman over 80kgs; aged over 40; or who was deemed to be a ‘3/10 or lower’.
The withdrawal of the complaint also leaves the broader community in legal limbo around what statements members of the public can make about sex-based rights. Having erroneously accepted this complaint, there is an onus on the Commissioner to clarify that Tasmanians are able to discuss the reality of biological sex and advocate for sex-based rights. If this does not occur, there will continue to be a chilling effect on free speech in Tasmania.
The reason I have been advocating for fairness and safety in women’s sport, and for the retention of female-only spaces and services, is because Tasmanians and Australians of all political persuasions and backgrounds have asked me to do so. My advocacy is simply a defence of women’s rights and the common sense position that biological sex is and will always remain relevant to certain parts of public policy and life.
(Chandler) has called on the Anti-Discrimination Commissioner to immediately dismiss the complaint and allow free discussion on safety and fairness in women’s sports, following the last-minute cancellation of tomorrow’s conciliation hearing. The commissioner today cancelled the conciliation (after Chandler) refused to sign a confidentiality agreement which would have prevented her speaking about the complaint process.
Bianca Stone, from Queensland, bought the L.O.L Surprise! doll from a local Coles for her daughter on Monday before getting an X-rated surprise.
The line, marketed for children aged six and up, features little girl figurines that are stylised to look like adults.
Disturbing sexualised outfits appear on dolls bodies once dipped into icy water, including shackles around the wrists, nipple coverings, skimpy underwear, tattoos, suspenders, long black boots and body nets.
Louise Newman, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Melbourne, said the dolls fall into a longstanding culture in marketing practices of sexualising young children.
She said the practice is dangerous as it can de-sensitive children to adult sexuality, potentially making them more vulnerable to predators.
The witch is Liberal Senator Claire Chandler. On July 17 she wrongspoke in the pages of The Mercury: “You don’t have to be a bigot to recognise the differences between the male and female sexes and understand why women’s sports, single-sex change rooms and toilets are important.”
This elicited a response from an unnamed Hobart man who emailed the senator confronting her crimethink. The senator doubled down: “I do understand the difference between sex and gender. That’s why I’ve made the point in my article that women’s toilets and women’s change rooms are designed for people of the female sex (women) and should remain that way.”
Having identified the possibility of an anticipated offence Senator Chandler has been called to a hearing before the commission on October 1.
The senator made a fuss in the media. This drew a second missive from the commission. It noted that it was also an offence to “hinder” or “use insulting language” against the commissioner.
First, Tasmania’s Anti-Discrimination Commission, and all such commissions, have tyranny built into their design. It is meant to be a mediation service – and often is – but can also be advocate, prosecutor, judge and jury in one. This invites quasi-judicial bodies to become star chambers. They now deny a keystone democratic right of a fair hearing before an impartial tribunal. The right to freely complain about this injustice has also been removed by law.
Second, the senator is expressing what was, until recently, a pretty conventional worldview. What has changed is a new protected group has evolved, the trans community, whose advocates demand that those who self-nominate a gender must be accepted as male or female.
AU — Sydney. The guideline used by all major Australian children’s hospital gender clinics for gaining informed consent before prescribing sex-hormones to children is unlawful, according to a ruling this month by a family court in Sydney.
In this case, the mother opposes hormonal and surgical intervention; the child lives with his father, who supports it. “Any treating medical practitioner seeing an adolescent under the age of 18 is not at liberty to initiate (puberty blockers, opposite sex hormones or trans surgery) without first ascertaining whether or not a child’s parents or legal guardians consent to the proposed treatment,” Judge Watts said.
Hormonal treatment — puberty blockers to stop natural hormones followed by hormones to encourage opposite-sex external characteristics — has the potential to make young people infertile, incapable of orgasm, and has unknown long-term effects on mental and physical health.
Given the increasing prevalence, the perturbation to family life as well as the mind of the child, and the possibility of prolonged therapy, the importance of gender dysphoria now rivals that of anorexia nervosa with its incongruity between bodily reality and mental perception (the body is thin but is imagined to be fat).
Fundamental differences exist, however, between the medical and societal managements of anorexia and gender dysphoria. In anorexia, management seeks to reduce the mindset, not substantiate it. No medical authority would augment weight loss with diet pills and a gastric band. No media would portray anorexia as heroic. No legislature would forbid therapies that did not affirm the delusion. No court would praise the courage of the child in refusing food, and no court would consider being relieved of a protective role. But, with regard to gender dysphoria, these are the kinds of things that are happening.
Decisions of the Family Court of Australia on gender dysphoria.
Most of the fifty-six children went before the court for authorisation to consent to receive cross-sex hormones. In the earliest cases, some sought blockers. Five were authorised for bilateral mastectomy.
In fifteen summaries, including the last one available in 2017, the safety and reversibility of blockers are emphasised. None refers to effects of cross-sex hormones on the structure of the brain.
Of the five authorised to consent to mastectomy, the first was in 2009, involving a sixteen-year-old who had been on blockers for five years and cross-sex hormones for one year. The next was in 2015, a sixteen-year-old on cross-sex hormones for a year. Of those in 2016, one was fifteen and on blockers for nearly two years and cross-sex hormones for eight months; one was seventeen and appears to have had no previous hormonal intervention; and one was fifteen and on blockers for almost one and a half years. The possibility that extended exposure of the brain to blockers and cross-sex hormones might reduce the capacity for informed consent was never discussed.
The major parties of the NSW parliament have voted down a law which would have sought to ensure that “sexual misconduct [by police officers] reduces… [their] promotional opportunities”
The Greens amendment would have added provisions to section 71 of the Police Act 1990 (NSW), ensuring the commissioner must not promote an officer who’s engaged in prior sexual harassment or misconduct, and that an inquiry to ascertain if this is the case be conducted before promotion.
According to research by Domestic Violence NSW, nearly 50% of domestic violence workers said victim-survivors have delayed leaving a perpetrator by more than a year because of the difficulties leaving with an animal, and Women’s Safety NSW say that accommodation is a primary barrier.
Of course, there were the usual suspects. Those repeat offenders (cough *Mark Latham, Malcolm Roberts) who seem to relish being as noxious as possible at any given opportunity.
Bianca Stone, from Queensland, bought the L.O.L Surprise! doll from a local Coles for her daughter on Monday before getting an X-rated surprise.
The major parties of the NSW parliament have voted down a law which would have sought to ensure that “sexual misconduct [by police officers] reduces… [their] promotional opportunities”