And to say that Julia Gillard is super-dooper and it wouldn't have happened without her, etc, is a deeply blinkered outlook that denies the realities...(realities exposed not least of all right here on TMGI-Ed)...indeed...(in fact, we only recently posted about how Julia, as Labor's Federal Education Minister, about how she rejected repeated appeals/requests to intervene in and resolve the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up!-Ed)...indeed we did Ed, indeed we did...(including official written appeals/requests made by our then Member for Barker Patrick Secker!-Ed)...as covered in that post, 23rd October 2018, and several previous, across several years now...(and Julia's response was, 'gee whiz, so sad, not my responsibility, go back to the SA Labor government who have already refused to do anything about it'!-Ed)...anything other than be intimately, complicitly supportive of the St Martins Cover-up...(exactly, and as also evidenced in that same post 23/10/18 and countless others across the 6 years of TMGI-Ed)...6 years? is it really 6 years?...(ummm, yep, started 21st January 2013, so it's 6 years-Ed)...wow, seems like no time at all...(indeed, and other times it seems like forever-Ed)...well quite, but we digress...
And before we address the rankly cynical Lutheran hypocrisies just below, here's another corking hypocrisy from the rancidly corrupt pro-paedophile SA Labor politician Patrick Conlon...(Conlon? isn't he one of the high-ranking SA paedophiles identified in that original Mullighan Child Abuse Royal Commission document?-Ed)...that be he...(isn't he the one where South Australian (SAPol) and Victorian police both claimed to have either 'lost' and/or 'accidentally destroyed' the photographic evidence of him with a 'rent boy' in his car in the Veale Gardens in Adelaide's South Parklands?-Ed)...that's the one, he and former Liberal Premier John Olsen were named, along with a senior SAPol officer and SA magistrate...(and that's also the document that led to the manic ousting of then Speaker Peter Lewis and the subsequent farcical trials (2) of his volunteers for alleged 'Defamation' and/or 'Treason'?-Ed)...yep, all that marvellous pro-paedophile hysteria from the SA Parliament as they en masse went after the 'Whistleblowers' and protected the perpetrators...(just like the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up-Ed)...yes Ed, exactly like the St Martins Cover-up...anyhoos, here's what my mate Pat had to say about the Right Wing media's response to the Pell conviction...
Patrick F Conlon @PatrickFConlon2
That people refuse to believe Pell could have done this despite him being convicted shows how church figures could get away with preying in plain sight on children for years and why victims felt they wouldn’t be believed. Bolt, Shelton, Devine et al are beyond shameful
Language Warning:...Conlon, Mike Rann, Jay Weatherill, Michael Atkinson, li'l Johnny Rau, Kevin Foley, Jane Lomax-Smith, Martin Hamilton-Smith, Grace Portolesi, Rob Lucas, Rob Kerin, David Ridgway, Rory McEwen, Peter Gandolfi, etc, etc, et al...(including the local Liberal politician you can't name because of the "reprehensibly vile" Final Intervention Orders handed-down by the rankly corrupt Magistrate Ian White-Ed)...yeah, chuck them both on the pile, you are all "beyond shameful", every single one of you sickly corrupt pro-paedophile fucking bastards who have willingly and repeatedly acted to cover-up the abuse of my child and dozens of other 7 year olds at St Martins in January-June 2002, every single one of you should rot in gaol for your definable Pro-Paedophile Corruption...and that brings us to this screechingly hypocritical work of rancid fantasy from the definably Pro-Paedophile Lutheran Church...please note the repeated vacuous statements about how important the kiddies are, and their safety, etc, etc, and whilst y'all are reading that, run it up alongside the realities of the St Martins Cover-up...("children are a precious gift from god", you fucking bastards-Ed)...my sentiments exactly...End Language Warning...
National Redress Scheme (Australia)
Yesterday the General Church Council (GCC) resolved that the Lutheran Church of Australia (LCA) will join the National Redress Scheme for people who have experienced child sexual abuse in institutional settings.
Established by the Commonwealth Government, the scheme is a direct result of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. It will provide a nationally consistent means of response to abuse that occurred within churches and other institutions.
The LCA is joining state and territory governments and non-government bodies across Australia which have already ‘opted in’ to the scheme. These include the Catholic Church, the Anglican Church, the Salvation Army, the Uniting Church and Scouts Australia. The scheme is due to start on 1 July 2018 and will run for 10 years.
In joining the National Redress Scheme, the LCA is acknowledging the wrongs done to those who have experienced child sexual abuse in our church, and is making a commitment to support them. This action is consistent with the commitment made by our General Synod in 2015 to care for and protect children while engaged in church activities. Delegates overwhelmingly ‘reaffirmed that our children are a precious gift from God’. The resolution goes on: ‘They are to be nourished and nurtured in their spiritual life within the Lutheran Church of Australia and their needs must be considered by all boards, councils and committees prior to the making of decisions. Children are to be cared for and protected from all physical, psychological, sexual and spiritual abuse while engaging in all church activities.’
General Synod further authorised the GCC ‘to commit resources to continue to develop effective procedures, and education and training programs to ensure that children are valued, respected, listened to and kept safe from harm’.
Luther’s Small Catechism unpacks the 5th Commandment ‘You shall not kill’ as meaning, ‘We should fear and love God, and so we should not endanger our neighbour’s life, nor cause him any harm, but help and befriend him in every necessity of life.’
This applies particularly to children, gifts whom God entrusts into our care. They come especially under divine protection (Isaiah 11:6-9). As God protects the vulnerable, God’s people are to do the same (Isaiah 1:17). When children came to Jesus and his disciples shooed them away, he reversed the usual order of things by saying that the Kingdom of God belongs to ‘such as these’ (Matt 19:14, Luke 18:16). In welcoming a child, we are welcoming Jesus (Matt 18:5, Mark 9:37, Luke 9:48). All through his ministry Jesus honoured children, teaching that if one wants to become truly great, one must become like a little child (Matt 18:1-5, Mark 9:33-37, Luke 9:46,47).
Therefore the church and all Christians have a special responsibility to care for children and see that no harm comes to them. How we treat children is a test of the genuineness of our faith. We are called to make every effort to protect children and treat them with the love, care and respect that God requires of us.
For some time now the LCA has expressed its serious concern for the protection of children by requiring that people who engage in ministry with children undergo the specialised training provided by LCA Professional Standards. Every one of us is required to report abuse or suspected abuse of children, regardless of whom the alleged perpetrator might be.
The Royal Commission made 189 recommendations in its final report. The LCA’s Royal Commissions Working Group is reviewing all the recommendations that relate to us and is formulating proposals for GCC’s consideration. You will hear progressively more about this and the implications for our church. As this goes on, I urge all of you – congregation and parish councils, child and youth ministry leaders, and individual members – to ensure that you are providing the safest possible environment for children in your care through actively implementing the LCA’s child-protection policies and procedures.
We pray:
- for people who have been abused while in our care, particularly if they are children, or were children at the time of the abuse
- for forgiveness for wrongs we have done to people who should have been able to trust us, and that he will help us to care for them now in ways that will bring them healing
- for the work of the Holy Spirit in giving us faith, convicting us of sin, and breathing in us the gift of new life, that we may discern how to work with those among us who have offended and confessed their offence, and learn how to give them the help they need to change their behaviours
- for God to help us to do better, and that our church will always be a safe place for everyone, especially for those who are most vulnerable.
Analysis
It's no wonder abuse survivors are anxious about the national redress scheme
Posted
Survivors of child sexual assault and cover-ups are
watching with familiar trepidation the making of an unprecedented
national redress scheme.
The Government does not yet know how many
states or institutions will opt into its proposed model for victims
unable to find justice through common law.The only certainty is a limit on payments.
Attorney-General George Brandis and Social Services Minister Christian Porter have already defied part of an expert recommendation from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
In 2015, the royal commission found negligent institutions should make "modest monetary payments as a tangible means of recognising the wrong survivors have suffered". It estimated 60,000 survivors would be eligible to make a claim under a $4.3 billion scheme.
The commission recommended individual payments be capped at $200,000.
But the Commonwealth is setting up a scheme with payments not exceeding $150,000.
Sorry, this video has expired
Video: National redress scheme for abuse victims 'to be fair and with maximum reach' says Christian Porter
(ABC News)
"It was a difficult decision," Mr Porter said of the 25 per cent reduction.
"Largely we did that because we wanted to have a maximum amount that encouraged all other jurisdictions to join.
"We took a view that if we adopted fulsomely (sic) the $200,000 recommendation that that might end up being a significant barrier to some states and perhaps also some churches and some charities joining the scheme."
(Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.*)
While the Government saw lowering the cap as an incentive to cooperate (even though average payments would be less than half the maximum), some survivors feared institutions were being let off lightly.
Australia's largest royal commission has held 6,700 private sessions — 32 per cent of those cases involved abuse in government institutions.
Commissioner Justice Peter McClellan said in his most recent speech: "Although the primary responsibility for the sexual abuse of an individual lies with the abuser and the institution they were part of, we cannot avoid the conclusion that the problems faced by many people who have been abused are the responsibility of our entire society.
"The broad social failure to protect children across a number of generations makes clear the pressing need to provide avenues through which survivors can obtain appropriate redress for past abuse."
Sorry, this video has expired
Video: 'Acknowledge past wrongs and be part of the conversation,' Justice McClellan tells National Council of Churches.
(ABC News)
Governments throughout Australia are nervous about their potential redress bills, on top of enormous common law payouts arising from past abuse.
Fifty-nine per cent of royal commission private sessions have heard evidence of abuse in religious institutions.
Mr Porter has the job of convincing churches and charities to opt into his offender-pays scheme.
Last Friday, the minister had a positive meeting with representatives of the following churches (with some more percentages of abuse reported in private sessions included):
- Catholic Church (37 per cent)
- Anglican Church of Australia (9 per cent)
- Salvation Army (4 per cent)
- Uniting Church (1.3 per cent)
- Baptist Union Church (0.6 per cent)
- Churches of Christ (0.4 per cent)
- Lutheran Church (0.3 per cent)
Jehovah's Witness (1 per cent) did not attend but will be involved in round two of negotiations — one-on-one meetings with the minister's department.
Mr Porter was pleased the Victorian Catholic Church diocese of Ballarat was "likely" to opt in.
"The Catholic Church are very important to this," he said.
"What's in the best interests of survivors is to ensure that the Anglican Church, the Catholic Church, the Salvation Army, all opt into the scheme so that there is this consistent, maximum reach of the scheme."
Survivors have been let down for decades
Waiting to see what redress is finally delivered to them are survivors and their families, forever suspicious of being failed not only by churches but also politicians over many decades.For example, a committee of the Victorian Parliament released a report called Combating Child Sexual Assault: Inquiry into Sexual Offences Against Children and Adults in 1995.
Data reveals 7 per cent of Australian priests working between 1950 and 2009 have been accused of child sex crimes.After hearing all the evidence, committee chair Ken Smith MP stated:
"I'm certain there's been a [Catholic Church hierarchy] cover-up in these issues and it would be an ongoing thing."I believe it would be occurring right now."
Despite this finding, then-premier Jeff Kennett and Victoria Police gave the then newly-elected Archbishop of Melbourne, George Pell, permission to set up his own payment scheme, which gave pitiful sums to traumatised victims only after they signed away their legal rights to sue the church.
Incredibly, no Victorian government has dismantled the heartless and discredited Melbourne Response.
Such inaction further erodes trust.
Catholic Church gains a key seat at the table
Two weeks after the Turnbull Government made its national redress announcement (November 4, 2016), the Catholic Church belatedly raised its long-serving Melbourne Response payment cap from $75,000 to $150,000.
"The redress scheme is a profoundly welcome step to making amends," writes Michelle James.The timing made some survivors wonder whether the Catholic Church had been negotiating the price of a national redress model with Canberra.
Mr Porter rubbished those anxieties, insisting the church had no say in the cap.
But the Catholic Church was then given influence over the redress scheme through a representative on the Government's Independent Advisory Council on Redress.
The nation's richest and worst offending institution is now sitting alongside survivor groups, academics and legal experts to provide advice to the Minister on (as per terms of reference):
- The governing principles that underpin the scheme;
- Elements of the scheme's design, that may include eligibility and the principles around the process of application, assessment, psychological counselling and direct personal response;
- How to best encourage state, territory and non-government institution participation in the scheme; and,
- How the Commonwealth scheme will interact with other redress scheme.
He added: "I would personally like to thank all of the survivor and stakeholder groups for all of their forbearance and cooperation during this process. Because they've done things that they might not ordinarily want to do in the interests of trying to create the best possible system with the maximum opt in."
Such statements may or may not assuage survivors' fear of once again being unfairly treated, but scrutiny on the Government's response to this impressive royal commission will hold until justice is served.
Topics:
government-and-politics,
royal-commissions,
law-crime-and-justice,
child-abuse,
sexual-offences,
australia
***...I note again, that the FCARC did not ask the Lutherans a single question, and that this fact somehow remains unobserved by the Main Stream Media...(well the only place I've seen that reported is right here on this 'ere blog!-Ed)...exactly...also please note where it says that 'Lutheran Abuse Reports' only totaled "0.3% (of the) 6,700 private sessions"...(yeah, but it doesn't report that the FCARC refused to look at the St Martins Cover-up, rejecting several family's lengthy and document-supported submissions-Ed)..no it doesn't...(and if Social Media is anything to go by, there are many SA-based cases/issues that the FCARC also rejected/ignored-Ed)...indeed, and that aside, if the FCARC rejected/ignored a case of the severity of the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up, what else have they chosen to reject/ignore?...(it's the one question that single-handed undermines the entire 'credibility' of the FCARC-Ed)...absolutely it does mate...
Tomorrow: More Pro-Paedophile And/Or Mt Gambier City Council Corruption
(How do you tell the difference, I can't-Ed)...well indeed, where does one stop and the other start, 'cos to my experience it's a seamless cavalcade of Pro-Paedophile Corruption from the Local Government level on up through State politics to the Federal Parliament...(yay-Ed)...including the ongoing farcical discourse about how important 'Whistleblowers' are and how they must be protected, etc, as it contrasts to the continuing reality of the culture/practices of official/professional retribution against 'us'...and I say 'us' because by sheer necessity and practical definition that is what I am, a 'Whistleblower'...never sought to be such, never really considered myself as such, but the reality of what I do and/or have become, eg, this 'ere blogger bloggin' this 'ere blog, TMGI, and the resultant relentless official retribution I have been subjected to, these things fundamentally define 'Whistleblower'...(yeah, but it's not just this 'ere blog is it, I mean, years before you even started this epic tome you were gettin' threatened by the Lutherans and their lawyers Piper Alderman, and the Crown Solicitor, etc, etc-Ed)...true, very true Ed, and that further supports my position that I never sought to be a 'Whistleblower' or whatevs, I have merely reacted to the official Institutionalised Pro-Paedophile support for the St Martins Cover-up, and that has brought us all here...(fair enough-Ed)...
I am Nick Fletcher and I am a 'Whistleblower' and I take some small comfort from the fact that I ain't the only one, eg, the Australian Tax Office's rancidly corrupt attack on it's 'Whistleblower' Richard Boyle, facing 161 years in gaol for going public after the ATO rejected his official internal complaint about the rank corruption within the ATO...(wow, the ATO is main-stream corrupt, they really are-Ed)...yes they really are, and as rancidly corrupt as my whole ICAC Trial was/is, and I'm fairly sure that ICAC/SAPol/SA Parliament are still colluding/conspiring to try and gaol me re that definably corrupt 'Trial' and subsequent conviction, etc, etc, it does put my case into a quiet perspective, because this guy is getting mucho support on Social Media, etc, yet virtually all I got/get was/is complicitly corrupt mis-reportage from the ABC and The Border Watch, and abuse on Social Media...
Anyhoos, I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers and laters...
***...I note again, that the FCARC did not ask the Lutherans a single question, and that this fact somehow remains unobserved by the Main Stream Media...(well the only place I've seen that reported is right here on this 'ere blog!-Ed)...exactly...also please note where it says that 'Lutheran Abuse Reports' only totaled "0.3% (of the) 6,700 private sessions"...(yeah, but it doesn't report that the FCARC refused to look at the St Martins Cover-up, rejecting several family's lengthy and document-supported submissions-Ed)..no it doesn't...(and if Social Media is anything to go by, there are many SA-based cases/issues that the FCARC also rejected/ignored-Ed)...indeed, and that aside, if the FCARC rejected/ignored a case of the severity of the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up, what else have they chosen to reject/ignore?...(it's the one question that single-handed undermines the entire 'credibility' of the FCARC-Ed)...absolutely it does mate...
Tomorrow: More Pro-Paedophile And/Or Mt Gambier City Council Corruption
(How do you tell the difference, I can't-Ed)...well indeed, where does one stop and the other start, 'cos to my experience it's a seamless cavalcade of Pro-Paedophile Corruption from the Local Government level on up through State politics to the Federal Parliament...(yay-Ed)...including the ongoing farcical discourse about how important 'Whistleblowers' are and how they must be protected, etc, as it contrasts to the continuing reality of the culture/practices of official/professional retribution against 'us'...and I say 'us' because by sheer necessity and practical definition that is what I am, a 'Whistleblower'...never sought to be such, never really considered myself as such, but the reality of what I do and/or have become, eg, this 'ere blogger bloggin' this 'ere blog, TMGI, and the resultant relentless official retribution I have been subjected to, these things fundamentally define 'Whistleblower'...(yeah, but it's not just this 'ere blog is it, I mean, years before you even started this epic tome you were gettin' threatened by the Lutherans and their lawyers Piper Alderman, and the Crown Solicitor, etc, etc-Ed)...true, very true Ed, and that further supports my position that I never sought to be a 'Whistleblower' or whatevs, I have merely reacted to the official Institutionalised Pro-Paedophile support for the St Martins Cover-up, and that has brought us all here...(fair enough-Ed)...
I am Nick Fletcher and I am a 'Whistleblower' and I take some small comfort from the fact that I ain't the only one, eg, the Australian Tax Office's rancidly corrupt attack on it's 'Whistleblower' Richard Boyle, facing 161 years in gaol for going public after the ATO rejected his official internal complaint about the rank corruption within the ATO...(wow, the ATO is main-stream corrupt, they really are-Ed)...yes they really are, and as rancidly corrupt as my whole ICAC Trial was/is, and I'm fairly sure that ICAC/SAPol/SA Parliament are still colluding/conspiring to try and gaol me re that definably corrupt 'Trial' and subsequent conviction, etc, etc, it does put my case into a quiet perspective, because this guy is getting mucho support on Social Media, etc, yet virtually all I got/get was/is complicitly corrupt mis-reportage from the ABC and The Border Watch, and abuse on Social Media...
Anyhoos, I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers and laters...
No comments:
Post a Comment