General Discussions

[Professer E]

I'm having trouble following the Wilkinson dramas but none of it reads well

[Lods]

You can argue that sexual assaulters and abusers should be locked up and the key thrown away.
You won't get a lot of argument.
But I've always found it just a bit disturbing that alleged offenders are often judged and convicted before it gets anywhere near a courtroom,by folks who have no first hand knowledge of the situation, and feel the offender must be guilty because they look a little creepy.

I don't know what happened in the Higgins case.
There are probably only two people who know for sure....and I'm not even certain they know.
But the number of high profile folks, including the PM of the time who were 'definite' in the guilt of the accused derailed any possibilty of a transparent, fair trial.
Morrison actually apologised to Higgins in Parliament before any trial.
She was partnered with Grace Tame as the face of abuse.
Either some of these folks had access to information that wasn't publicly available, or they acted irresponsibly in such a manner that compromised the trial, and  meant that neither Higgins or Lehrmann recieved justice.

[LP]

It's not just 3rd parties that are shooting down the cases, the accusations and arguments are becoming Trumpesque the moment something looks a tad questionable, the automatic response seems to be to become louder and more bizarre.

If the little lie suddenly looks wrong, make a bigger lie so that the little lie doesn't seem so bad.

It's a bit like a pre-schooler shouting louder and louder to get their way, PERHAPS I SHOULD BE TYPING IN ALL CAPS.

The result is I can't believe anything anymore, I'm afraid it's all bullsh1t!

PS: It reminds me of the experiences of a relative on their first day of Uni. Having moved down from the country to the city, they walked across the central square of the institute which was the obvious gathering place for protests and rallies, and in their ignorance walked the wrong line or through the wrong space only to be immediately set upon with a dusting of line marking chalk and a chant of rapist!

[DJC]

It seems that Lidia wasn't telling porkies after all.

The problem is that we still have a bloke who can't keep his hands to himself drawing a senator's salary  > 

[LP]

It seems that Lidia wasn't telling porkies after all.

The problem is that we still have a bloke who can't keep his hands to himself drawing a senator's salary  >

So you're asserting Van is the intimidating stairwell man, intimidating Thorpe who threw punches at Federal police armed with tasers and side arms, and laid on the road in front of trams, yet Van scared her into silence! I'm calling that bullsh1t!

Van might be a creep, but walking behind someone is not sexual assault!

[Macca37]

The problem with any accusation made of sexual misconduct relying purely on "he said, she said" evidence, given the current environment, will always leave the accused at a disadvantage in the court of public opinion.

[Gointocarlton]

The problem with any accusation made of sexual misconduct relying purely on "he said, she said" evidence, given the current environment, will always leave the accused at a disadvantage in the court of public opinion.

So if got this right, Thorpe comes and accuses this guy of sexual assault then asked to retract it. Then another lady comes and says "Oh yeah, I forgot, he touched me up also" followed by another that says "Yeah me too". Dutton decides you need to resign. No investigation, no referring the matter to police, nothing. As my dad used to say, "Good Country this one".

[northernblue]

So if got this right, Thorpe comes and accuses this guy of sexual assault then asked to retract it. Then another lady comes and says "Oh yeah, I forgot, he touched me up also" followed by another that says "Yeah me too". Dutton decides you need to resign. No investigation, no referring the matter to police, nothing. As my dad used to say, "Good Country this one".

It would seem on the face of it that his colleagues had their suspicions, but as you say there’s no process and no one is facing any proper scrutiny or responsibility.

[LP]

It would seem on the face of it that his colleagues had their suspicions, but as you say there’s no process and no one is facing any proper scrutiny or responsibility.

Politics is a power struggle, there are many motives for actions beyond the obvious, this might be nothing more than an opportunity to remove a threat or shuffle in some allies.

Regardless, a suspicion is not an action, no matter what other evidence exists it cannot be acceptable to make stuff up just to get an outcome. If things head down that path, we accept rumours and baseless allegations, there is no stopping the slide into anarchy.

[Gointocarlton]

this might be nothing more than an opportunity to remove a threat or shuffle in some allies.

Even if its not, it scary to think that it could easily be so. All it takes for a couple of people to collude and bingo, gonski.