Well here is evidence again that we in Australia are living in a dangerous time where anyone with a counter view to the accepted script of the left are hounded, bullied and defamed publicly with much damage done to their career if they are in the public eye.

A difference of opinion….yes folks that’s all it is…between two media personalities the other day, has resulted in much outrage by the left and a way over the top furor in the public square.

Ok in case you have been in a coma the last few days and don’t know what happened, here is the back story.

One of Network 10’s Studio 10’s Presenters Kerri-Anne Kennerley was labelled a racist by fellow panellist and Radio personality Yumi Stines. They were discussing Australia Day and its date and the resulting protests by some Indigenous Groups calling Australia Day, Invasion Day.

Here is how the actual issues were reported

The TV veteran was labelled a “racist” by fellow panellist Yumi Stynes on Monday’s episode, and further criticised by activists and online viewers, after suggesting Saturday’s Invasion Day protesters had done nothing to support Australia’s Indigenous communities in “the outback where children, where babies and five-year-olds are being raped”.

So here is the issue…..Kennerley identified that there is an issue in Indigenous communities related to abuse of children living in these communities and that people protesting about Australia Day would be better placed if they passionately protested toward stopping the abuse of children in the outback.

So let’s unpack this a little further. Kennerley was giving a voice to voiceless abused indigenous children. Is the abuse of indigenous children higher than non indigenous in Australia?

Well a simple Google search yields many many articles and reports that say yes. Here is an article from WA Police Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan writing the in The West Australian 30^th March 2015.

Reality of Aboriginal child abuse far worse

How would you react if your 11-year-old daughter had a sexually transmitted infection? How would you take the news that your daughter is up to 10 times more likely to be the victim of sexual abuse than others in her class? How would you feel if she was sexually abused and no one bothered to report it?

To most of us, these situations are unthinkable and it would be difficult to fathom how we would react to them.

This is the plight of hundreds of Aboriginal children in remote communities throughout Australia and this is only half of the story.

Recently in Parliament, Colin Barnett cited 39 cases of Aboriginal children reporting with an STI in 2013.

For this the Premier was condemned by protesters who, in my view, completely missed the point. Disturbingly, the reality he was trying to present was likely to be far worse.

Statistics about the magnitude of child sexual abuse in remote Aboriginal communities are unreliable, mainly because of deliberate under-reporting. The Australian Institute of Family Studies has estimated that up to 90 per cent of sexual abuse in these communities is under-reported.

Only last week I spoke to my management team in the Kimberley who continue to express concerns that workers in communities are deliberately not reporting STIs because of pressure from the abusers not to “betray” the culture.

Detectives from the Child Abuse Unit, under the most challenging conditions, have also identified gross under-reporting of abuse during their regional and remote investigations.

A police operation in the Pilbara identified that many people did not report child abuse because they believed child sex abuse was part of Aboriginal culture and that teenage pregnancy was a norm. Sex abuse is not part of Aboriginal culture, rather it is a practice built out of intimidation of women and children.

Abusers are equally divided between older men and teenage boys, the latter often beset with substance abuse problems or foetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

There are varying estimates of how many children are subjected to sexual abuse in remote communities, however, there seems to be a consensus that about one in four girls is subject to abuse and one in nine boys.

Pam Greer, a passionate Aboriginal activist in the area of Aboriginal family violence, was quoted as saying in 2007: “Men are having sex with children, young girls, young boys. It’s a tragic situation because the children lie awake at night, waiting for it to happen to them, just lie there, waiting. They know it’s coming for them, because it’s happened to everybody. And who are they getting abused by? People who are in positions of power. And what happens? The children get stoned, get drunk, hang themselves, and we all know why.”

This is exactly the situation we found in Oombulgurri, a Kimberley community often only accessible by boat from which the State Government has now withdrawn all services. It was a community where young girls were regularly preyed upon by the men who were the resident powerbrokers.

The facilitation of contraceptive implants in girls as young as 11 or 12 when requested by a parent or guardian resident in these communities or recommended by a health worker is not uncommon. This must surely be a last line of defence when it is not possible to adequately protect the children from predators.

Oombulgurri is too remote for the continuous attention that would have been needed to intervene in the cycle of abuse.

I am not suggesting that the closure of that community saved all those girls from abuse, however, there is no doubt that it disrupted the cycle of abuse of power and resulted in the charging and imprisonment of the perpetrators. A necessary first step. Many families moved to Wyndham, where there are services, support and housing.

There is always a dilemma when making a decision of the magnitude of closing a community, but the safety and welfare of our children must be pre-eminent.

The story of Oombulgurri is not unique. According to advice I received last week, the contraceptive implant Implanon is known to be prescribed for younger girls in the region. I was advised the use of the drug was not always in accordance with concerns about sexual activity but might be prescribed for “health reasons”. That statement sounds like just another addition to the confusing rhetoric around this problem and in my mind is nothing more than clever language.

I cannot respond to the safety and protection needs of these children in the way you would expect. It is simply not possible. If we facilitate the existence of communities beset by substance abuse, family violence and child abuse hundreds of kilometres from support or intervention services, then we must accept the loss of yet another generation of Aboriginal children. The Government gets it but many don’t.

In the past few days I have seen images of people trying to save whales at Bunbury and dolphins in the Serpentine River, to get them back to a place where they can survive and thrive. It’s a pity we are not all showing the same resolve for children in our remote communities.

Karl O’Callaghan is WA Police Commissioner

Wow what an incredible last quote from the WA Police Commissioner….’it’s a pity we are not all showing the same resolve for children in our remote communities’, (as people show for dolphins and whales.

Reminds me an anti abortion song that spoke of misplaced passion that Warwick Marsh used to sing in the early 90’s

Don’t kill whales,

Don’t kill trees

Don’t kill seals

But most of all, don’t kill the children.

Instead the left leaning media and protestors are now calling for Kennerley to be sacked, they are trolling and bully her through social media and are labelling her Kerri-Anne KKK Kennerley. Really? KKK. Do these people have any idea exactly what the Klu Klux Klan actually did in America? I personally find this parallel mindboggling in its ignorance. But hey they won’t stop the mob mentality that so often dictates thought in this nation.

She merely did something along the line that the Police Commissioner of WA wants us all to do: stand up for the children who are being abused, who are being raped, who are being molested….and for this she is being mercilessly targeted as a racist vile pig (to quote one protesters banner).

What is wrong with our nation?

First up….two journalists were having a discussion where there was a difference of opinion. When did having a difference of opinion become so very very wrong in Australia? In Bangladesh, bloggers are killed for having a difference of opinion to the approved opinion. Australia is fast heading down that track. There are calls for Kennerley to have her career assassinated.

Secondly, pointing out a genuine justice issue within a particular race of people is not racist. There IS A problem with child abuse within Indigenous communities. I cite one from less than 12 months ago that horrified our nation.

Here is an article from the Northern Territory News dates the 21^st February 2018

Alleged horror sex attack on two-year-old Northern Territory girl

UPDATED: The “shocked” and “horrified” mayor of Tennant Creek has demanded politicians visit his town in the wake of allegations of a brutal sexual assault on a two-year-old girl.

A man, 24, faced Tennant Creek Local Court on Tuesday, charged with sexual intercourse without consent over the incident which left the girl in an induced coma.

OUR SAY: OUR CHILDREN DESERVE BETTER

It has left the Tennant Creek community reeling and comes only a week after the Closing the Gap report showed much work had to be done to improve the lives of indigenous Australians.

The child’s mother and baby brother had flown to Adelaide to be by her side.

“It’s understood a party, with alcohol involved, was at the house preceding the incident,” a source said. “A man died in the house several weeks before.”

The girl was taken to Alice Springs Hospital on Friday and then on to Adelaide on Saturday for further treatment.

It is understood the little girl had to be put into an induced coma.

Tennant Creek Mayor Steve Edgington demanded Chief Minister Michael Gunner immediately address the issues plaguing his town.

“My reaction is shock and horror, like many residents of Tennant Creek,” he said.

“A sexual assault on any person, let alone a toddler, is a serious crime and simply can’t be tolerated in our community,” he said.

“I think it’s time for the Chief Minister to have a good look at what’s going on in Tennant Creek and come down and have a talk with the Aboriginal leaders and the agencies to see what is there, so that all of the agencies can work together to start identifying solutions.”

Mr Edgington said Aboriginal elders met on Tuesday morning “to discuss exactly what’s happened but again to try and think about what some of the solutions might look like”.

“Previously in Tennant Creek there’s been a council of respected elders, but there may be an opportunity for the government to work with elders to work together and find a solution to these issues,” he said.

Mr Gunner told the NT News on Tuesday night that acting Chief Minister Nicole Manison and Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw would fly to Tennant Creek on Wednesday morning.

“We stand with the people of Tennant,” Mr Gunner said.

“This is a tragic, awful event. Repeated trauma has scarred our communities for decades. Too many Territorians have lived this nightmare for too long.

 “Having a happy, healthy home should not be an aspiration it should be a God given right. “This is the demand on every Territory politician, public servant, community leader, elder and parent. We must do more, we will do more.”

Families representatives are also flying to Tennant Creek on today.

NT Police Association president Paul McCue said the incident involving the little girl was “tragic”.

“Everyone has a right to live in a safe environment, including our children,” he said.

“Tennant Creek, like all areas of the Territory, has ebbs and flows regarding crime, which can be dependent on a variety of reasons.

“Summer time, for example, traditionally results in an increase in crime, and the police continue to do everything they can to combat this with the finite resources they have.”

Mr McCue said it was important to remember police were only part of the solution.

“Other agencies and the public themselves need to play their part and contribute to a safe community,” he said.

“It is difficult to plan for this type of situation, other than working on creating safe family environments for everyone, including children.”

The man charged in relation to the two-year-old’s injuries was remanded to reappear at Alice Springs court on April 19.

He will appear on video link from Alice Springs Prison.

A Territory Families spokeswoman confirmed the family was known to the agency and they had provided the mother programs and services.

“An incident such as this must be immediately investigated by the Child Abuse Taskforce, made up of members of the Police and Territory Families. This occurred in this instance,” she said. “As the matter is before the courts, Territory Families is not in a position to provide further commentary …”

I remember reading further media reports on this story and it was widely known that the child was a child at risk by child care workers but they refused to act on this as they didn’t want to be labelled racist because they spoke up.

So here is the question. Who is speaking up for these children?

Kerri-Anne Kennerley did and look at the outage. Are we being outraged by the wrong thing here?

Click the following link to read my blog on another incident where we were outraged by the wrong thing.

Today the World was Outraged by the Wrong Thing – The Mitchell Pearce Incident

So here are my concluding thoughts.

• Australia is a place where free speech and free thought is not allowed anymore. Click here to read my blog about the outrage because Israel Folau had a free thought that was contrary to the left leaning approved script of the brainwashed masses.
• I actually think that Kerri-Anne Kennerley has a valid point. Maybe it would be really helpful for the passionate protesters against Australia Day, to direct their passion toward the injustices happening in their own communities.
• Even if I didn’t agree with Kennerley, shouldn’t anyone in a democracy have the right to an opinion? (Oh and don’t even get me started on the Editor of Marie Claire having a go at the opinion of Margaret Court over the weekend.)
• We lament the rate of bullying in our schools that often lead to the suicide of our children….think Dolly Everett….yet we stand back and watch a TV personality get mercilessly and I think unjustifiably bullied and we say nothing and that models to the younger generation that bullying must be ok.

Time for a rethink of the way we in Australia do life.

Time for a rethink on the way we in Australia support out indigenous fellow Australians and their children.

Time for a rethink on the way we speak up for those who can’t speak.

Anyway,

That’s what I think

Peter

Categories: Australian, Controversial, Current Affairs

Tags: Australia Day, Indigenous child abuse, Invasion Day Protesters, Is Kerri-Anne racist, Kerri- Anne Kennerley, Outback Australia Problems, racism in Australia, Should Kerri-Anne Kennerley be allowed to have an opinion, Yumi Stynes