Racism has real life consequences

This open letter to Annabel Crabb was written by Su Dharmapala in response to an episode of Kitchen Cabinet.

Su said "I would really appreciate it if you amplify this message so that I can have some kind of dialogue with Annabel"

I asked Su if I could share her letter here so that it might reach people who don't use X (formerly Twitter) or Facebook.

Su kindly agreed.

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Dear Annabel, I know you probably get thousands of emails on any given day. Some, full of hate and abuse, and probably others that are nice and complimentary. This will be neither. You need to know that this is the first time I have ever been tempted to reach out to a journalist to express my deep horror about anything. And your commentary that Peter Dutton has 'muscular' politics that is affronting to people has truly driven me to a state of despair- both as a woman of colour and as a mother of son who has been on the receiving end of racism in this country. Just for clarity - my name is Su Dharmapala and I am both an author and a start-up founder. I came to Australia on 21 November in 1989 at the age of 15 with my family from Singapore. I am ethnic Singahalese but was born and raised between Singapore and Sri Lanka before I immigrated to Australia. I was in Sri Lanka during the 1983 Black July riots and I have seen first hand what inter racial violence can lead to.

There is nothing 'muscular' about racism. It does not just cause affront - it kills people. The violence is both psychological and physical. In many ways I would prefer physical violence to the hatred that drips in your mind and makes you hate the skin you were born in - because there is really nothing you can do about it. My experience of racism in this country is long. From my first day of high school to the day I was a young graduate working at Coles Myer and was accused of 'coming in and speaking better English and 'stealing' jobs'. FYI - I was racially abused in my work place a day after Pauline Hanson's maiden speech. Then there is subtle racism - when people who have trained and mentored at work get promotions ahead of you when you are three times as capable. The not so subtle daily microaggressions and need to hide yourself to fit in. There have been two times, Annabel, when I have seriously questioned my citizenship in this country. The first was when I was about 5 months pregnant with my son and I had gone out for my daily walk around Vermont - a suburb I have lived in for nearly 30 years. It was a coolish evening in late spring and I had a beanie on that was stripped and colourful. I felt safe to amble gently through the streets - my belly making all to clear that I was about to become a mother.

Only two blokes in a ute decided to follow me - up and down Mitcham road. On the first pass - they made eye contact and jeered - calling me a black bitch. I ignored them. On the second pass they threw apple cores at me. I was terrified now. I could not run. I was pregnant. On the third pass - they screamed at me to go back to where I came from. I was genuinely terrified for my life and that of my unborn child. I peed in my pants. I went home and sobbed in the shower. I wanted to leave Australia. What kind of country was I about to bring my child into? Would he be safe? Just for your information - that incident happened on 8 October 2007. A day after Kevin Andrews said that African Immigrants did not integrate into Australia. The second instance was in 2021 - and the trauma is still too brutal to talk about. It was a workplace incident. Annabel - racism is neither brutal nor affronting. It has real lived consequences. It impacts kids in the school ground and it impacts people. I would love to schedule some time with you to help you understand what it means to immigrants like myself who have to live with the nastiness that Peter Dutton enables every day. You have my email address.

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Su's original post and the responses can be accessed:

https://twitter.com/SuDharmapala/status/1691240888541097985

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A couple of personal comments:

We need to call out racism everywhere, and particularly when it's gifted a platform on the national broadcaster.

Our families, friends and communities are endangered when intolerance and "muscular" brutality is amplified, normalised and sanitised.

As a result, racists feel empowered, especially when the damage and danger it encourages and unleashes is minimised or ignored, in the name of balance.

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Democracy In Colour offers a range of bespoke workshops for organisations and as interventions in key moments in society – such as bystander intervention trainings, anti racism at work and more.

https://democracyincolour.org/

https://twitter.com/democracycolour?lang=en

The Bin fire of Vanities: A gaffe? No A GAFFE

 https://twitter.com/RonniSalt/status/1515861054328168448 with thanks.

The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is the most widely-used global corruption ranking in the world. It measures how corrupt each country’s public sector is perceived to be, according to experts and businesspeople.

A country’s score is the perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of 0-100, where 0 means highly corrupt and 100 means very clean.

progress against corruption cannot be taken for granted – especially not when human rights and democracy are under attack. In the last year alone, high-level corruption scandals, fresh allegations of misused COVID-19 funds, and deliberate efforts to weaken institutional and societal checks on power show that vigilance is needed across the board.

Transparency International’s analysis reveals that in 2022 our societies will need to be on particularly high alert in nine countries.

1. AUSTRALIA 

Australia (CPI score: 73) is one of the world’s most significant decliners, having dropped 12 points since 2012 to hit a record low this year. Its deteriorating score indicates systemic failings in tackling public sector corruption. Despite public calls and previous promises, last year Australia missed a landmark opportunity to establish a national anti-corruption agency with broad powers to investigate corruption.

As Australia heads into a federal election, anti-corruption commitments – and a firm resolution to follow through on them – will matter more than ever. The establishment of a strong anti-corruption commission, which is long overdue, should be a top priority. link

Interest shown by the bulk of Australian media about this worrying information? 🦗🦗🦗🦗🦗

For some of our excellent Independent media see:  https://traverselife.blogspot.com/2020/01/list-of-australian-independent-media.html

Eight hefty rorts not covered by Australia's mainstream media. Why the silence?

Graphs & information shared with permission of Vince O'Grady Oct 16 2021
Twitter: @vogrady2132
https://twitter.com/vogrady2132/status/1449179721946701826

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I have wanted to express this for the last three days. Here goes.

I am disgusted at the lack of Integrity and the dishonesty of the Main-Stream Media in Australia. Because they have been nobbled by the Coalition generally. This week they have been discussing Labor Branch stacking Ad infinitum in Victoria. Branch Stacking is NOT an offence. It is a manipulation of the Internal Labor Party rules.

What might be an offence is the fools of MP's who used employees on the public payroll to do this manipulation. I agree that that needs to be addressed. If those  MP's have committed offenses against State or Federal laws, then they should rightly suffer the consequences.

The press have been spending an inordinate amount of time discussing this this week, YET they have totally ignored another outrage perpetrated by the sitting Federal Coalition Government.

The reporting of the rorting of the latest round of the BUILDING THE BETTER REGIONS FUND ROUND 5. This was reported in the Guardian and The New Daily within days of it being released. I was one of the people who analysed it.

One: Here is a graph of the uneven distribution of the funds:

I cannot understand how this is not Newsworthy, especially in light of the following other analyses done and hardly reported by the press.

Two: Sports Rorts. Value $100 Million

Three: Community Development Grants 2013 - 2019 Value $1.1 Billion.

Four: Regional Development Programs 2013 to 2019 to the value of $714.5 million

Five: Community Development Grants in 2020 for a value of $392.3 Million

Six: Building the Better Regions fund in 2020 for a value of $158.4 Million

Seven: Female facilities and Water Safety Stream Grants worth $135.75 Million

Eight: The Commuter Car Park Fund. Worth $704.39 Million

Newsworthy?

You'd expect so, but not covered by the bulk of Australia's media.

Why is that?

Who benefits from the lack of analysis and coverage?

Who loses?

Is the above pattern of funding in the spirit of the Australian "Fair Go"?

How can we make informed decisions about who to vote for if we don't have relevant information?

Get involved!

Murdoch Royal Commission

https://murdochroyalcommission.org.au/

Read and subscribe to some of our excellent Independent Media!

https://traverselife.blogspot.com/2020/01/list-of-australian-independent-media.html

More information:

Does your political rep vote the way they say they do? Or is what's presented in gushing enthusiasm a ruse to get your vote? How do they vote on: Vaccines, Aged Care, Education, Financial support during covid, water & food security, foreign ownership to name a few?

Is your vote being used as YOU want it to be? https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/

https://www.thevogfiles.com/in-the-news.html

Election 2019. Who will you vote for?

Not just WHO will you vote for, but equally as important:

What does the political party stand FOR?
What does the political party stand AGAINST?

Spreadsheet of major party policies created by Denise Shrivell (Twitter @densieshrivell ) to help Australians make an informed vote in the 2019 election here!

The political policy spreadsheet is arranged alphabetically starting with Aged Care, the Arts, and goes on to The Banking Royal Commission, Climate, Defence, Disability, Education & Training, Energy, Indigenous, Industrial Relations, Security, Science, Welfare and much, much more.

Back in the "old days" we'd have a fair idea about a parties political policy going from past experience, we'd glance at some electioneering material, add a news article or two, and head off to the polling booth!

Of concern for Australia, our mainstream news media is now dominated by the foreign owned murdoch empire (which has been described as a political propaganda entity) and other increasingly right wing players, with few equally as vocal outlets dedicated to equivalent, but left leaning views.

This means we're getting a repetitive diet of opinion that the Coalition or LNP (the Liberals and Nationals combined) are unquestioningly wonderful, and Labor, the Greens and Independents are dangerously deluded. Like any mono-diet it's unhealthy for us as individuals and for OUR society.

It sounds unreal to say that News Corp is not a media organisation. It sounds outré to say that it is instead a political propaganda entity of a kind perhaps not seen since the 19^th century, one that has climbed to its pedestal through regulatory capture, governmental favours and menace, and is now applying its energies to the promotion of white nationalism, even as white nationalists commit scores of murders.  

Lies are increasingly passed off as 'post truth' or other sanitised phrases chosen to obscure deliberate deception. Sound, socially inclusive policies from Labor are dismissed, avoided, or deliberately lied about, by politicians and this media.

We're unable to trust some vocal politicians & some mainstream media to tell the truth or to let us know which policies will have a negative impact on us. We ONLY hear what they want us to via an mind boggling network of community, local, regional and national publications.

A small selection of NewsCorp murdoch media,
thanks to @slpng_giants_oz

Political party ideology and policies affect most aspects of our lives and include: 

access to affordable education, childcare, health facilities, roads, infrastructure, nursing ratios in hospitals and aged care facilities, disability support, social security, wages, water and food security, biosecurity, and safety regulations which help keep our families and communities safe.

Safety regulations aren't just inconvenient Red Tape for big business wanting to cut costs and time. They're dismissively and mockingly referred to as Nanny State Regulations, but they're vital for a healthy, well functioning, safe society.

Who stands for what in the 2019 Election 
You can search individual party websites to compare policy, or use this spreadsheet created by Denise Shrivell It's a comprehensive list of the major party policies, (LNP Coalition, Labor and Greens) and makes being an informed voter easy.

The policy spreadsheet is arranged alphabetically starting with Aged Care, the Arts, and goes on to The Banking Royal Commission. Then there's Climate, Defence, Disability, Education & Training, Energy, Indigenous, Industrial Relations, Security, Science and Welfare and much, much more.

Vote for policies which support your needs and values!