By MICHAEL SLOVANOS
THE ABC predictably began its coverage of the Inquiry Into Racism, Hate and Violence Directed at First Nations People with a list of grievances.
“A family who are alive only because a bomb that landed at their feet didn’t explode; an Olympian forced out of the sport that changed her life after being belittled and bullied; a mother questioning whether sending her children to school is doing them more harm than good; an elder who is too scared to gather with community in public after another attempt on their lives.
“This is just some of the harrowing testimony given at the inquiry into racism, hate and violence directed at First Nations people,” the ABC reporter whined, clutching her pearls between sentences.
“Day after day, witnesses relived some of the darkest moments of their lives. Some spoke of violence. Others of fear, humiliation, and grief. Many did so publicly, knowing the personal cost, like former Olympic boxer Marissa Williamson-Pohlman,” she whined again, tears cascading onto the keyboard, apparently.
The ABC reporter went on quote Williamson-Pohlman’s submission to the inquiry, complete with a ridiculous misspelling of “black”: “Institutions celebrate Blak excellence when it is convenient, but abandon us when it matters most.
“I wonder where my energy would go … if not so much time was spent with me fighting the very system that was created to ‘support’ me and make my dreams come true,” whined Williamson-Pohlman, who represented Australia at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“Her story was one of many detailing personal and systemic harm through racism, but many of those invited to listen, explain, or respond never appeared,” said the ABC, amplifying the alleged grievances.
“The inquiry drew heavy hitters, including a former federal minister, lawyers, professors, land councils, and policy advocates, but in many places the absences were just as notable as those who attended.
“Dozens of politicians, government officials, and national powerbrokers were asked to attend each hearing. Most didn’t show up.”
Well boo hoo hoo! I say, and probably others too at Cairns News. And my advice to Williamson-Pohlman, is “get over it and get on with your life”.
Williamson-Pohlman told the inquiry that “misogyny, sexism, racism and the homophobia is so rife in boxing gyms.
“It’s a systemic issue… and if you aren’t pulling up these [male athletes on what they say], then they’re going to be the future of sport when they win the medals, and then they’re going to end up in a sporting organisation… and the cycle continues.”
Sorry Marissa, but I am not the least bit surprised that boxers are generally not the sensitive new age types who bend a knee before engaging with opponents who have darker coloured skin than themselves.
Neither am I grieved that a male boxer might warn a female boxer not to spar with them because “you women aren’t as strong as us and I’d knock you out within the first 10 seconds”. Oh how misogynistic and sexist! right Marissa?
Or was it “racist” when some butch (or even transgender) white woman boxer snarled at you and threatened to knock your teeth out?
Could the absences be because many Australians are simply sick and tired of listening to serial “anti-racism” complainers peddling their guilt manipulation against the descendants of “colonial oppressors” – that is, anyone who lacks a few percentage points of non-Indigenous genetics?
Or the government-funded trans brigade who will take you before a human rights tribunal or the courts and get you fined tens of thousands of dollars for stating the flipping obvious about their biology?
Could it also be that many Australians are well aware that total direct government expenditure on services and welfare for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians is estimated between $33 billion and $40 billion annually across all federal, state, and territory levels?
Could it also be that many Australians, including Indigenous leaders themselves, are wondering why Indigenous poverty and violence continues while $33 billion is forked out annually to Indigenous organisations supposedly providing services and welfare?
The whining over the apparently poorly attended “racism” inquiry continued with Victorian Senator and inquiry chairwoman Jana Stewart sharing her greivances with the ABC: “It’s disappointing. I think the public expectation would be if you are a big organisation, if you are a government service, that you front up to inquiries like this and you are accountable. I think the least they could do is show up.”
According to the senator, parliamentary inquiries are not merely fact-finding exercises, they are “one of the few opportunities for people with little institutional power to speak directly to those who hold it.”
Well Senator Stewart, did you ever ask any questions in Canberra about that astonishing $5.3 billion in “Indigenous federal money” dedicated specifically to Indigenous programs, portfolios, and specialised bodies allegedly helping the 3.8% of the population who identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander?
Your fellow Indigenous woman, Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa-Price, has been asking questions for years, but she’s largely shunned by your mob as “too right wing”, right?
The hearings make for hard listening, with First Nations people speaking plainly about the racism, violence, and abuse they suffer on a daily basis.
Another whiner was “Arrernte woman” and chief executive of the peak body for Aboriginal and Islander Childcare, Catherine Liddle: “I’m here because the story of racism is one of harm. It’s a story of hate, it’s a story of unfathomable damage — and it’s a story that we can change,” she told the inquiry.
Well Ms Liddle, what exactly do you think can “change racism”? Obviously not the millions of dollars funneled into your organisation by state and federal governments.
We suggest things might change when Aboriginal organisations get real and admit to their own failings instead of pointing the finger at so-called racists, whoever the heck they are.
