Victorian inquiry into child abuse by religious organisations continues

 

The Victorian Parliament’s Family and Community Development Committee Inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious and other organisations continues, with hearings scheduled for 9,12,23,and 26 November 2012

 

This was Professor Chris Goddard from Child Abuse Prevention Research Australia for Monash University giving evidence before the Inquiry in Melbourne on 19 October 2012:

 

I have, however, a firm opinion that the abuse of children and young people in religious organisations is truly diabolical because of the lasting and terrible spiritual damage. This is supported by the literature. The abuse of children by adults always rests on a power imbalance. The large number of offences by Catholic priests reflects an extraordinary power imbalance. The religious authority they possess allows them even to turn parents and families against their own children. This has meant that many victims have had to attempt to deal with the abuse on their own, magnifying the impacts.

 

It is important to recognise that child-sex offenders are extremely cunning. Priests have used their positions to infiltrate families and gain access to children. They have used their knowledge of the families and the families’ strengths and weaknesses to gain access to the most vulnerable children. This is one of the major  reasons I believe there has been and continues to be such a long time period between offences being committed and reporting. Then of course when reports are made the Catholic Church in particular has

shown that defending itself is more important than defending the victims. The impact on children, thus, is catastrophic. They are betrayed many times. They are betrayed by the priest or priests. In some cases that I know of they feel they have been betrayed by their families who had difficulty believing them. In some terrible cases the parents of victims have gone to their graves believing the church, not their children. In many cases they have been betrayed by the church’s responses, as I have had said.

 

Professor Des Cahill, Professor of Intercultural Studies at RMIT University giving evidence before the Inquiry on 22 October 2012:

 

Mr McGUIRE — Thank you, Professor, for that multifaith overview and then coming down to the particular concerns you raised about the Catholic Church. I would just like to pick you up on the issue of prevalence. Your report at page 16 calculates the prevalence of clerical sexual abuse as between the 4 to 6 per cent range, which by implication is that about 1 in 20 ordained diocesan priests in Victoria and Tasmania become child sex abusers. The first question is: on what is that based? Then if you could also respond in regard to that this does not take into account offending by religious brothers, so what is the number of these that relate to offending in Catholic schools in terms of the current situation that exists within the Catholic school system?

 

Prof. CAHILL — The 1 in 20 is based on the analysis I have given in my submission of the priests from the dioceses of Victoria and Tasmania who trained at Corpus Christi College from 1940 to 1972. I chose that period because some from the very early period are still alive — they are very old — whereas those ordained in 1972 are now over 65. In reaching a figure I think it is important to have a data baseline, and it is very hard to achieve, but when we did that calculation and on the basis of data that I and other colleagues who are former priests know about and from information available on the Broken Rites website we were able to come up with

that figure.

** Cartoon comment found at Google Images

Oz formula one driver Mark Webber's view on gambling

Mark Webber says he won't be tuning into Tuesday's big race. Not because he'll be racing around a track in his Red Bull, but because he hates Australia's gambling culture. ''I love sport but horse racing is not far off the bottom of my list,'' he said after Saturday's qualifier for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. ''Gambling, in my house, my father didn't tolerate it. Actually, I'm not a big fan of how much it's rammed down your throat in Australia, in terms of how you can bet on who farts at what stage in a football match.'' [Source: Sydney Morning Herald, 5/11/12]

Hey, Mark, you're spot-on about gambling in Australia - there's far too much of it AND there's too much promotion (especially online and television advertising) of it.

But, isn't formula one racing with its petrol guzzlers a hell of a waste of our scarce resources. As for formula one racing, this bloke wouldn't walk across the street to watch it, even if Mark gave away free tickets. So, there!

Susan Island Lowland Remnant Rainforest Restoration Launch 10am Wednesday 7 November 2012

Click on image to enlarge

You are corrupt! He said, she said

 

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Anna Burke, in Hansard, 31 October 2012:

 

Ms GILLARD (Lalor—Prime Minister) (14:40): How can the opposition assert that it is focusing on the nation's interests and not pursuing nasty personal politics when it goes down this track?

Mr Laming: You are corrupt!

The SPEAKER: The individual will withdraw.

Mr Laming: I withdraw.

The SPEAKER: Further, the member for Bowman will leave the chamber under 94(a) and will count himself very, very lucky.

 

The Member for Bowman, Andrew Laming, in The Sydney Morning Herald, 1 November 2012:

 

Dr Laming's interjection was recorded in Hansard, and in the notes of journalists, but this morning he backtracked, claiming he simply shouted "corrupt" during the furore, and others, including the Hansard editor who sits in the chamber, must have misheard him.”

 

Unfortunately for Andrew Laming the Question Time podcast for 31 October allows one to clearly hear the shout; You are corrupt!

Why the College of St John the Evangelist at Sydney University needs to be dissolved now

An Act to Incorporate Saint John’s College as a College within the University of Sydney

(Assented to December 15th 1857)

Whereas considerable funds have been subscribed for the Institution and Endowment in the Archdiocese of Sydney of a Roman Catholic College within the University of Sydney, to be called “The College of Saint John the Evangelist” wherein the students shall receive systematic religious instruction and be brought up in the doctrines and discipline of the Roman Catholic Church, and provision be made for the residence of the Students and their preparation for the University Lectures and Examinations under Collegiate control. And whereas it is expedient that the said College should be incorporated: Be it therefore enacted by the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly of New South Wales in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same......

 

THE FICTION:

 

The College of St John the Evangelist:

 

Situated within the University of Sydney, the College has fostered the intellectual, spiritual, cultural, sporting and social pursuits of its student community since 1857. It is the oldest and most distinguished Australian University Catholic College….

 

under the direction of its Visitor, the Cardinal Archbishop of Sydney, (currently His Eminence George, Cardinal Pell) the College associates itself with the interests of the Australian Church and its mission, particularly by the fostering of appropriate academic directions in education, charity, social justice, ethics and environment.

 

Formal Dinner in the Great Hall

 

Cardinal George Pell in Our People 13 April 2008:

 

For why does St. John’s College exist if not in order to help its members to find the sweetest and most satisfying of pastures, or, as Jesus described it, “to have life to the full”?

 

The Eagle St John’s College Weekly Newsletter Semester One, Week Five, 1 April 2011:

 

older Johnsmen, many of whom have gone to a place even better than St John’s! Some you may know are current politicians, Tony Abbott, Joe Hockey and Frank Sartor;

 

Weekly Newsletter Semester One, Week One, 12 March 2012”

 

“If you accept this offer of a place [at St John’s College in 2012], you are choosing to become a part of a movement towards positive change.”

 

THE REALITY:

 

http://www.smh.com.au/national/tertiary-education/college-throws-out-30-students-20120310-1ur5h.html

 

Zoe Arnold in Mama Mia 21 March 2012:

 

“I don’t exactly remember the moment I realised life at St John’s College wasn’t for me. Maybe it was after witnessing the spectacle of flaming “man-ginas”, where brutish young Johnians would set alight their pubic hair in front of a bellowing, chanting crowd as some kind of test of their manhood. Maybe it was after watching the beautiful, heritage listed library being drowned in beer and then used as a slip ‘n’ slide as another drunken night in house got underway.

 

The Sydney Morning Herald  4 November 2012:

 

Eight months on, nothing has changed. Police have been called to investigate widespread vandalism including smashed windows and doors, furniture broken or set on fire, and graffiti. Faeces are routinely found in common areas and bedrooms. Every second Friday, the student committee has decreed that all Johnsmen not speak to any female students - who are known as ''Jets'': the term is an acronym for ''just excuse the slag''.

Freshers are still being forced into initiation rituals, including the consumption of toxic drinks. And some senior students are showing a cavalier disregard for the fallout from the poisoned girl's near-death, and have even printed T-shirts that celebrate the incident.

The college's honorary dean and a member of the college's executive have quit in disgust, with many former executives and existing students calling on Australia's highest-ranked Catholic, Sydney Archbishop George Pell, to intervene and ''rescue'' the 150-year-old institution from ''a crippling disease''.

University of Sydney honorary professor Roslyn Arnold said she quit the St John's executive this semester because she was ''ashamed to belong to such a group''.

''Anarchy has broken out and anarchy is not too strong a word,'' Professor Arnold said.

''An external review of the governance of the college needs to be conducted urgently because the fellows are responsible for what happens on campus … I've been in universities for almost 40 years and, to be quite frank, I've never seen anything like this.

''In the external world, the incidents taking place could be considered criminal. I believe Cardinal Pell is the person who is ultimately called if things spiral out of control and become really tricky. In my opinion, we are well past that stage.''

The college's honorary dean, Father Walter Fogarty, also resigned earlier this year after nine years of service as a fellow. He said: ''I lost confidence in where the council was going and am concerned about the dynamics of some of the old boys. There is a Peter Pan complex.''

The Sydney Morning Herald  4 November 2012:

 

The Sun-Herald understands the college's rector, Michael Bongers, will lose his job on Monday because of the strong stance he has taken against the ugly St John's culture.

It is the old Johnsmen who are the architects of the rector's pending downfall and responsible for the trouble at St John's.

It is these old Johnsmen who should be walking the plank - and their anachronistic ideas about the nobility of preserving obnoxious traditions. By condoning bad behaviour they have created a situation where the lunatics are running the asylum.

 

One of the alumni speakers on the night

Recent scenes at St John's College

The University of Sydney has tolerated this college for far too long. It needs to squarely face the situation and root out from its midst this culture of mindless brutality and misogyny so long condoned by the Catholic Church and Sydney Establishment.

A coal economy has multiple health and social risks, says major review by University of Sydney

 

A coal economy has multiple health and social risks, says major review

29 October 2012

A major review of evidence on the impact of coal mining has highlighted serious, ongoing health and social problems and an urgent need for improvements in government coal mining policy.

The research by the University of Sydney has also revealed a critical lack of local studies investigating the effect coal mining has on Australian communities.

The report, which analyses 50 peer-reviewed research papers from 10 countries, will be launched at the University today.

"This comprehensive review of Australian and international health and medical literature underlines the pressing need for Australia to re-evaluate whether the overall health and social costs of Australia's reliance on a coal economy will ultimately outweigh its economic benefits," said lead author Associate Professor Ruth Colagiuri, from Sydney Medical School.

The purpose of the report (PDF, 1.8MB), commissioned by Beyond Zero Emissions, is to provide an overview of the available evidence on the health effects and social justice impacts of coal mining on local communities and relate these issues to the Hunter Region of New South Wales. The Hunter region has more than 30 mostly open-cut coal mines and six active coal-fired power stations.

Studies from coal mining regions of the US, the United Kingdom, Canada, Turkey, Israel, and Asia indicate serious health impacts for communities living near coal mines and coal combusting power stations.

"Among the problems identified in children and infants in these communities are impaired growth and neurological development, high blood levels of heavy metals, higher prevalences of any birth defects and a greater chance of being of low birth weight, which is a risk factor for future obesity, diabetes and heart disease," Associate Professor Colagiuri said.

Adults have been shown to have higher rates of death from lung cancer and chronic heart, respiratory and kidney diseases. They also have increased chances of developing other cancers and hypertension. Some studies also show higher rates of miscarriages and stillbirths.

"Although there are differences in mining practices and standards across countries that may account for some of this excess death and illness, it is hard to imagine that at least some of this evidence would not apply to Australia," Professor Colagiuri said.

Studies from the US, the UK, Russia and Queensland found social injustices associated with coal mining such as environmental degradation, including water pollution and slurry spills. Also identified were the inability of communities to grasp financial benefits and the distortion of the local economy and infrastructure, including labour and accommodation shortages and increased pressure on local emergency services.

Studies of social impacts in the Hunter Region acknowledge similar issues.

"Communities in the Hunter report feelings of powerlessness and distress and have no formal avenue for input into the granting of mining licences," Professor Colagiuri said.

"The available international and local evidence about the health and social harms of living near coal mines or coal fired power stations highlights the need for an urgent policy response to ensure transparency in arrangements between government and the mining industry and community safeguards such as mandatory health impact assessments.

"We also urgently need well designed local studies from Australia's coal areas to generate evidence for the most informed decision possible about the future health of mining communities. The negative impacts we have identified have implications not only for this generation but future ones," Professor Colagiuri said.

 

Media enquiries: Verity Leatherdale,  02 9351 4312, 0403 067 342,

verity.leatherdale@sydney.edu.au

Japan squander's 2.3bn yen from tsunami recontructions funds on Antarctic & Pacific whale hunts

The Times UK November 1, 2012:

The Japanese Government has spent taxpayers’ money intended for the reconstruction of areas devastated by last year’s tsunami on a range of irrelevant projects, including spades for jailed criminals, training for air force fighter pilots and funding for a whale hunt.

About a quarter of the 11.7 trillion yen (£91 billion) set aside to restore the ravaged north east has been spent on programmes unrelated to the disaster, according to analysis of the Government’s own audit report.

BBC New Asia October 31:

Japan has spent funds intended for reconstruction after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami on unrelated projects, a government audit has found.

Projects financed by the $150bn (£93bn) fund include roads in Okinawa, an ad campaign for Japan's tallest building and support for whaling research.

Some 325,000 people remain displaced 18 months on from the disaster.

In some areas little reconstruction work has been carried out, reports say.

The Australian November 2:

2.3bn yen or approximately AUD$2.7 million went to Japan's fisheries agencies to protect its whaling fleet from protests by environmental activists.