When And What To Challenge...

2022 continues to throw difficult circumstances at us, reinforcing a trend that began with the Black Summer of 2019-2020, was accelerated by a weird pneumonia that was first reported in Wuhan, China and has reached fever pitch this year with a huge volcanic eruption, the threat of war and the perpetual fear caused by the ongoing pandemic. Throw in a looming Federal election, the reluctant acknowledgement of institutionalised sexual violence and tepid apologies, pro and anti-vaccine rhetoric, lack of coherent national strategies and the failure of this parliament to address serious social disadvantage.

So, instead of embracing "us" and interacting collaboratively as Australians, there are far too many instances of "us and them". A total lack of consensus, of acceptance, of tolerance, is to our detriment, which sadly appears to be the new normal.

A very long time ago, my Autistic Superstar Alex, was discriminated against by a music teacher who should have known better. A joyous and joyful member of a primary school choir (which was not merit selected), Alex was excluded from a performance at a local Eisteddfod. Alex's self-esteem was less important than that woman's desire to win the competition. When he was invited to rejoin the choir, I wanted to strike her dead. Alex summed the situation up in a single sentence "No, I don't want to go back to choir because Mrs. ... doesn't like me." I could have railed against this blatant discrimination until Hell froze over, but instead, Alex changed schools, joined that choir and sang with all his heart at a performance by the upper primary students at the local community centre.

My formidable friend Sam has caused me to question my reactions on a number of occasions. When she was still mobile on crutches, I didn't notice her. Once using a wheelchair, she was immediately recognisable and I felt oddly ashamed. Sam, a disability advocate, parent, grandparent, President of People with Disability Australia, artist and a long-term  Bolshy Diva has always minimised the details of her own disability whilst championing the disability community's mantra of "nothing about us without us". We should all have a Sam in our lives to question our values and beliefs and whether they are fair and equitable to all.

COVID 19 should have united us all as a nation, and for a while, that seemed to work as such. Then, as time dragged on, dissent began to rise, often in ugly outbursts. Does Covid even exist? Was the disease manufacted with evil intent? Isn't mandating vaccines a breach of human rights? Masks - bah humbug! I'm young/fit/well - she'll be right. All these people dying have underlying health conditions, don't they?

This illness, whatever it is and however it came to be, is a war. It kills people. Who would put their hand up to die? For all our sakes, we need to work together, not bicker on the sides.

Then there have been rather a lot of contentious opinions around sexual violence - 

• what about men who are raped? Why are they never mentioned? (All rape is heinous and unacceptable.)
• why do women encourage rape by getting drunk or wearing revealing clothing? (All rape is heinous and unacceptable.)
• blokes get led on by women! (All rape is heinous and unacceptable.)
• he didn't know what he was doing - he was drunk/stoned/upset/jealous/frustrated. (All rape is heinous and unacceptable.)
• he/she snapped. (All rape is heinous and unacceptable.)
• she shouldn't have gone with him! (All rape is heinous and unacceptable.)
• he/she had a troubled childhood. (All rape is heinous and unacceptable.)
• he/she only assaulted the child once/twice/a few times (All rape is heinous and unacceptable.)
• he/she should have told their parent(s)/another teacher/sibling/friend. (All rape is heinous and unacceptable.)
• he/she must have made it up! He/she is a pillar of society! (All rape is heinous and unacceptable.)

Attitudes regarding sexual and other violence against men, women and children will only change when all of us recognise these acts are crimes. As far as creating false stories, I understand that may happen in a minority of cases, which unfortunately reinforces mixed responses to genuine rape victims.

Finally I come to the drawn out agony that is the upcoming Federal Election. I have and remain the classic swinging voter. That Christian Porter will no longer be my Federal member of parliament is a relief. My distaste for the man is due to his failure to support Alex and me when he was Social Services minister. I have never experienced such a limp handshake or limp interest and I hope never to suffer either ever again. 

Hence, I remain to be convinced by the candidates in O'Connor which has swallowed the rural parts of the former seat of Pearce. The only face I know is Giz Watson, the Greens representative. I call upon both Rick Wilson and Shaneane Weldon to convince me why I should vote in their favour. O'Connor is a safe Liberal seat, so I immediately have a problem as I believe the current Liberal Prime Minister is only interested in power and is not worthy of the Office.

A local acquaintance wandered into the Gallery yesterday afternoon to ask me about "the Situation". He meant the mandate for mask wearing which he personally doesn't think is needed. However, he then dropped the solution to every point I have made in this post. "Wearing a mask does no harm", he stated, reinforcing his commitment to our elderly or vulnerable residents here in Beverley.

Let's all do no harm.