Today I have announced that I will be recommending to the Governor-General the establishment of a Royal Commission into institutional responses to instances and allegations of child sexual abuse in Australia.
The allegations that have come to light recently about child sexual abuse have been heartbreaking.
These are insidious, evil acts to which no child should be subject.
The individuals concerned deserve the most thorough of investigations into the wrongs that have been committed against them.
They deserve to have their voices heard and their claims investigated.
I believe a Royal Commission is the best way to do this.
The proposed terms of reference and proposed Commissioner will be submitted to the Governor‑General in due course, pursuant to the Royal Commissions Act 1902.
I will speak with relevant Premiers and Chief Ministers in coming days to discuss how the Royal Commission should relate to any current inquiries into similar matters currently proposed or underway in their jurisdictions. Discussions will also take place with victims’ groups, religious leaders, and community organisations.
The Attorney-General and the Minister for Families will co-ordinate this work on behalf of the Government in coming weeks.
Further announcements, including the proposed Commissioner and detailed terms of reference, will be made in coming weeks.
I commend the victims involved for having the courage to speak out.
I believe we must do everything we can to make sure that what has happened in the past is never allowed to happen again.
As soon as it comes up I will be posting the transcript of the ABC The Drum that is currently being shown. The level of anti-Catholic bigotry being displayed is simply appalling. While criminal behaviour cannot and should not be condoned, this Royal Commission has started off on the wrong foot. Even before the terms have been announced.
Update I: Liberal Press Release here.
As a community we must have zero tolerance for the sexual abuse of children.
Wherever abuse has occurred it must be tackled and it must be tackled vigorously, openly and transparently.
It’s clear that for a long period there was insufficient awareness and insufficient vigilance when it came to predatory behaviour by people in positions of authority over children.
A lot of terrible things have been done, and a lot of people have suffered deeply.
For these reasons, if the government were to propose a Royal Commission to investigate the sexual abuse of children, it is something the Coalition would be prepared to support.
Any investigation must be wide-ranging, must consider any evidence of the abuse of children in Australia, and should not be limited to the examination of any one institution. It must include all organisations, government and non-government, where there is evidence of sexual abuse.
Victims must be allowed to heal, and perpetrators must be brought to justice.
Update II: The Drum video is here – watch from 3:40
Let the anti Catholic bashing begin……oh hang on…it did a while ago. This is just the institutionalisation of it. Surely, the criminals have to be brought to justice (if any are still alive) but a Royal Commission? Really?
How about a Royal Commission into unions? AWU anyone?
Lysander Spooner
12 Nov 12 at 6:24 pm
I watched that Drum exchange. It got rather nasty.
Rhys Muldoon is not an elected official, I will remind the court. Just because he says something on the Drum – like calling for removal of tax-free status of the Catholic Church – doesn’t mean it will be included in the RC ToR.
m0nty
12 Nov 12 at 6:26 pm
(Commented elsewhere before I realised this thread was available).
They will certainly make political hay out of it for sure. I wonder why they didn’t consider a RC back in 2007 or 2008 or 2009 or 2010 or 2011. But as an election year is near, well why not, says mcternan.
I just hope it is a RC and not merely a witch hunt that will be used to tar all catholics with the same brush as someone has already alluded.
This announcement:
hopefully means all institutions dealing with children.
Gab
12 Nov 12 at 6:27 pm
The anti-Catholic hysteria has already called for the Pope’s resignation and, in Britain, his prosecution. ( I understand the Aussie ‘Human Right’ Lawyer fellow was the one calling).
But what everyone seems to forget is that since a very long time the responsibility for children’s welfare has rested with the States. It is States Governments that have authorised and overseen all children’s homes, care homes what have you, even when delegated to various Churches.
How about some Premier Heads? At least some senior civil servant heads.
Amfortas
12 Nov 12 at 6:28 pm
Excellent news.
Catholic bashing on blogs is unfortunate but I doubt will interfere with the execution of the Royal Commission. Although I am now an atheist, I was raised in a Catholic family and went to Catholic (St Josephs’s and Christian Brothers) schools. I have no doubt child abuse is NOT endemic in Catholic institutions. A Royal Commission is an execllent way to clear the air and separate the abusers from the vast majority of Catholics who are no doubt appalled by the steady stream of news of abuse.
SteveC
12 Nov 12 at 6:30 pm
Hahahahahhaha! Good one, Gab.
Oh, wait, you weren’t joking?
nilk
12 Nov 12 at 6:30 pm
Run The Split all over again. Worked a treat last time. Masterstroke.
Pickles
12 Nov 12 at 6:31 pm
And here we have the end of Tony Abbott. He will be slimed with every dirty detail by every Labor politician, leftist academic and journalist in Australia. …And all just in time for the next Federal election.
So the narrative moves from ‘war on women’ to catholic bashing.
Luke
12 Nov 12 at 6:33 pm
First they came for the Catholics.
The purpose of this is to slime Tony Abbott as a paedophile during the next election.
Jannie
12 Nov 12 at 6:33 pm
There’s a moderator now?
[No - you used a banned word and went into auto-moderation. Sinc]
Jannie
12 Nov 12 at 6:34 pm
I notice the The Drum aren’t displaying live tweets.
Sinclair Davidson
12 Nov 12 at 6:36 pm
Catholic bashing has been alive and well at the ABC for quite some time. Well, not when Keating was in power, not back then and not so much when Howard was in power although his going to church got a bit of stick. Rudd going to church every Sunday and holding a press conference straight after never got a derisive mention. Hmmm…seems it’s only been in the last few years…
Gab
12 Nov 12 at 6:36 pm
There is a moderator looking at my 6.33 comment, but not one looking at my 6.34 comment.
Looking for key words? wuwt?
Jannie
12 Nov 12 at 6:36 pm
Quick transcription of the more fiery exchange on the Drum, from my Foxtel IQ.
Rhys Muldoon: I find it fascinating that you are talking about water, because what you are talking about is watering down this royal commission. Ultimately it is, because if that scope is so broad, you’re not going for like… we know there’s a problem in the Catholic Church, why can’t we go after the Catholic Church? I know that it’s difficult and tricky and you want bipartisan support, but why be afraid of saying it? I don’t understand.
Steve Kanaan asks Sue Cato about why wasn’t the petition she signed was about the clergy.
Sue Cato: Because quite frankly, it was the smart way to get an outcome. And the reality is, I don’t care what you two are saying, there are instances outside the Church, and to specifically focus on the Catholic Church…
Rhys: I am not anti-Catholic, I have a lot of sympathy for Catholicism. I just say if there’s a problem, it’s clearly there, there’s been a cover up, why can’t we just go for that to start off with?
Sue: I tell you what, clearly you should be a commissioner, because you know more about it than anyone else in the country.
Rhys: Oh really? Well, the Age says that 1 in 15 Catholic priests are pedophiles, I would have thought something should be done.
Joe Aston: Rhys, you shouldn’t read the Age so often…
Rhys: Careful, it’s a stablemate…
m0nty
12 Nov 12 at 6:38 pm
Jannie if you’re going to use the p word, try paed0phile or pa3dophile.
Gab
12 Nov 12 at 6:38 pm
And a Royal Commission into the Heiner Affair
You can download the Rofe QC audit from this site http://www.gwb.com.au/gwb/news/goss/
the password is also there
judge for yourself the substance or otherwise of the alleged Heiner cover-up as set out in the Audit. As the site states
It is inconceivable that Commissioner Carmody has not recused himself – read why at the link
val majkus
12 Nov 12 at 6:39 pm
I think a Royal Commission into alleged institutional cover-ups of child sexual abuse is probably on balance a good thing – as opposed to incidents of abuse themselves, which is a straightforward criminal matter.
This will free up all the anti-Catholic bigots to crawl out of the woodwork however, cheered on in the comments by the same types who would scream if the same guilt-by-association was applied to Muslims.
Good for you. I am also an ex-Catholic atheist who attended Catholic day schools, was an altar boy who served at altar for a dozen or so priests and a member of several Catholic youth groups. I never saw any evidence of child sexual abuse whatsoever nor heard any rumours of such abuse. Maybe I was just lucky, but I doubt it. Still, Catholic-bashing is fun, isn’t it.
Matt
12 Nov 12 at 6:40 pm
Gab please enlighten me, how can a word be banned. Did it do something wrong?
Jannie
12 Nov 12 at 6:41 pm
Nevertheless, there have been multiple alleged perpetrators at St Joseph’s and the Christian Brothers.
m0nty
12 Nov 12 at 6:42 pm
Take it up with Sinclair, Jannie.
Gab
12 Nov 12 at 6:42 pm
Dat ones da bomb Val.
Pickles
12 Nov 12 at 6:43 pm
Indeed – that is a matter for the police.
Sinclair Davidson
12 Nov 12 at 6:43 pm
I wonder of the RC will consider female genital mutilation by Muslims.
Annabelle
12 Nov 12 at 6:45 pm
Amazing.
Nic
12 Nov 12 at 6:45 pm
Yes, but institutional intransigence (to put it mildly) by superiors of the alleged perpetrators is a valid subject of a royal commission.
m0nty
12 Nov 12 at 6:45 pm
A good start would be investigating the institutional cover ups with boarding colleges in WA, like the one in Katanning where there were instances of abuse going back 10-15 years or more. A bloke I went to high school with in the 1980′s was one of the victims.
I don’t believe it was run by the Catholic Church.
tbh
12 Nov 12 at 6:46 pm
I don’t quite get the chatter. Are the people requesting a Royal Commission suggesting there is new stuff that’s come out. If it has what is it? Are there still catholic priests still on the loose sexually molesting kids.
I dunno, so someone can help me, but this sounds like a leftwing swarming attack and an old catholic bash. Somehow I think it’s a way of trying to get Abbott. I’m guessing that the next accusation to come from the limey in the Lying Slapper’s office is that he’s a pedophile.
Fat Boy, perhaps you can help as you seem quite excited about it. What’s new?
JC
12 Nov 12 at 6:46 pm
Matt, I spent 10 years in various Catholic institutions, and your comment applies exactly.
One thing they they did teach us was not to take shit from perverts. From the age of 11, I was confident enough to protect myself: fight, run or shout for help.
Jannie
12 Nov 12 at 6:47 pm
Blind freddie can see it’s McTernan/Gillard effort to get Tony Abbott.
First the misogny speech to maximise the female vote, and this to encourage the Catholic haters amongst us.
very divisive PM we have, she does not bring Aussies together at all.
candy
12 Nov 12 at 6:48 pm
But is this new?
JC
12 Nov 12 at 6:48 pm
Now I would like to see a similar Royal Commission into the corruption in the Unions
Old woman of the north
12 Nov 12 at 6:48 pm
It certainly has a sniff of Abbott bashing about it. He needs to get on the front foot about it I think.
tbh
12 Nov 12 at 6:49 pm
Julian Burnside is way ahead of him, having called Abbott a paed0phile in tweet already.
[Added link. Sinc]
Gab
12 Nov 12 at 6:49 pm
Gab, please tell me you’re joking.
tbh
12 Nov 12 at 6:51 pm
“It certainly has a sniff of Abbott bashing about it. He needs to get on the front foot about it I think.”
honestly, if Mr Abbott shrinks and runs away again from Gillard/McTernan, he may as well give the job up to someone else.
candy
12 Nov 12 at 6:51 pm
“I never saw any evidence of child sexual abuse whatsoever nor heard any rumours of such abuse.”
Probably because, as some people have pointed out, Catholics are no more likely to be child abusers than any other group.
But the actual instances of abuse are not the focus, which is instead on the ways organisations (and I hope the terms of reference are very wide when it comes to this) covered up the crimes.
Jarrah
12 Nov 12 at 6:51 pm
Found the tweet. Oh dear.
tbh
12 Nov 12 at 6:52 pm
Class Wars
Gender Wars
Sexual Preference Wars
Religious Wars?
Seriously doing my head in today.
Jannie
12 Nov 12 at 6:52 pm
Not today, tbh, as I said he is way ahead in the labelling Abbott a paed0 becuase he’s a Catholic.
You can see for yourself, do a google search:
Gab
12 Nov 12 at 6:53 pm
Agreed. Time to stop playing defence constantly and show a bit of leadership.
tbh
12 Nov 12 at 6:53 pm
Yep, did and found it. Confirms all my suspicions about what a prick Burnside is.
tbh
12 Nov 12 at 6:54 pm
Abbott better sue that scum Burnside quick smart.
Cato the Elder
12 Nov 12 at 6:56 pm
Let me first declare I am a Catholic.
I agree with Abbott’s position. If there is to be a RC, let’s have a broad-ranging one, and not focus on one institution. I think for the good of the church, let’s have it too. For so long as an RC is not held, there will be no end to anti-Catholic bashing on this issue for years and years to come.
Joe
12 Nov 12 at 6:57 pm
Joe I tend to err on the side of disclosure too. Better to air these issues and deal with them, even though the process will be painful.
tbh
12 Nov 12 at 6:59 pm
JC, you said you read the Inspector Fox transcript. Have you forgotten it already? Also look up the transcript for Father Kevin Lee. Of course there’s tons that hasn’t come out yet, that’s the whole point.
SteveC
12 Nov 12 at 7:00 pm
totally agree Joe.
SteveC
12 Nov 12 at 7:02 pm
As a practicing Catholic, I have absolutely no objection to an objective, arms-length, non-agenda based, government inquiry into all systemic child-abuse issues within any institution in Australia, from the Catholic Church to (let’s say) the ABC, and further on, to the remote aboriginal communities. Indeed, I warmly welcome the project.
Genuine Catholics, innocent ABC devots, and remote community citizens will be the beneficiaries.
Hugh
12 Nov 12 at 7:04 pm
SteveC would that be the “Father” Kevin Lee who lied to his flock while he went and got married?
The one who broke his vows?
He’s a bit light in the credibility stakes, I guess, unless you’re looking for yet another club to bash the catholics with.
nilk
12 Nov 12 at 7:05 pm
Yes nilk, that’s the one. You suspect he is simply making up the stuff he talked about? Check the transcript and lateline and get back to me. I would imagine he is a likely witness to the RC.
SteveC
12 Nov 12 at 7:09 pm
Yes, everyone welcomes the RC with scarecly concealed venom.
We really have to wait for the terms of reference to see how profound this inquiry will be.
As it stands, however, it has brilliantly ‘wedged’ the opposition by making an issue of the failure of venerable social institutions.
Scapula
12 Nov 12 at 7:09 pm
Hang on. why should the Catholic Church be subjugated to a “wide ranging” enquiry on child abuse.
Seems to me the Catolic Church has been attracting the wrong types for decades.
Could it have anything to do with their celibacy vows? Could it have anything to do with the fat that they dont encourage women into the priesthood?
Oh no – nothing at all (BS).
I wont tread carefully with this one Sinc. What happens and what gets covered up and papered over in the Catolic church needs to be investigated and exposed. Its been going on way too long. Enough. There are repeated incidences of cover ups by the Catholic Church.
I say we rip out the cover ups with prying legislation and fine the bastards. NOW.
Alice
12 Nov 12 at 7:09 pm
I agree with Joe (and am an atheist).
All cults secure financial and sexual privileges for the elites that run them. They should ALL be investigated.
Ooh Honey Honey
12 Nov 12 at 7:09 pm
Scapula, I don’t think it’s a wedge issue. Isn’t Rudd a Catholic too?
tbh
12 Nov 12 at 7:11 pm
Why weren’t the ass clowns on the Drum as gung ho when Howard instituted the Intervention?
Aren’t Aboriginal kids worthy enough for a Royal Commission?
jupes
12 Nov 12 at 7:14 pm
Look you twits: Burnside’s explanation as to how he was not referring to Abbott when he tweeted that comment appeared credible and convincing. He issued an unsolicited apology as soon as he realised what had happened, and in the course of that made it clear that while he finds many faults with Abbott, he certainly would not want to have his genuine criticisms derailed by this accident.
steve from brisbane
12 Nov 12 at 7:15 pm
Surely the Heiner Affair needs to be part of this. i.e. Institutional Cover up
Just thinking…This proposal has to go before the GG. to discuss terms of reference. The Heiner Affair would bring up some well known Labor names, including that of Rudd and the GG herself!
How will that work?
Winnedge
12 Nov 12 at 7:16 pm
Rudd is actually a convert to Anglicanism from Catholicism, but its more a question of the borader cultural debate and not party politics per se.
Scapula
12 Nov 12 at 7:16 pm
Ex-Catholic Anglican. Left the Catholic church after his experience at Marist Ashgrove I believe. Has no love for the Catholic church.
Matt
12 Nov 12 at 7:16 pm
Gillard did not use the word “Catholic” in her press release.
If the Royal Commission has terms of reference which are are similarly non-specific, but the Commission then subsequently targets Catholics when it handles Victorian cases, can the Commissioner then be found guilty of breaching section 8 of the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act (VIC) 2001?
2dogs
12 Nov 12 at 7:16 pm
If I was to defend against the implied smear on Abbott, I would bogy up some stats – to the effect: What’s the percentage of priests convicted of peadophillia to those teaching/running a parish, compared to Labor MP’s convicted of the same thing.
Actually I think that this is not primarilly directed at Abbott but a smokescreen to cover the Obeid / McDonald disclosures.
Arnost
12 Nov 12 at 7:17 pm
Are outback welfare communities to be included in the RC? Bet not.
ar
12 Nov 12 at 7:17 pm
In particular, does privilege cover that Act or only defamation?
2dogs
12 Nov 12 at 7:18 pm
And how many times does Gillard have to say “I” in an announcement?
ar
12 Nov 12 at 7:19 pm
Oh dear.
The whole thing will degenerate into a farce with Roxon running the show.
jupes
12 Nov 12 at 7:20 pm
Why is my comment in moderation? I didn’t use any banned words.
Art Vandelay
12 Nov 12 at 7:22 pm
Alice – by tread carefully I mean don’t defame anyone. Already a number of comments have been deleted.
Sinclair Davidson
12 Nov 12 at 7:22 pm
Only to an idiot.
jupes
12 Nov 12 at 7:22 pm
Its always been clear that the destruction of the Heiner documents was improper and its always been clear that there was a real scandal that should have been investigated fully, but the dots connecting the two are unclear.
Scapula
12 Nov 12 at 7:23 pm
Art – you named specific individuals. That comment is not going up.
Sinclair Davidson
12 Nov 12 at 7:24 pm
Hence the need for a Royal Commission.
jupes
12 Nov 12 at 7:24 pm
6 times, ar.
SteveC
12 Nov 12 at 7:26 pm
Hard to understand the link to Heiner.
Sinclair Davidson
12 Nov 12 at 7:29 pm
Watch innocent young Tony fall for McTernan’s trap and be irresistibly drawn to provide support, restrained and oblique tho it might be, for his Mother Church……in convenient sound bites for Their ABC.
Alfonso
12 Nov 12 at 7:30 pm
Interesting.
As if child abuse in institutions of any kind is something which has just come to light.
kae
12 Nov 12 at 7:31 pm
Sinc:
Told you so.
Again I raise the idea of running a ‘predictive’ thread here to look at the array of smears/sliming and dirty tricks the ALP is going to run over the next few months.
As for this, what is it but yet another media blitz to distract attention from the massive and institutionalised corruption in the ALP?
And their incompetence…
And the waste of money…
And their endless slaughter of people at sea…
And their loss of control of the borders…
And Juliar’s alleged assistance in the alleged theft of money by the married guy the slapper was shagging…
But I do love the way Milne snapped her fingers and Juliar scurried to do her bidding like a good little lapdog.
Mk50 of Brisbane
12 Nov 12 at 7:32 pm
Nope. Never happened before 2012.
Gab
12 Nov 12 at 7:32 pm
A child was abused. There are allegations of an institutional cover up.
jupes
12 Nov 12 at 7:33 pm
Mk50 – I did think about that but don’t want to accidently provide them with ideas.
Sinclair Davidson
12 Nov 12 at 7:34 pm
What did I forget, SteveC, you misbegotten slob? Fox made several accusations, which when combined amounted to a conspiracy theory. He accused the Police Force higher ups, the Catholic Church senior honchos and by default the NSW government of a cover up.
However what I didn’t read into Fox’s comments was if there was any new developments. Are there?
We also don’t know why he was relieved from his job in the police as a senior investigator into child abuse accusations. Fox implied in the interview that the reason was because he was getting close to a huge conspiracy to cover up. I’m calling that bullshit.
SteveC, you’re not a neutral voice in all this as CL recently posted a comment made by you that this sort of stuff excites you in some strange way. That you seem to get excited by pedophile accusations and discourse. You attempted to deflect the comment but CL copied and pasted what you said. It was quite disturbing.
SteveC, you seem to have a highly selective outrage filter too. Last evening you were admonishing me because I suggested it would have been a positive externality if Fat Boy had been aborted. You were outraged. However I noticed you weren’t outraged when Krispy Kreme boy was making some seriously disturbing racist comments directed toward me on several occasion.
You really are a passive aggressive douchebag and it shouldn’t not surprise why I frequently go after you.
JC
12 Nov 12 at 7:34 pm
This has dictated the timing at least. Tomorrow’s papers were going to be about the ALPs endemic (this seems to be the word of the day) corruption. Corruption from groups so powerful they could seemingly dethrone state Premiers at will. Not any more.
Matt
12 Nov 12 at 7:35 pm
Really what will this Royal Commission achieve?
Gab
12 Nov 12 at 7:40 pm
No, I’m not as enthralled with this shit like you are. Fox had absolutely nothing to say that was new. In fact he talked about catching and charging abusers who presumably went to jail as they certainly deserved. That’s old, you imbecile.
JC
12 Nov 12 at 7:41 pm
Lots of press coverage about evil papists crowding out stories about trade unionists in an election year.
Sinclair Davidson
12 Nov 12 at 7:42 pm
Smearing of Catholics and therefore Abbott,
Over 12 months of headlines which will be helpful to keep bad news off the front page – see current NSW ICAC enquirey,
Plenty of money for lawyers and judges.
jupes
12 Nov 12 at 7:43 pm
It will achieve more points in the polls. I notice the ALP have gone up yet again and this will further it for them, by demonising Catholics and Tony Abbott, and inciting religious intolerance.
candy
12 Nov 12 at 7:44 pm
It’s politically motivated. To fuck Abbott, the Catholic Church and to make the government appear like it cares lots and therefore deflect attention from all their fuck ups. The limey is one slimey strategist. He’s actually pretty good at the superficial level. It helping the government make it appear that it is in charge and caring.
The Libs have no counter. They are caught like deer in headlights.
JC
12 Nov 12 at 7:45 pm
SteveC
You support a Royal commission in union and Liars Party corruption? I head on the news this evening that Eddie Obeid is accused of making $100 million through insider trading deals. That’s not chump change champ.
JC
12 Nov 12 at 7:48 pm
oops…heard..
JC
12 Nov 12 at 7:49 pm
Don’t walk away, SteveC you slimeball. Answer the comments I’ve made to you.
JC
12 Nov 12 at 7:50 pm
Heiner (or Shreddergate as it’s affectionately called) = cover up = institutionalised response
does that connect the dots?
val majkus
12 Nov 12 at 7:50 pm
JC – get new glasses. That’s not SteveC.
Sinclair Davidson
12 Nov 12 at 7:50 pm
It was mentioned above, but are the stats for teachers in general much different than for priests?
I know of one questionable case in my home town where a teacher was allowed to resign over some extremely questionable activity.
Thats not “wattaboutery”, any profession that allows authority over children will attract people seeking to exercise that power in bad ways.
I must admit one of my first thoughts when this “erupted” was “how is Labour profiting from this”?
The main reason I can see is giving the presstitutes a steady drip-drip of “shock horror ped0″ stories to drive Labours stuff ups off the page..
Also if you like a morbid laugh try this for an example of what we are due to see…..
(the pedo-finder general)
thefrollickingmole
12 Nov 12 at 7:52 pm
Since the world is not currently warming as AGW predicts, Gillard has turned to Lady WhiteAdder for an explanation.
2dogs
12 Nov 12 at 7:52 pm
Good idea but why now?
That’s right JC, it’s another imported stunt.
manalive
12 Nov 12 at 7:53 pm
Sinc..
The last comment in quotes? Yes I know. I was using that quote in support to club SteveC like a baby seal.
JC
12 Nov 12 at 7:54 pm
The reality is that whatever political advantage Gillard may take from this RC, the fact is that events had made an inquiry inescapable. And It could backfire.
Scapula
12 Nov 12 at 7:56 pm
Annabelle@645
Current (ABC 730) claim is that the terms of reference will confine the RC only to institutionalized abuse. That may provide a handy escape clause for the surgical mutilation of children that took place outside of the direct supervision of a religious organization
Incidentally Leigh Sales tonight twice asks why the Commission does not focus solely on the Catholic Church because a “broader” enquiry might take too long?
Seems fair.
Tapdog
12 Nov 12 at 7:56 pm
Not really. Isn’t the issue that the report got shredded because the inquiry wasn’t properly set up?
Sinclair Davidson
12 Nov 12 at 7:57 pm
JC get new glasses? Why am I not surprised?
Alice
12 Nov 12 at 7:58 pm
SInc:
Hmmm. Good point, that.
There has to be a way to use the ‘open architecture’ analytical tool that the Cat really represents to do something like this without giving the game away.
Is it possible to run a thread where only specified IP addresses can obtain access to comments?
Or where the comments are otherwise not accessible to the genpop?
Or a register and log in gateway to approved uses only?
Selecting the known ‘good guys’ is a doddle, Kae, Gab, Lizzie, CL, Nilk, JC, Pickles etc etc (actually, there’s an amazing number of really sharp ladies commenting here, isn’t there?)
I actually think it would be a good idea, and potentially of use to forewarn the Libs/Nats. Again, I don’t offer the concept without being willing to do a chunk of the work.
Mk50 of Brisbane
12 Nov 12 at 7:59 pm
Wasn’t the Heiner Affair concerned with child abuse and government cover up?
Could this Royal Commission be used to reopen that affair?
old bloke
12 Nov 12 at 8:00 pm
Old Bloke – sounds like you need to make a submission to the RC!
Mk50 of Brisbane
12 Nov 12 at 8:02 pm
Sinc without naming any names I am more than happy the Catholic Church getsto out theur secrets and I am more than happy that bkudging union topdog officials get investigated to “out” their rorting secrets too.
Ive had a gutful of secrets including right up to the top of the Reserve Bank and Securency and back down to the NSW State Government and car deals, maroubra development deals, coal license deals and you know the rest of it.
We have been taken over by a bunch of grafters and WE??? WE??? have to watch what we say about whom.
Ill just say one thing Sinc that can’t be attributed to any one of the slimeballs. I’m being very careful but some in power are just….
Slimeballs.
Alice
12 Nov 12 at 8:05 pm
How about including our magistrates who slap sexual abusers on the back of the hand and let them back on the streets to do it again. They treat our children as nothing more than collateral damage for their social policies. While we’re at it, can we bring to light the psychiatrists who were advising the Church, police, the authorities that these child abusers could be cured AND that it didn’t effect the children – it was the parents response that created the problem for the child. All the rage in the psych community at the time.
There hasn’t been any instances of abuse in the Church for the last 30 odd years; but child sexual abuse is rampant in society.
The people salivating over this do not care about child sexual abuse at all otherwise they’d be too busy at what is going on NOW to have time for what happened 30 years ago.
Besides which it wasn’t pre-pubescent, it was mainly post pubescent males and adult same-sex attracted males – seemingly not a problem when it’s adults heteros and post pubescent girls. The condition is known as ephobelia. But the other word sounds sooo much worse for the bigots to gyrate over.
Chrisse
12 Nov 12 at 8:09 pm
JC, you clearly didn’t read what Lee said. He was talking about people who have NOT been charged yet. And he doesn’t know why.
SteveC
12 Nov 12 at 8:11 pm
If Brandis had a set of big ones he ought to do a press release along the lines of
“Of course we support this Royal Commission into institutionalized pedophilia as long as it not a cover for the government to attack a single religious group. We will continue to support the Royal Commission once we attain government next year.
We will also be instituting a Royal Commission into what appears to be systemic trade union corruption and will ask for advice on how to deal with it. We will also want to examine the corrupt actions of the Lying Slapper when she was a solicitor as it is clear that all she has done is attempt to obfuscate and lie about her involvement”
There, with a coupla paras you place her and the government again in the spot light over their dishonesty and corrupt mates. Pour boiling fucking oil over these arseholes and don’t let them see the light of day. the Slapper should not get one good night sleep between now and the election.
JC
12 Nov 12 at 8:13 pm
Where are the control???. Why cant unions and givernments and churches deal with this crap behaviour within and just expel the bastards?
Why does it have to come down to “well we will wait for the courts to decide just in case we get sued by another lot of lawyers for defamation??”
Its BS when the only people making money out of taxpayers are governments and lawyers playing delaying games.
It is enough to turn you into a libertarian isnt it?
Alice
12 Nov 12 at 8:15 pm
Yes steveC you numbnut, it’s not clear to me what Lee said, because I didn’t fucking read what he said. I told you earlier upthread that after the Fox interview I had zero interest.
If Lee has information then let the fucker go to the cops first instead of hanging around with Fat Tony Jones.
JC
12 Nov 12 at 8:16 pm
Did i miss hear, or did their ABC once again elevate George Pell’s responsibilities beyond that of the Sydney Diocese?
(See Media Watch Dog for more on their form for reflexive Pell auto da fé.)
lotocoti
12 Nov 12 at 8:18 pm
They’re good at it, I’ll give ‘em that.
I saw TV news vision (no sound ‘cos the prime mister mute alert™ had already activated) of our Much Loved Wide Helmsperson and some Asian fella making the announcement, with much gravity.
A royal commission into Heiner and the AWU couldn’t get a start at a Hawkesbury mid week meeting but a Royal Commission into the Dark and Secretive Sect of which AbbottAbbottAbbott is a Leading, Influential, Active, Long Term, Card Carrying Member – an Elder no less – will raise the question about the role that Tony Abbott is playing from now until the day of the election.
The tactic is noted here already – the Hon Burnside makes his play and then “apologises”. The statement has already had maximum impact and what follows is incidental, much like the announcement of the royal commission.
And look, look! – the negative, no-ist bounder has already attempted to sabotage the honest work of the gummint by demanding a “wide ranging” enquiry – clearly intended to blur the focus on the guilty. I’d be surprised if Red Kezza’s ABC mob don’t make a bird of that bit at 7:30pm tonight.
They’ve set this up nicely and I fear it will meet their objectives. The detailed subject matter of the enquiry is whole ‘nuther thing.
Mick Gold Coast QLD
12 Nov 12 at 8:18 pm
Yes Chrissie – I agree except for the post pubescent excuse. It doesnt matte and doesnt excuse. Those kids are still impressionable.
What I want to know is why the bastards go years without being SACKED.
Alice
12 Nov 12 at 8:19 pm
What’s made the ‘quiry inescapable, Bob, you lardball?
Has there been a crime wave of pedophilia over the recent years?
What are the crime stats telling us? I bet for all money that the crime stats will show it’s basically running at the pace it always has.
JC
12 Nov 12 at 8:20 pm
Nope that’s not the issue.
The Heiner affair is the long-running controversy surrounding the Goss cabinet’s 1990 shredding of documents relating to child abuse – including the rape of a 14-year-old Aboriginal girl – after it aborted an inquiry into the former John Oxley Youth Detention Centre. The documents had been compiled during an inquiry headed by former magistrate Noel Heiner that was set up in the final days of the Queensland Cooper conservative government in 1989. The documents were shredded notwithstanding the cabinet had notice of impending Court proceedings against the Crown. The timeline of events is here
click on the link on the top right hand corner ‘the beginnings of Shreddergate’
As I said previously Heiner (or Shreddergate as it’s affectionately called) = cover up = institutionalised response
val majkus
12 Nov 12 at 8:21 pm
I’m dreaming of the day Australia’s Provisional Council for National Restoration launches it’s own Royal Commission into Left-wing brainwashing of children.
Greg P.
12 Nov 12 at 8:23 pm
JC, here’s what I said about and to CL, including what he repeated:
Any reference to excitement there? You should get those glasses checked, as others have suggested.
I am certainly looking forward to hearing CL’s views (strangely quiet so far) on the RC.
Finally, on comparisons to other scandals. There is already an ICAC enquiry into “NSW Inc”, which is the appropriate forum. If you think an inquiry into the wholly inadequate pusuit to date of institutional child abuse is on a par with S&G or other political scandals, or exists merely as a distraction, then in addition to your glasses, you should check your moral compass, because it’s either not working or you have lost it.
SteveC
12 Nov 12 at 8:23 pm
great point! Could it be fitted into the terms of reference of the RC announced today?
val majkus
12 Nov 12 at 8:28 pm
Then you should. Then you might stop asking “Is any of this new?”
SteveC
12 Nov 12 at 8:28 pm
Ho hum.
This is just a diversion. It’s the latest move by Dullard and her advisers to counter:
- the attention being given/about to be given to her involvement in slush funds and the theft of other people’s money
- the revelations to come from the ongoing ICAC investigations into the corrupt practices of the Labor Party in NSW.
Tony Abbott and his Shadow Ministers need to be actively prosecuting the case now against the crooks who masquerade as our government.
Septimus
12 Nov 12 at 8:30 pm
Most child abuse occurs in the home or by a “family friend”. Abuse of children in institutions may be a drop in the ocean by comparison.
candy
12 Nov 12 at 8:31 pm
Ho Hum, I agree with you. Anything to avert attention to the corruption and unethical behaviour.
Ironic that the NSW Labor has been revealed as corrupt now too.
Too true, Candy
Old woman of the north
12 Nov 12 at 8:33 pm
Actually that doesn’t appear to be waht you said. CL later corrected your attempt to deflect attention for that seriously strange comment by you. Lets hope he arrives soon and posts it again.
Who’s comparing scandals, you fucking idiot? How would one compare and contrast an Inquiry into pedophilia and union/ ALP corruption. It would be like trying to compare ice cream to a tank of gas. In other words impossible and useless.
So what? NSW isn’t Australia wide, you devious, dishonest fucker.
I’m totally agnostic to the ‘quiry you douchebag. I think it’s unnecessary because if there is an accusation of pedo behavior then that is what the cops are there for.
A ‘quiry is would be good if there was say a spike in this heinous crime, but I’m uncertain if there is.
It’s just the Liars Party trying to deflect attention away from its fuck ups and pretend it cares. In other words it’s politically motivated.
JC
12 Nov 12 at 8:34 pm
Actually why don’t the police arrest the preps and prosecute them?
Sinclair Davidson
12 Nov 12 at 8:35 pm
SteveC has already come up with a RC findings before it’s held (if ever).
manalive
12 Nov 12 at 8:37 pm
Look, SteveC you douchebag. You sent us to the Fox interview in that breathless pansy way of yours. I thought, okay, let me give SteveC the benefit of the doubt this time and I will waste a few minutes of my life and see what it’s all about.
it basically turned into a conspiracy theory with one lunatic, Fox talking to a leftwing, taxpayer funded turd (tony jones). It turned out to be a conspiracy theory.
And now you’re suggesting I go listen to another interview? You don’t get two chances to wasting away a few more minutes of my life.
Fuck off.
JC
12 Nov 12 at 8:39 pm
This needs to be in bold.
Run both commissions is what the Libs ought to say.
JC
12 Nov 12 at 8:41 pm
Just watching Leigh Sales ( an hour after everyone else, up here in beautiful Qld), and it must be said that she is truly woeful, hopelessly biased and quite rude, even to a guest who is obviously trying to answer the question. A pig with lipstick.
Tiny Dancer
12 Nov 12 at 8:41 pm
‘… anti-catholic bigotry’?
Yer a good blogger and all that Sinc, but on this story you are *very* out of touch.
TimT
12 Nov 12 at 8:42 pm
Isn’t the Hon Julian going to be the commissioner? That’s a given – isn’t it? /sarc
Arnost
12 Nov 12 at 8:43 pm
TimT – wait till you see the transcript before forming that opinion.
Sinclair Davidson
12 Nov 12 at 8:46 pm
The inquiry announced will cover alleged abuse at any state, religious or private institution with responsibility for caring for children. These are the exact terms Abbott set down as conditions under which he would support an inquiry. I don’t think he’s part of the anti-Catholic conspiracy.
badm0f0
12 Nov 12 at 8:47 pm
They may be a bit young.
lol, a typo that lightened the mood.
Carpe Jugulum
12 Nov 12 at 8:49 pm
Okay – I’m so ashamed.
Arrest the perps.
Sinclair Davidson
12 Nov 12 at 8:50 pm
badm0f0 – yes, indeed. Yet I got a very different view watching the comments on the ABC The Drum show.
Sinclair Davidson
12 Nov 12 at 8:52 pm
Arnost
12 Nov 12 at 8:54 pm
Then don’t go anywhere near twitter #royal commission. The Catholic bashing there is just abysmal.
Gab
12 Nov 12 at 8:55 pm
So this will get a run on Q&A tonight i suppose, and, i’m sure some demented buffoon will raise the question about the role that Tony Abbott is playing in this.
Carpe Jugulum
12 Nov 12 at 8:55 pm
Bado
What are the crime stats in that segment that would lend any credence to a need for a quiry?
Lets face facts, a certain number of our species are attracted to children. Some of commit these crimes.
JC
12 Nov 12 at 8:56 pm
Sorry Sinc for being pedantic, but when i first read the typo i imagined toddlers being lead away in cuffs. It gave me a smile.
Carpe Jugulum
12 Nov 12 at 8:58 pm
Carpe – it was quite funny …
Sinclair Davidson
12 Nov 12 at 9:00 pm
Gab
12 Nov 12 at 9:00 pm
Predictions?
They will slime Abbott with anything and erything, and the ABC will convince the world its Abbott who is running the dirty campaign.
Safe money they will try. But I am not sure it will work, for obvious reasons.
Jannie
12 Nov 12 at 9:02 pm
It was once ‘Reds under the beds’, it’s now ‘Peds under they beds’.
manalive
12 Nov 12 at 9:04 pm
Jannie
I think the liars party is onto one issue a day to show they are working hard and fighting, fighting for us.
It helps deflect attention.
JC
12 Nov 12 at 9:04 pm
Nothing to see at ICAC today on the ABC. Banging on about an announcement about something that might happen is of overwhelming importance.
Tiny Dancer
12 Nov 12 at 9:05 pm
No, because it’s not on. It made way for some story about a dude contracting a lung disease from asbestos. It’s basically a short series to show up evil corporations.
JC
12 Nov 12 at 9:06 pm
cripes, Carpe…
You can’t say that! Judging by previous guilty perp numbers of that affiliation, you just got a significant proportion of the party wot currently holds federal office all moist and excited.
(No names, oh Mighty Doomlord, no names! Spare me thy Olympian thunderbolts….)
Mk50 of Brisbane
12 Nov 12 at 9:06 pm
No, because it’s not on.
Carpe Jugulum
12 Nov 12 at 9:17 pm
JC, that is a pretty evil story, and I’m talking about a good client. Did you see the appeal court reduced the penalties for the directors?
On topic. In 8 years with the christian and marist bros I didn’t see any sex abuse, but I did see a vicious criminal physically assault boys and if the school leadership had been at all decent minded they would have marched the fuckwit to the local cop shop and handed him over. Instead he got moved, probably after a sabatical.
At the time we just shrugged our shoulders and were happen nobody was seriously injured, but looking back as an adult you realise you were witnessing crimes. I think a lot of good is undone by the active toleration of a small number of serious crimes.
Pedro
12 Nov 12 at 9:19 pm
As a practising Catholic I yearn for the day when child abuse and the Catholic Church are words not spoken in the same breath.
Having said that, this kind of behaviour is always possible in organisations (civil and ecclesiastical) where there are entrenched hierarchies and power structures. The recent sacking of Bishop Bill Morris in Toowoomba is a case in point. I believe (as do many other Catholics in Toowoomba) that Bill got the boot because he dared to manage abuse in his diocese with honesty and integrity.
1735099
12 Nov 12 at 9:22 pm
Oh, noes!
I just realised. Shitfer’s going to get so hot under the collar about this issue that we are going to have to hose him down with bulk liquid nitrogen so he does not combust.
I am calling BOC Gases Australia at Wollongabba for urgent supply of several tons of liquid N2.
Mk50 of Brisbane
12 Nov 12 at 9:23 pm
Oh well, send him lots of screen wipes, Mk.
Gab
12 Nov 12 at 9:26 pm
Gab – emailed you
Sinclair Davidson
12 Nov 12 at 9:28 pm
Pedro
I never looked closely in to the story but from what I understand the firm moved assets around to protect themselves from liability.
Look Predo, they caused suffering and death then they ought to pay.
Having said that, we should also understand that asbestos at one stage was considered the wonder product. It’s terrible what happened, but also one of those things that do.
JC
12 Nov 12 at 9:29 pm
Don’t worry, Mk50. Just dump him in an empty nuclear reactor and harvest the steam coming out of his ears.
Should get a Gw or two.
Winston Smith
12 Nov 12 at 9:31 pm
I always feel like I’m in trouble when you do that, Sinclair – even though you’ve never reprimanded me. Must be the Catholic school girl guilt bubbling up.
Gab
12 Nov 12 at 9:32 pm
I’m a gentleman – would never reprimand a lady.
Sinclair Davidson
12 Nov 12 at 9:34 pm
Misogynist!
Gab
12 Nov 12 at 9:37 pm
It’s not like there have been any pedophiles in the NSW Labor Party, or any cover-ups.
Rob
12 Nov 12 at 9:38 pm
Like that’s a bad thing.
Sinclair Davidson
12 Nov 12 at 9:38 pm
I’m surprised that no-one else has picked up that this is the next chapter in the Gillard re-election strategy following the Obama blueprint adapted for Australia.
No one here will be fooled but nobody here is the target audience.
I guarantee the terms of reference will not expand beyond the catholic church and that this has already won her votes.
She has not shown any interest in running the country since becoming prime minister. Every word, every sentence is geared towards the next election.
Abbott has no choice but to get on the front foot. Romney played nice and lost what he should’ve won.
David
12 Nov 12 at 9:40 pm
Gab, that was just wicked.
And damned funny.
Mk50 of Brisbane
12 Nov 12 at 9:42 pm
The problem is that the accusations against a whole range of organisations display very similar patterns of incompetence, neglect and institutional self-interest that have in many cases allowed abuse to continue or proliferate as they have allowed the offenders to simply move on. The similarities traverse the differences in religious affiliation, public/private status and social, educational or cultural purpose of the particular institutions in question. At the very least any inquiry should identify any failings which allowed such things to occur, compel those responsible to show how they have addressed them & provide a framework for all those who have a duty of care to children to ensure they aren’t repeated.
badm0f0
12 Nov 12 at 9:48 pm
So this group was in the Hunter.
Do you think this group of RC ever had discussions with Milton Orkopoulos? There is a certain institution that caused the NSW gov to lose an appeal pay out damages on 01/11/12.
If Pell and the Catholic hierarchy are deemed responsible for his organisations actions, I’m sure a challenge can be made by the current NSW government that the executive government should be deemed to be responsible.
Token
12 Nov 12 at 9:49 pm
Which definition?
The real version or the kiddies pretend dictionary version?
Token
12 Nov 12 at 9:50 pm
None. I was just teasing, Token. Although some feminazis would see it as serious – as in “so you think I’m a weak little female who couldn’t handle a reprimand etc etc”.
Gab
12 Nov 12 at 9:52 pm
“I guarantee the terms of reference will not expand beyond the catholic church”
Want to bet? Assuming targeting the CC is actually the aim of the RC, at the very least political cover will be sought by including other organisations.
Jarrah
12 Nov 12 at 9:52 pm
On the Drum some of them were suggesting to only go after the Catholic Church. Dumb move.
Sinclair Davidson
12 Nov 12 at 9:54 pm
This reminds me of the story Maxine Mckew once told.
She told how she was aware of the stuff going on with aboriginal kids over the course of time due to various stories she was doing in those remote areas.
She said how she didn’t do anything about it because it wouldn’t be considered PC.
Now that’s seriously fucking evil.
JC
12 Nov 12 at 9:56 pm
I only watch the Drum if Tim Wilson is on.
Jarrah
12 Nov 12 at 9:57 pm
Really, we live in strange times and you never know when a girl needs to make a fuss as cover a batch of misogynistic tweets
Token
12 Nov 12 at 9:57 pm
“The Libs have no counter. They are caught like deer in headlights.”
JC you’re right there, they are so totally floundering now it’s disheartening.
candy
12 Nov 12 at 9:59 pm
Wise choice – although Chris Berg and James Paterson are good too. I watched tonight by accident and was appalled by the bigotry.
Sinclair Davidson
12 Nov 12 at 10:01 pm
Should extend the TOR to those who make false claims of sexual abuse like … well mysogony
lets include all the victims
val majkus
12 Nov 12 at 10:05 pm
It’s about time a judicial enquiry was held into the evils perpetrated by the Roman Catholic church. Their officials have been abusing children for as long as I can remember. The so-called Christian Brothers were a collection of Irish thugs who were responsible for a disproportionate number of child abuse complaints.
Abbott seeks to “widen” the enquiry to take the heat off this cult. That would simply be a distraction. Everyone knows the bulk of child abuse carried out in Australia over the last century were by these hypocrites. About time they were brought to account.
hammygar
12 Nov 12 at 10:06 pm
Bill Tallen must be in a lot of family angst. it is not just bad for Mr Abbott, it is also bad for any Catholic ALP members and their families.
Helen Armstrong
12 Nov 12 at 10:07 pm
Hyperbowl. *yawn*
Carpe Jugulum
12 Nov 12 at 10:12 pm
I’m afraid political cover is no longer required to the same extent it used to.
The bulk of the electorate rarely pays attention. That’s not a criticism by the way as people lead busy lives with different interests. The news they do see is already filtered and slanted
I will grant that the focus may go beyond the catholic church but will be happy to bet it wont expand beyond the religious angle.
I will be happy to be wrong, but honestly since when has this government ever shown that it could do things right and for the right reason. There is political capital to be made here somewhere.
David
12 Nov 12 at 10:14 pm
The one other good thing about this Royal Commission is that it will be the end of Abbott and the Coalition altogether. The man is forever tainted simply by his membership of that abominable cult. Good riddance.
hammygar
12 Nov 12 at 10:16 pm
Gillard really is tapping into a vein of bile and hatred which is likely backfire. Look at what the moron Hammy says:
Hammy please get your local member to make that statement for you in parliament.
Token
12 Nov 12 at 10:18 pm
More hyperbowl *yawn*
If you have proof present it to the police, or do you prefer to smear others.
Carpe Jugulum
12 Nov 12 at 10:18 pm
I think it is very bad to use the anguish of those who have been abused, across ALL institutions and those NOT in institutions to cover up an appalling government and a catastrophic Prime Minister.
It is like covering up a robbery by staging a rape down the street. It disgusts me. This deserves its own place free of political expediency and Julia’s slime.
To use it thus is as grievous as committing the abuse itself.
Helen Armstrong
12 Nov 12 at 10:19 pm
Hammygar is kind of right.
When people hear something about child sex abuse in church organisation they immediately assume it’s Catholic.
candy
12 Nov 12 at 10:22 pm
Hear Hear Helen!
val majkus
12 Nov 12 at 10:26 pm
Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing, in an objective sense, comes down entirely to who is appointed as commissioner. It will take a courageous man or woman to stand up and critically analyse the multitude of claims being made, by all sorts of people, many with a clear agenda and most without substantial evidence. The pressure to condemn the RCC, regardless of the evidence, will be overwhelming. In my opinion, if they fairly conclude that the response of the Church was flawed but not a planned obstruction of justice, then a significant percentage of the Australian community will hate them for it, regardless of the evidence.
I, as another atheist/agnostic ex-Catholic, will be very happy that the RC goes ahead if and only if they appoint an impartial and critically minded individual as the head of the commission. The present committee in Victoria already has me worried with what I see as its deference for critics and credulity in response to unsubstantiated claims by some members of the Victorian community. Even organisations like the Law Institute of Victoria and Liberty Victoria made submissions that in my view failed to adequately emphasise the need to protect individuals and organisations from false accusations, something which the much criticised statute of limitations is designed to protect.
The LIV says “There would seem to be a strong argument, though, that in regard to placing legal restrictions on commencing claims against religious or other organisations that the prejudice suffered by it through the passage of time should be balanced against the harm to the victim and should not receive significant weight in all cases.” So, in their view, there is a “strong argument” that “the prejudice suffered by” “religious or other organisations” “should not receive significant weight in all cases.” So there are cases when a party being prejudiced by the removal of a protection is acceptable? And how are they concluding someone is a “victim” before the proceedings have even begun? They advocate a temporary removal of the limits (implicitly acknowledging their importance by not advocating their complete removal,) just long enough to sue the hell out of some particular organisations. Go to: http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/fcdc/article/1789 and click submissions for a sample of the arguments being made.
I imagine they’ll symbolically chose a female, non-Catholic commissioner, hopefully an ex-High Court or Supreme Court judge, but even more hopefully they’ll just chose someone on their merits.
TJW
12 Nov 12 at 10:27 pm
Does ‘institutional’ include government facilities and services, I wonder?
Bet it doesn’t.
Careful drafting, as you would expect.
johanna
12 Nov 12 at 10:28 pm
Johana, agree on all counts. That’s why I raised St Andrews in Katanning upthread. That was a government run boarding house if I recall correctly. Those facilities should definitely be in the terms of reference.
tbh
12 Nov 12 at 10:32 pm
Words I’d love to hear but of course never will:
– Doug Cameron.
Okay, those are his words expect I’ve replaced Catholic Church with Unions.
The hypocrisy is grand.
(Taken from the second video at the link)
Gab
12 Nov 12 at 10:34 pm
except
Gab
12 Nov 12 at 10:35 pm
“Wise choice – although Chris Berg and James Paterson are good too.”
Don’t see Chris Berg around the traps often these days.
Jarrah
12 Nov 12 at 10:37 pm
I spent a lot of time, as a boy, in and around catholic institutions. And these days whenever I hear about the appalling treatment to which other boys were subjected, I think ‘there but for the grace of god go I’.
The catholic church has had this coming for a long time. And it is big enough and ugly enough to look after itself.
Don’t get in the way.
I am the Walrus koo koo k'choo
12 Nov 12 at 10:37 pm
Cover-up? Just about every organization will cover up for any crime committed by one of its members, including child abuse. This is a matter for the Police. Full stop. At best this RC is an exercise in empty populism, at worst a subliminal smear of the Catholic who is after the spin doctor Scott’s boss’ (Gillard’s) job. Very possibly a combination of both. Nothing else.
roger
12 Nov 12 at 10:39 pm
“It’s about time a judicial enquiry was held into the evils perpetrated by the
Roman Catholic churchALP. Their officials have been abusing children for as long as I can remember.”The ALP’s pedophiles are a lot more famous and infamous than the Catholic Church’s.
Rob
12 Nov 12 at 10:40 pm
The Catholics have the hide to lecture the rest of us on moral issues! The term “hypocrites” may well have been coined just for them.
hammygar
12 Nov 12 at 10:42 pm
I’m not religious (I’m agnostic) but I really don’t like the unashamed bashing of people’s religious beliefs, and religious institutions that is starting to increase quite markedly. Calls to tax religious institutions sent shivers to my spine.
James Bauer
12 Nov 12 at 10:43 pm
So will Gillards royal commission look into why the government allows and indeed funds infanticide?
Yeah, didn’t think you really cared about children Gillard….
Chris M
12 Nov 12 at 10:45 pm
Hammy – you should be aware that the great majority of abuse in the RCC has been by homosexual priests. Will this commission examine the strong statistical link between homosexuality and paedophilia?
Nope, I suggest it’s only for show and for RCC / Abbott bashing. Just like many of your comments.
Chris M
12 Nov 12 at 10:50 pm
The comments between MK50 and Gab at 9.23 and 9.26, presumably referring to me, were pretty offensive.
I have long had a problem with the conservative element in the Church (exampled here by CL and d-b) downplaying the seriousness and extent of the issue, and have argued the entirely plausible lines (supported by American research I have cited before) that it is not an issue about homosexuality, and that there is every reason to believe that the modest modernisation of the Church to allow for married clergy would likely reduce the sort of abuse that has been most commonly cited in the past.
To claim the topic “excites” me, or anyone else here, is stupid and insulting, and I think I have spent far less time on the topic anyway than many here.
steve from brisbane
12 Nov 12 at 10:51 pm
Who will head the RC?:
Murray Gleeson is Catholic and a former Chief Justice of the HC.
He probably has two of the necessary qualifications.
Scapula
12 Nov 12 at 10:53 pm
Yes, that’s been made pretty clear:
.
badm0f0
12 Nov 12 at 10:54 pm
The only type of RC that works is the one that is highly specific, even if it widens in the course of the inquiry.
This is going to be too big, too enompassing and it will end up producing very little in relation to cost.
Scapula
12 Nov 12 at 10:58 pm
There’s a stat I keep reading/hearing that priests etc have no more propensity to offend tha the rest of the population. So if they married how eggsactly would that reduce any abuse, dagwood?
If the stat is correct the offend rate shouldn’t change, unless of course you think that hetro sex and pedophilia is interchangeable.
Why do i think you’re talking shit most of the time? Possibly because you are.
JC
12 Nov 12 at 11:03 pm
No shit sherlock.
JC
12 Nov 12 at 11:04 pm
So when you first came on describing yourself as conservative… that was basically bullshit crap, right?
JC
12 Nov 12 at 11:06 pm
Elementary, Dr Watson.
Scapula
12 Nov 12 at 11:14 pm
Doesn’t appear, to you, because you can’t be bothered checking and choose to take CL’s interpretation. CL as we know is often loose with the facts. A weak reed to rely in to be sure. What I quoted is is exactly what I posted. You just make yourself look more stupid by not checking. It’s on the Open Forum and connect the dots.
SteveC
12 Nov 12 at 11:17 pm
umm, you are:
Your moral compass is busted, as i ascertained earlier.
SteveC
12 Nov 12 at 11:22 pm
Because a child was sexually abused while in state care. This is uncontested.
No.
The official cover-up line was that the report contained allegations that were potentially defamatory. It would be like shredding the FWA report into Craig Thomson for the same reason.
Lazlo
12 Nov 12 at 11:23 pm
Hardie or the church?
SteveC
12 Nov 12 at 11:25 pm
Hopefully the Heiner matter of indigenous child abuse will be fully investigated, finally, after 20 years of shredding.
However, the RC is mainly a job to get Abbott and Pell out of the way by taint.
What the Prime Mistress and her henchman should not lose sight of is the fact that more than 5 million Australians, roughly 26% of the population, are Catholic.
While we are ashamed of the behaviour of certain priests and are working for the welfare of their victims, there are millions of Catholics in Australia who have never encountered any form of this abuse.
Catholics out here in the background will now be joining Jews as the subjects of deliberate politically motivated religious vilification by the left side of politics.
mareeS
12 Nov 12 at 11:27 pm
Not true. You appeared strangely delighted – excited in fact.
No I’m not, you’re being a moron as usual.
JC
12 Nov 12 at 11:31 pm
The paranoid style in right wing politics is emerging: all our sins are really due to those on the left who are persecuting us.
Scapula
12 Nov 12 at 11:33 pm
Find the quote JC (my post, not CL’s interpretation). Or keep pissing into the wind.
SteveC
12 Nov 12 at 11:33 pm
Why, because the subjects are equally important?
SteveC
12 Nov 12 at 11:34 pm
Actually maybe your moral compass isn’t broken, maybe you’re just holding it upside down.
SteveC
12 Nov 12 at 11:35 pm
One word. Finkelstien.
JC
12 Nov 12 at 11:37 pm
Chrissie
In any situation where there is a person in a position of trust, a situation where a person is a guide, a leader, a shaper of these young adults, it is imperative that there is no misuse of that position of trust and authority. For example, in no case is it acceptable for a teacher to have a sexual or personal relationship with a student.
It is a betrayal of the trust. In the case of clergy or schoolteachers it is the worst crime they can commit using their position in the community/society.
kae
12 Nov 12 at 11:37 pm
No. I’m sure CL will update the site soon enough. Keep talking about it so he doesn’t miss it if he doesn’t read upthread.
JC
12 Nov 12 at 11:38 pm
There’s your problem, relying on CL to report accurately.
SteveC
12 Nov 12 at 11:40 pm
No, because in principle they have said they support it. However we know it’s part of the Slapper’s strategy to come out with a new thing per day in order to place the fuck ups and her past dishonesty in the background.
There’s a good reason to inquire about union corruption and the ALP. It’s there and it’s big. Making this part of their election platform and announcing now would blunt the slapper’s attempt show she’s somehow “fighting” for us.
JC
12 Nov 12 at 11:42 pm
Perhaps the Royal Commission might be able to work out the common denominator in this list: Milton Orkopoulos, Bill D’Arcy, Keith Wright, Terry Martin, Bernard Finnigan and Bob Collins.
Ubique
12 Nov 12 at 11:43 pm
I am guessing that the abc would draw the link that they all worked in the same building as members of the liberal party.
Rob
12 Nov 12 at 11:49 pm
I hope Gillard has considered the potential backlash if she chooses to target Catholics only in her child abuse inquiry. Roughly a third of Australians are Catholic and overwhelmingly support the labor party.
Jack
13 Nov 12 at 12:07 am
Hammygar does the perfect Felix Derzinsky. If he does more than write parking tickets for a living we could be in trouble.
Jannie
13 Nov 12 at 12:11 am
He could cause an economic collapse by doing just that- writing parking tickets for a living.
I wondered what he did and parking inspector would be the perfect job for him.
JC
13 Nov 12 at 12:13 am
Is the ALP an institution? Were any of the women in a recent credit card fraud case truly of the legal age to work in that brothel?
.
13 Nov 12 at 12:15 am
Catholics just aint like they used to be. A lot of people only identify Catholic only as a tribal memory. Catholic schools are just as infested with post modernist alienation as the government schools. There are almost no priests of old Australian stock, only ones under 50 mostly Vietnamese or Croatian, in my limited experience.
And uh, I can assure you most mature Catholics I know dont necessarily support Labor. The young ones are probably as stupid as they are allowed to be, which is a lot.
Jannie
13 Nov 12 at 12:19 am
“Big Bird was not available for comment.”
sdog
13 Nov 12 at 12:22 am
A child is almost certainly safer in the care of the Catholic Church than in the care of any given ALP pollie or ABC/BBC/PBS/NPR personality.
sdog
13 Nov 12 at 12:24 am
Young Labor. Shudder
Infidel tiger
13 Nov 12 at 12:27 am
Will the Royal Commission investigate Labor’s “institutional response” to Orkopoulos, D’Arcy, Wright, Collins? If not why not?
Will the Royal Commission investigate every lefty grop and organisation that opposed measures to rescue Aboriginal children from sex abuse? If not why not?
One can go on and on.
It is already clear that the majority of twitterati think this Royal Commission is all about Catholic bashing.
CC
13 Nov 12 at 12:29 am
My trouble and strife’s nan was buried recently by a 30 odd year old priest. Nice guy too.
Infidel tiger
13 Nov 12 at 12:29 am
Lol
This is what makes the Cat the go to place for a laugh.
JC
13 Nov 12 at 12:35 am
Have 1 in 15 Catholic priests been convicted of, or even formally charged with, child rape?
If not, that’s an incredibly gratuitously offensive claim to make.
Where is due process?
sdog
13 Nov 12 at 12:41 am
Vintage Iowahawk explores the media’s alarming propensity for tragic, drunk, violent, child-raping rage:
Read on…
I think we can all agree that Fairfax certainly has some serious questions to answer here.
sdog
13 Nov 12 at 12:46 am
You know it makes sense, JC.
sdog
13 Nov 12 at 12:48 am
Does ‘institutional’ include government facilities and services, I wonder?
Yes, that’s been made pretty clear:
It will look at the history of religious groups, sporting organisations, Scouts and Guides, schools and state institutions
—————————-
Oh, of course. It is a State responsibility, so no mud can stick to the noble Commonwealth, which is undertaking this inquiry. Well, there might be unfortunate incidents in the NT (for which the Commonwealth is responsible), but no doubt they will be written of as few, regrettable and requiring better co-ordination and service protocols.
So, the pressure will fall on the States, which are overwhelmingly of the opposite political persuasion.
Child protection is a State responsibility, so any failings will be sheeted home to them. They need to be careful, though – plenty of bad things happened under State Labor governments. Milton Orkopoulis and the rock spider in Queensland probably weren’t the only ones.
johanna
13 Nov 12 at 1:04 am
“Actually I think that this is not primarilly directed at Abbott but a smokescreen to cover the Obeid / McDonald disclosures.”
YOU THINK?
The smell of this could knock the flies off a shit truck at 100 yards. The R.C. was conveniently announced just in time for the 6 o’clock news to knock the ICAC investigation into certain NSW Labor identities’ $100 million potential fraud from being the main story. That was about as coincidental as Hitler and 6 million dead Jews. This is just the thing to divert attention away from the government for about, well, until the next election.
The Beer Whisperer
13 Nov 12 at 1:05 am
“And those who have not read the report, Little Children are Sacred, its two authors visited 45 communities in the Northern Territory. They didn’t find sexual abuse in some of those communities, they didn’t find it in most of those communities, they found it in every single community; 45 out of 45. Think about that, the enormity of that for a moment.
“Let me take you to Kalumburu. Kalumburu is up in the East Kimberleys. It is a town of about 300. There are only 90 males in Kalumburu. It’s isolated by the wet for a good part of every year. The wet will set in some time this month.
“Of those 90 men, in the last two months 15 have been charged with child sex offences. Fifteen out of 90 men. These are the charge sheets. Not one page, not two pages, not three pages, four pages.
“They’re all an offence against a child, predominantly penetrating a girl or a boy under the age of 13. Who were these 15 men? They were the mayor, the deputy mayor, two other councillors, the police liaison officer, a truancy officer, two wardens.
“What does that tell you? These are people of authority. These are the people that white fellas like me and bureaucrats turn to, who go to consult with about answers to their communities, who we give money and more empowerment to and we walk away saying, haven’t we done a good thing.”
Just sayin’.
sdog
13 Nov 12 at 1:13 am
The Gillard version of the Intervention – an interesting idea!
Scapula
13 Nov 12 at 1:18 am
100% correct Beer Whisperer. Announcing a Royal Commission on the basis of “recent allegations of child sex abuse” (Which? Where? Are we talking allegations of new, previously unreported and recent child abuse? Why is the federal government involved in this again?) with nothing but some vague notion of investigating ‘insitutional response’ stinks of new a new shiny thing to distract from the main game: Labor’s institutional, systemic corruption and failure.
CC
13 Nov 12 at 1:33 am
“Incidentally Leigh Sales tonight twice asks why the Commission does not focus solely on the Catholic Church because a “broader” enquiry might take too long?”
Yes, justice is important, as long as it doesn’t take too long. What tripe. Is Leigh Sales defining the TOR for the government? Or is she doing so on behalf of McTernan?
The Beer Whisperer
13 Nov 12 at 1:38 am
“Yes, justice is important, as long as it doesn’t take too long. What tripe.”
As a rule, justice delayed is justice denied. But in this case a broader inquiry is better, because more justice has the possibility of being done, despite delay.
Jarrah
13 Nov 12 at 1:45 am
In fact, the Labor Party is the only political party in the world to have chosen three leaders – three: Wright, Collins and D’Arcy – who were jailed for raping children.
C.L.
13 Nov 12 at 1:49 am
“of that abominable cult.”
Hammy, you’re a bigot of the highest order. Now fuck off for wasting 30 seconds of my life.
The Beer Whisperer
13 Nov 12 at 2:05 am
“No shit sherlock.”
Who’s “No shit sherlock.”? Oh, you mean “no shit, Sherlock”!
Sorry, Grammar Nazi hat off, tinfoil hat back in its rightful place…
The Beer Whisperer
13 Nov 12 at 2:14 am
It’s hilarious – of course in a deeply evil sort of way – that lefties are now pretending to care about the lives of children. But they passionately believe in the ‘right’ to kill children, including via decapitation and disembowelment (hi, Emily’s List), and their cult leader (for that is no exaggeration) is Barack Obama who supports the killing of actually born infants. There should, then, be a Royal Commission into abortion, concentrating on all those fabricated ‘mental health of the mother’ slayings.
C.L.
13 Nov 12 at 2:18 am
I think the labor dirt squad is after 2 for the price of one…..
1 is the Abbott of course but the 2nd is Pell.
NoFixedAddress
13 Nov 12 at 3:11 am
NSW Dept of Education also has questions to answer. In the late 70”s, at my high school, out in a regional area, I know of 3 cases where male teachers were punished for indiscretions by moving them to our small high school. All 3 of them found new victims, with one being only 13.
I knew of another 5 affairs as well. In one case the teacher was moved to another school. In the others either no punishment occurred, or the girl left school. In one case there were pictures and still nothing happened.
I doubt our school was just ‘lucky’.
I look forward to the investigation into Dept of Ed by th RC.
Dianeh
13 Nov 12 at 3:46 am
Gillard (and her creepy manservant McTernan) are loving this:
1. It gives them a new way to feed their addiction to burning public money.
2. It allows them to fulfil the Green-Left determination to trash Christian religion and promote the competition like Islam to maintain momentum in the white-anting of Western tradition – essential to the creation of the dreamed-of communist nirvana.
3. Most importantly, it will become an endless source of press releases as a distraction from the government’s incompetence and the Monthly Disaster it creates – boats, corruption, waste, mismanagement, etc.
Tom
13 Nov 12 at 6:15 am
According to gillard’s Facebook page this is all Abbott’s fault and is blamed for not holding a RC before today, making Abbott complicit in the abuse.
Gab
13 Nov 12 at 6:20 am
ABC24 is telling me this morning it’s all about the Catholic Church.
Gab
13 Nov 12 at 6:42 am
This is a real coup for Labor. The timing is impeccable. Stay tuned for a further three years of Labor after 2013.
Gab
13 Nov 12 at 6:43 am
Yep, the crooks are running the country and there is no sense of fair play in the media.
MK50 was right, what else is to come.
Abbott, in his current persona, has nothing to lose now by going full on attack mode and calling this for what it is.
If he cannot be forceful he needs to keep away from the ABC and morning shows just as Gillard et-al keeps away from the Bolt Report.
Rudiau
13 Nov 12 at 7:12 am
Sesame Street …. disgusting.
Gay Pedera$t Elmo
lol.
Rudiau
13 Nov 12 at 7:45 am
Leigh Sales did an interview with Federal Acting Minister for Families Brendan O’Connor last night about this just-announced royal commission and she did explore the Catholic angle a fair bit… but as Connor pointed out, the terms of the inquiry are much broader than that.
TimT
13 Nov 12 at 8:40 am
“This is a real coup for Labor. The timing is impeccable. Stay tuned for a further three years of Labor after 2013.”
If the RC hurts any party it will be labor. The long run institutional connections between labor and the RCC were very strong. Who know what will come out.
Pedro
13 Nov 12 at 8:49 am
Well, yes. And the alleged “terms” of the media inquiry gave lip service to it being more wide-reaching than just targeting News Ltd.
How’d that work out again?
Yeah, no. Going on past form, this will be a barely-veiled witch-hunt against the Catholic Church just as the media inquiry was a barely-veiled witch-hunt against NewsLtd.
Classic Alinksy tactics.
sdog
13 Nov 12 at 8:57 am
I’m glad CL popped up to overtly not state any support for the RC. As expected.
SteveC
13 Nov 12 at 8:57 am
This is just going to backfire on Gillard and Mc Ternan. Justice will be served and they will be too clever by half.
.
13 Nov 12 at 9:48 am
What are you expecting dot, reports of cover up of child abuse in the ALP?
SteveC
13 Nov 12 at 10:04 am
He’s already called it for what it is (I believe this press release came out before the RC announcement by Gillard).
SteveC
13 Nov 12 at 10:07 am
Let me just state up front I am not Catholic.
I am however deeply concerned by this royal commission.
I can’t recall Gillard personally or the government under which she has led ever pay any attention to this subject whatsoever.
This naturally begs the question, why now? Why the sudden interest? And why the need for a royal commission?
Why not a thorough investigation into the appalling record of departments of human services across the nation to effectively discharge their duties given the billions of dollars in funding every year to protect children at risk of abuse?
Why not an investigation into the failure of police to prosecute? Or courts which fail to convict parents guilty of the worst types of neglect?
Are we seriously going to sheet all forms of child sex abuse to religious institutions? How extensive will this royal commission be?
What about the domestic abuse before children even end up in institutional care? Or the children left in the care of abusive and often drug affected parents?
How about examining the root cause of child abuse generally? Will Gillard’s royal commission be prepared to ask the tough questions about the role of families in protecting children? How family breakdown is a major contributor to child abuse? Or single parent families? Drug abuse, unemployment, low education?
Why has there not been a royal commission into the very serious pattern of sexual abuse that is rampant in remote indigenous communities?
Will the proposed royal commission thoroughly examine, report and recommend action to stamp out indigenous sexual abuse? Or will the cries of stolen generation condemn another generation of vulnerable children left to rot in the dysfunction of drug, alcohol, chroming, unemployment, and violent wasteland of these cruelly euphemistically labeled “communities”.
Unfortunately, the answer to all these questions is largely known.
Worse yet is the blatant motif of the truly craven Gillard Government.
Divert attention from her own, the Labor Party the union movement’s endemic culture of corruption that would actually warrant a real royal commission instead of a government hatchet job.
Better yet smear Abbott in the process as we all know that all Catholics are sexist, misogynist, thugs that if not actual kiddy fiddlers themselves are nonetheless only too happy to cover it up!
This government makes me sick to my stomach!
Justin
13 Nov 12 at 12:15 pm
Sinc -
Normally I have my tongue firmly planted in my cheek when I nominate people for a ban, but on this occasion I’m serious in my request for hammygar to be banned. I don’t see why his bigotry should be treated as acceptable anymore.
Nanuestalker
13 Nov 12 at 2:21 pm
There was a report already which exposed abuse and dysfunction that I’m sure will still put the resulting report of this RC in the shade. It was called “The Little Children Are Sacred”, and involved an ethnic group rather than an institution. Even then, the do-gooder human rights brigade objected to the intervention. Much of the media did their best to slime it as well. The fear that this RC is just another political ploy is well founded, given the timing.
blogstrop
13 Nov 12 at 2:52 pm
This naturally begs the question, why now? Why the sudden interest? And why the need for a royal commission?
A “mate” of mine at work has very close linked and works with a number of ALP state pollies.
He told me this was going to come up 4 weeks ago .
Max
13 Nov 12 at 3:01 pm
Yes, the left supported the continuation of the child abuse holocaust in Aboriginal communities.
C.L.
13 Nov 12 at 3:03 pm
With 80% of the media against them, and just a few newspapers and effective blogs arguing their case, this is the way it is. I repeat, there can be no properly functioning democracy without honest media.
Only when the voters are really pissed off will you get a sizeable swing. All too often the winning margin is small enough for the media/polling bias to make a significant impact on the result.
We have seen that the embedding of leftists in the journalism schools is feeding further bias on top of the well known teachers union biases that are inculcated through the school years.
By the time the voters reach an age where they start to make judgements based on experience rather than the daily drip-feed of propaganda, they’ve helped the lefties along at a number of elections.
I’m guessing that many of the same people who want the voting age lowered also want to lower the age of consent.
blogstrop
13 Nov 12 at 3:07 pm
Cardinal Pell adopts the CL handwave: “well, sure there’s been priests who have abused kids; but the Press is being very mean about it and look at others who have abused more kids than us.”
This is not a good look; and Pell is making statements already contradicted by evidence in Victoria, I think.
steve from brisbane
13 Nov 12 at 3:09 pm
Linky thing to Pell’s press conference.
steve from brisbane
13 Nov 12 at 3:10 pm
For those joining us late, devout ‘Catholic’ Steve manically supports abortion and Barack Obama’s belief that children born alive can actually be murdered.
C.L.
13 Nov 12 at 3:15 pm
Hey, isn’t it odd that at her press conference Julia Gillard made no mention of her illegal plan to send children to Malaysia to be tortured and sold into sex slavery?
C.L.
13 Nov 12 at 3:20 pm
This is not a good look
I agree. The ‘we are victims’ stance is pathetic coming from someone of such influence – especially in the context of this investigation of much more terrible and undeniable crimes occurring in the organisation he is a head of.
TimT
13 Nov 12 at 3:22 pm
If there is a disproportionate share of attention focused on the Catholic Church then I think one reasonable inference from that is that disproportionate focus is the result of prejudice of some kind. That’s why it is an important question to work out if the attention is disproportionate. There are people falsely claiming that the evidence clearly indicates that priests offend at a greater rate than other groups – and then when someone steps forward and asks them to prove the truth of their claim, some other people claim in response that “This is not a good look.” Since when is pointing out the possible falsity of a claim – any claim – a bad thing? The critics made the claim in the first place, surely they consider it important enough to critically examine?
And please find me evidence that the Catholic Church believes it by its own authority determines what is moral for the whole of society. I’ve never experienced that and I was a Catholic for over thirty years.
So we have people essentially saying:
(1) It’s important if the abuse rate is higher in the RCC because that indicates that their policies and procedures are flawed, that they are failing to a greater extent than other groups,
but (2) If you ask for proof of (1) you will be condemned for missing the point.
TJW
13 Nov 12 at 3:51 pm
He actually has close to zero influence on any Australian diocese, legally, and absolutely none regarding religious orders.
It would be helpful if opinionated commenters knew what they were talking about.
The Catholic Church has been unfairly targeted – as has Cardinal Pell himself (by a mentally deranged lunatic) – and there’s nothing wrong with saying so.
C.L.
13 Nov 12 at 5:11 pm
Correct my lack of understanding of Catholic hierarchy, but isn’t Pell Archbishop of Sydney?
SteveC
13 Nov 12 at 5:51 pm
oops should have posted this here.
Bravehearts study into Child sexual abuse
94% of abuse occurs in the home.
Some stats on reported abuses in Catholic churches overseas but none in Australia?
Rys Muldoon said “the Catholic church is at the pointy end of this”. In part he is right but the correct analogy should have been “the church is just the exposed tip of an iceberg, the bulk of the abuse berg is under the murky waters of the rest of the community.
Splatacrobat
13 Nov 12 at 6:06 pm
CL:
They were black kids being abused as a result of left-wing welfare policies. What else would such innate racists do, CL? It’s not like they were white kids being preyed on by left-wing vulgarians like Savill, or ALP politicians like Orkopolis… oh wait…..
Mk50 of Brisbane
13 Nov 12 at 6:53 pm
This RC is a very smart move politically by Labor for the following reasons:
1. They get to have a go at the Catholic Church;
2. They get to smear Abbott by association – stand by to hear the words Abbott and Catholic in the same sentence for the next couple of years; and
3. By giving the Commissioner(s) open ended contracts, the cost will be so great that when the Libs are in power they won’t be able to afford a RC into the corrupt union movement.
On the plus side though, Gillard has apparently put Roxon in charge of setting it up, so it’s bound to fuck up for them.
jupes
13 Nov 12 at 7:00 pm
does the church have anything to hide? if not, why is it worried?
Jim Rose
13 Nov 12 at 7:03 pm
“Yes, the left supported the continuation of the child abuse holocaust in Aboriginal communities.”
More likely they read the Little Children Are Sacred report and thought its recommendations were worth following. The NT intervention was not a recommended response.
Jarrah
13 Nov 12 at 7:10 pm
Hey Jupes, as it’s open-ended (and hence going to be horrendously expensive), it looks like a mechanism to get some lawyers (perhaps, entirely by coincidence-mates of Juliar’s) into a squillion dollar a year trough or billable hours.
If left-wing lawyers from oh, I dunno, a firm Juliar used to work for (entirely by co-incidence) before the lying slapper’s married boyfriend stole half a mil (entirely without her knowledge) were to find their fortunes in this trough (entirely by co-incidence), then they (entirely by coincidence) might find both their memories and files refreshingly vacant of anything to do with the Lying Slapper (surely an entirely understandable coincidence).
I mean, it worked in a similar manner with the Finkster panel, did it not?
Mk50 of Brisbane
13 Nov 12 at 7:11 pm
A Royal Commission is like manna from heaven for the legal class.
Fancy being told to do something as thoroughly as you can and you will be paid at the rate of – name your own price.
But wait, there’s more. You will be expected to take a long time.
My solution is to pay a set fee no matter how long it takes. They will then be in hurry to finish so they can get their snout into the next trough.
jupes
13 Nov 12 at 7:23 pm
Yah, you speak sense, Jupes.
But this is Juliar scurrying away post-haste to do greenfilth Milne’s bidding like the little greenfilth lapdog she is.
Those two geniuses have a magical ability to get the worst possible outcome at the maximum possible expense, why should this be any different?
Mk50 of Brisbane
13 Nov 12 at 7:28 pm
And with Nanny Roxon involved there is a good chance they will fuck this up – dunno how they could but we can only hope this bites them on the arse.
Maybe Heiner will get another run.
jupes
13 Nov 12 at 7:33 pm
Jupes, that’s the thing, keep an eye on the ToR and MAKE SUBMISSIONS for investigation.
If people do that Heiner might well get another run.
Juliar, Milne and Roxon are a goat rodeo on steroids, they could not organise a root in a brothel with a wheelbarrow full of cash and six months lead time.
This incompetent shower of liquid shyte will either make the RC a sick joke (abbottabbottabbott Catholic Church only abbottabbottabbott), or they’ll make it so broad that everything gets a run.
This is where libertarians, conservatives and imperialists should get off their duffs, act like bloody activists and get submissions in!
Mk50 of Brisbane
13 Nov 12 at 7:40 pm
Yes, like the submissions that were made and totally ignored for the Finkelstein Witch-Hunt and also for some government climate thingy where non-AGW submissions were also ignored. I have very little faith in this RC being anything more than a witch-hunt and Catholic-bashing exercise.
Gab
13 Nov 12 at 7:44 pm
You missed an opportunity to get Thomo in that sentence.
jupes
13 Nov 12 at 8:00 pm
Just a thought but I noticed that Savile in the UK was originally in the pop music scene. Evidently an old rocker who enjoyed the (abused) groupies. And just went on at it with the assistance of the BBC. But my thought is this; this commission can of course investigate the pop music scene snd the expoitation of young girls by rock bands. Paedophilia extends to grown rock stars having their way with vulnerable 14 year olds. This has been going on since the 60′s and I would think it was a legitimate thing for the commission to investigate. Nobody can tell me that they are all squeaky clean.
Jock
13 Nov 12 at 8:18 pm
It extends to Hollywood film-makers who drug and sodomise children, skip the country and are thereafter given haven in France and lionised by the left.
Rest easy, though. The Obama administration arrested the film-maker.
No no – not Polanski. The anti-Muslim YouTube dude.
C.L.
13 Nov 12 at 8:27 pm
I wonder if one of the institutions which will be looked into with respect to child abuse is the Australian Labor Party It qualifies as an institution doesn’t — is all pervasive, all coercive, more than 100 years old and oh — has a number of former ALP Members of Parliament who have done/are doing porridge for it paedophilia.
Tintarella di Luna
13 Nov 12 at 8:31 pm
C.L.
“It’s hilarious – of course in a deeply evil sort of way – that lefties are now pretending to care about the lives of children. But they passionately believe in the ‘right’ to kill children, including via decapitation and disembowelment (hi, Emily’s List) …”
Quite right. The hypocrisy stinks to Heaven.
As for the Royal Commission, if it is a political ploy, it could equally damage the ALP by driving a wedge between its Catholic supporters and the rest.
Julian O'Dea
13 Nov 12 at 8:32 pm
Yes that must be a form of child abuse and if there is an institution which condones it whether it’s Medicare by paying the service code, or any particular not-for-profit group — then ‘fess up and be damned
Tintarella di Luna
13 Nov 12 at 8:39 pm
Sinc -
Well??? Is hammy going to be permitted to comment here?
Nanuestalker
14 Nov 12 at 1:21 am
Fellow Cats … am I wrong?
Nanuestalker
14 Nov 12 at 1:22 am
I am no legal eagle, but surely this statement is highly defamatory and warrants a class action suit – the plaintiffs being Catholic priests – against Muldoon and The Age (if this statistic made it to print in that rag)?
Oh come on
14 Nov 12 at 2:45 am
Nanue, you should know by now that Sinc has an open borders policy on idiot composite composta commenters and full-time spoilers alike. Hammy is in the first category, the Stevedores “labor” in the second.
I think it devalues the blog and creates endless thread derailments. But what can you do? Losing people like you and me is of lesser concern than maintaining ideological purity, it seems.
So we have to live with it or leave. I tried leaving, made about as much difference as my conservative vote makes in the big picture.
Say what needs to be said and leave the daily dogshit fighting to the diehards.
blogstrop
14 Nov 12 at 7:33 am
Yes.
I can’t see it’s any different to other bigoted rants which appear frequently on this blog
SteveC
14 Nov 12 at 1:23 pm
But they passionately believe in the ‘right’ to kill children, including via decapitation and disembowelment
bigoted rant?
SteveC
14 Nov 12 at 1:25 pm
Juliar, Milne and Roxon are a goat rodeo on steroids, they could not organise a root in a brothel with a wheelbarrow full of cash and six months lead time.
This incompetent shower of liquid shyte will either make the RC a sick joke
brainless rant?
SteveC
14 Nov 12 at 1:27 pm
No, statement of the facts.
Gab
14 Nov 12 at 1:32 pm