Week beginning 24th March 2021

Book Reviews: Catherine McCormack, Women In the Picture Women, Art and the Power of Looking, Icon Books Ltd, London, 2021. McCormack provides a well researched and powerful analysis of revered paintings and sculptures that highlights the anti- woman approach of so much art in galleries around the world. Her feminist approach is a valuable contribution to our understanding of the art that we eagerly, or not so eagerly, devour in visits to world wide galleries and exhibitions. This is another particularly relevant book to review in Women’s History Month.

Women’s History Month

Last week the huge Canberra Women’s March 4 Justice and rally outside Parliament House , Canberra highlighted women’s approach to the continuing denigration of women in the workplace and elsewhere. The following articles and notes provide some of the follow up to the rallies held around Australia.

Katherine Murphy says: ‘A reported rape of a staffer was not enough for Morrison to ‘get it’ – now women are tired of waiting’ (The Guardian, Opinions, 23 March 2021).

‘How is it that the prime minister knew about an alleged incident in a media organisation, but was unaware that a government worker had been allegedly raped just a hop, skip and a jump from his office?’ (The Guardian, Opinion, 23 March, 2021. THEGUARDIAN.COM.

See story below:

Prime Minister Scott Morrison accused News Corp of ‘need[ing] to clean up its own house before lecturing others on workplace behaviour. His apology claimed that he had been “insensitive” and acknowledged that his information was wrong.

In a late night post on his Facebook page, Mr Morrison said he deeply regretted his comments.

The Prime Minister had been widely accused of trying to weaponise claims of harassment (ABC News, 24 March, 7.33 am).

The New Daily reports, 22 March, 6.00 am, that there is a ‘staffers’ “strike” inside [Parliament House , Canberra]. Further, some Greens and Labor women have ‘staged a symbolic sit-in protest’ against sex reportedly taking place in the Parliament House Prayer Room.

See also, Morrison denies misleading Parliament over Brittany Higgins Report, Josh Butler Political Editor, The New Daily, 22 March, 2021.

One Coalition female Member expressed concern and support for women who have been sexually harassed; another was sorry for a staffer sacked over known complaints about the staffer.

https//thenewdaily.com.au/news/2021/03/22/scott-morrison-brittany-higgins-report/

The ABC is being taken to court by Christian Porter for its reporting of his alleged rape of a young woman while they were students, Paul Karp, The Guardian, 16 march, 2021, https//www.the guardian.com/australia-news/2021/mar/16/christian-porter-v-abc-can-the-minister-sue-for-defamation-over-article-that-didn’t-name-him.

Carol Johnson, Inside Story, suggests that Scott Morrison has a masculinity problem as as well as a “woman problem”, 24 March, 10.56 am, newsletter. subscriptions@insidestory.org.au.

Karen Andrews, Cabinet Minister, criticises Scott Morrison, Sydney Morning Herald, Latika Bourke, March 23, 2021, 9.11 pm. https//www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/cabinet-minister-criticises-morrison-s-handling-of-treatment-of-women-in-politics-20210323-p57dfj.html.

Brittany Higgins has tweeted her gratitude for the women and men who ‘took time out from their busy lives to advocate for a safer, more equitable Australia’.

Thank you, Brittany Higgins, journalists who are treating sexual assault seriously and sensitively, Anthony Albanese, Leader of the Australian Labor Party, Labor women, members of the Greens and Liberal women for their efforts to challenge and change the culture that has resulted in sexual assault and rape.

Dangerous Cladding : Grenfell Tower and Canberra contrasting experiences

A site in Canberra. Here apartments are privately owned by people who have been able to pay around $30,000 per apartment to remove the dangerous cladding and replace it.

The Danger sign is evidence that work is taking place. This work has been undertaken promptly and in consultation with the owners. Unlike the Grenfell Tower experience no one is in danger from dangerous cladding that has been ignored, despite reports over several years that it should be removed. No-one has died because it was not removed.

The ease with which owners who can afford to pay compares grimly with the conditions at Grenfell Tower, which housed Council tenants, in London. Here, it appears that unsafe cladding was used and warnings were ignored over several years. The tower erupted in flames, and 72 people died.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-40301289

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-56350123

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/grenfell-tower-fire

Bob McMullan, A Carbon Tax is Coming, first published in The Canberra Times, March 21, 2021.

Australian exporters are about to face a carbon tax. The problem is it will be one from which Australia will get no revenue and over which the Australian Parliament will have no say.

The European Parliament has just voted to endorse the principle of a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. Legislation from the European Commission is expected in June.

This should come as no surprise. Firstly, such a proposition has been discussed for a long time. Second, the EU has never seen a protectionist measure it didn’t like.

The most useless meetings I ever had as trade minister were those with the EU. I would put our objections to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The EU commissioner would either defend the CAP or indicate that his (they were all men) hands were tied. Sometimes they did both.

This dialogue of the deaf continued until Kevin Rudd put the issue in perspective in 2007. He recognised that while Australia could not and should not abandon its arguments about the shocking market distortions contained within the CAP it should not be allowed to define our whole relationship with the EU.

We now have a much more nuanced and positive relationship with the EU. However, many of the countries of the EU retain their affection for protectionist measures to this day.

The Australian government must have known for years that a failure to take domestic action on the reduction of carbon emissions would run the grave risk of Australian exporters to Europe, and possibly also the United States, would face a quasi-tariff wall as a consequence.

Yet it has remained tied in internal knots that have rendered it unable, or unwilling, to act. It appears that those chickens are about to come home to roost.

In February, Cristina Talacko, a Director of the Export Council of Australia (ECA), made it clear in a paper published on the ECA website that problems with our climate change response, if not corrected, could result in “…limiting our scope to do deals and in the worst-case scenario, exposing us to sanctions or tariffs.”

She went on to point to some worrying signs that we should not ignore: “Europe is likely to impose a carbon border, putting a carbon price on imported goods as an extension of the EU’s carbon price policy as a necessary step to ensure a level playing field between EU industries and foreign competitors” and “President Biden also supports carbon adjustment fees against countries that are failing to meet their climate and environmental obligations …”

This potential problem for our exporters has been obvious for years. I can see no sign that the Australian government has taken this into account in its efforts to reconcile internal conflicts about climate change policy responses.

Should there be a continuing failure to respond our exporters will pay a high price.