The extreme Left members of the panel all seemed “divorced” from reality, particularly that nasty little hobgoblin, Mem Fox. The indigenous lady seemed to be on the verge of tears all the time; the Canadian singer, or whatever she was, mumbled away, but said nothing. The 'director' wanted everybody's money, and the bald bloke with the owl-glasses made a fool of himself saying he liked football – and also wanted everybody's money.

I watched Q&A online only because I had read that there was a kerfuffle with some clowns calling Bill Leak a racist, as usual. That also turned out to be a non-even, reaffirming my long-held view that you have to be a bit of a dill to watch the stupid programme.

The line up of creeps I will never allow to be inflicted on me again, represented all of the stupidity and and lack of awareness that haunts society today.

One of the scariest comments I hear, ( and it was there in force on your ABC) is "I'm in favour of free speech, but....". What follows the 'but' is always a rationale for destroying free speech.

We had Fox saying the attacks on 18c were all about making it possible to offend and insult. A complete misunderstanding of the argument.

The promoters and supporters of 18C use it to censor speech based on their claim to be insulted and/or offended. That's a very different kettle of fish. If someone can close down the expressed thought because they find it insulting, there can be no freedom of speech.

I used to watch Q+A religiously, now I hardly bother. between an abrasive endlessly interrupting moderator, who allows some to ramble on, cuts others short. Then fails to control those who just want to use it as a convenient political platform for a diatribe, that often fail the fact check test? Is just not my cup of tea

. Nor is the lack lustre vetting of the Audience, with some turning the joint into a complete circus that just destroys the notion of free speech, along with the flow of competing ideas!

To date there has not been an in depth discussion on that panel pertaining to our important future energy policies, when we can't use coal!?

And so amply highlighted in S.A., which seems a little short on coal assets, or "affordable" but blessed with abundant nuclear resources.

As for Bill Leakes, I thought he made an important cut through comment, with hard hitting satire, that had some jumping up and down with ( never let an opportunity go by) confected rage? Given it hammered home some (if the cap fits) unpalatable truths?

And pertinent to other cultures like that of disadvantaged African America, marked by a preponderance of single mums and absentee dads?
Alan B.

Apologies, "affordable" applying to our gas, pumped from our ground! Mr Wetherell seems to think he can use gas, but just fails to understand that's is a market we no longer control! Be it for domestic distribution or domestic pricing policy!

Confected shortages of energy products, With the most abundant, least costly, ruled out! Have not only forced up the international price, but welded us to it!

Given we have, via our (cash and carry) leaders, completely abrogated any semblance of control of this resource!?
Alan B.

You have to be a dill to watch the programme. Someone called bill leak a racist.
Is ttbn for free speech or against it. Is ttbn a dill or not.

Brilliant article.

Congratulations to the author.

I used to be such a fan of Mem Fox (Loved "Possum Magic")
But it appears that old age is catching up with her.
But that's not a "nice" thing to say is it?

Mem Fox's biggest gripe was that they were discussing her "Finances" at the airport desk lol.
What a joke, typical left winger it is all about the money with them!
I turned off the all woman panel ywo weeks ago and this one lasted less than five minutes. Sort it out, proper guests, no green laughter squad and go back to the earlier version. Not the all left bunch of needy, greedy whiners and Mr Smug in charge.

All of these programs these days are politically motivated.
They decide the questions and then they tell us how we should think about those issues.

Hegelian dialectic. Problem, Reaction, Solution.
Reinforced by a live audience.

Binoy’s article states -- Politically appropriate thinking requires certain ideas that exclude others:
I am indigenous, and therefore, untouchable in debate.

I think that one sentence, sums up the problem inherent in 18c

The government has held investigations into the reason there are so many
Aboriginal children involved in crime. Their findings included the observation,
that these children come from disfunctional aboriginal communities where
the parents don't work and drink to excess.

So Bill Leaks observation in cartoon form exposed this, in the way good artistic
work, should encourage debate.

It begs the question, when something is the truth in a situation,in this case Aboriginal
crime rates. Even documented as the truth by government reports,can the truth
be labelled racism.

Is the truth racist?
If the left wing fools stopped using 18C to shut down truths they don't want to hear
then I would have no problem with 18C.
An appropriate case for 18C, would be one I heard of recently, where a happy little
9year old Chinese girl, an adopted granddaughter of one of my friends. Became withdrawn and when her grandma, told her she was beautiful, said, very upset,
Don’t say that! Her grandma got it out of her with gentle questioning, that she was being ridiculed because of the shape of her eyes at school.

This could be well handled by a word to the school to stop the bullying.
But if you want to use 18C use it in the appropriate circumstance.
The Bill Leaks cartoon wasn't appropriate, because it was an observation
on a public problem that needs discussion.

The tuanting of the little Chinese girl was just straight out targeting with harassment
And hurt intended. The Left wing needs to understand the difference.

Cherful, I think there is a problem with using 18c in the little girls case.
To win the case would mean that offence was based on fact and that she
is not beautiful and was offended by being called not beautiful.

How much better to reply that she is a beautiful Chinese girl and
the other girls are not beautiful Chinese girls !

Bazz

This little girl actually is a very, very pretty girl. With a happy spirit.
Until saddened by these taunts, possibly by others jealous that she is so pretty

It is straight out harassment of someone for a. Facial feature. Her eyes.
There is nothing she can do to change her eyes and so it is a useless ridiculous
form of bullying. It serves no purpose but for the perpertrator to wound and hurt.
A dam good case to use 18C.

Bill Leaks cartoon however was pointing out, something the Aboriginals seem tog
not want to deal with, that the large number of indigenous children in prisons
for continuos criminal,offences, starts in the large number of layabout drunken
Dysfunctional families. You can't make someone stop drinking enough to get a job
Unless they want to. Therefore it is the Aboriginals who are responsible for the problems not the whites. Until they become good role models to these criminals the crime won't stop, no matter how much money the whites throw at the problem.

The Aboriginals can fix this problem, the little girl born with almond shaped eyes cannot.
It makes me think that the word "intent" should be the main word tested in court with
18C. What is the intent of the remarks or behaviour.

every knows that Q&A along with its sister the drum is for leftist socialist to pee in each others pockets. Occasionally a conservative or truth teller is put up for mockery. The funding of the abc is nothing short of a disgrace. Tony Abbott stopped the boats which all the lefties said was impossible including one of Abbott's greatest haters Marr. Unfortunately he was unable to defund such cretins as many of the abc/getup crowd.

Chereful, hmmm well aborigines, well I don't know but the rest of the
world has moved on, even as far as making steps into space.
Do they really want to sit there and not be a part of the world ?
They can just stay as they are now and change nothing or realise that
they can come along on the ride with the rest of us.
The rest of us do not have to pay for them to sit in a virtual museum.

Taking a different viewpoint to the one above.

The little girl's Australian grandma, said, "hold your eyes wide with your fingers
and call the tormentors, Bug eyes!"

That makes me take the view that we all have slings and arrows in life, and maybe
It helps us learn how to stand up for ourselves when we handle nasty,unthinking
People.

There again, 18C is problematic. How much cotton wool do people need to be wrapped in.

What law says I cannot comment on another persons religion? Why should any law say I cannot comment on another persons race, colour, religion or creed?

What law says I cannot say something that offends others and why should any law say I cant say something that offends others?

Why does the govt favour the use of legislation as the sole method of dealing with racism to the exclusion education?

Race laws exist for no other reason than to restrict freedom of speech to making comments that in all likleyhood are positively received.

The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion but allow a very lively debate within that spectrum. – Noam Chomsky.

STALIN WOULD BE PROUD OF THE LEFT !

The whole left array from somewhere inside the Labour party to the
ding-a-lings we have running the Victorian & Sth Australian governments
to the pseudo iridescent green opto communists we have rabbeting on
boring the rest of us stiff with their PC twaddle.

Look at the idiotacy that has come down on us in recent times;

Feminist Don't walk signs !
Shut down power stations that are the fundamental generators in our economy.
Fill the schools with analogue sex ideas, gauwd even Caligular never thought of that one !
Academics who are in their dreaming towers.

And the bloody rest of us are supposed to pay taxes to feed them !