Author, Researcher, Historian
Is fact stranger than fiction? Comments on Ginger Briggs, Staunch, Affirm Press, Melbourne, 2012. I was so stirred up by this disturbing book that instead of placing it with my regular short reviews of books (here) I wanted to make a closer examination of this fascinating work. On face value, Staunch is a novel, based on a true story. […]
Another letter to The Age which didn’t make it. But let me share it with you. Simon Gardner (Royal commission can shine a light on ‘forgotten’ people – Age 5/8) writes: ‘Mention the stolen generations and child migrants and eyes light up in recognition…No such light shines for the forgotten Australians. Why?’ I can supply […]
I highly recommend this opinion piece by Tony Webber in the Dubbo PhotoNews, 30/8/14. In a devastating critique of the church’s scandalous handling of child sex abuse, Tony drives Cardinal Pell’s truck to its illogical conclusions. A trucking company “would not try to gets itself categorised as an unstructured, non-commercial entity to avoid paying due compensation to its victims.” […]
The wheel turns on media spin. In June this year, Fairfax media reported that the number of ‘spin doctors’ and communications staff employed by the Australian Immigration Department had risen to 95 – up from 13 under the previous government in 2011. This in a time when the Government is telling us there’s a budget crisis […]
“Is the line broken?” asked the Royal Commissioner, Peter McClellan, as the television hook-up to Rome failed. “The cardinal is unmoving on the screen which suggests it has,” replied counsel assisting Gail Furness SC, with Judge McClelland observing mournfully: “The line has failed in Rome.” It sure had, in more ways than one when Cardinal […]
Key points from my submission to the Royal Commission on Child Sexual Abuse: A national redress scheme to which all governments, major churches and relevant non-government organisations contribute equitably is among the most important outcomes that this Royal Commission could give rise to. Written evidence should not be expected in every case; many cases were […]