On Friday, March 10, 2017, Australian painter, cartoonist and avant-garde freethinker Bill Leak died at 61 of a heart attack.

In 2015, Leak was threatened by jihadists for the thought crime of drawing a cartoon of Mohammed after the massacre at the Charlie Hebdo in Paris. In 2016, Leak was threatened by the PC censors’ favourite weapon, section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, for offending someone somewhere.

It was offensive to those offended by the truth that some men are alcoholics, some alcoholics neglect their children and some ­alcoholic men who neglect their children are indigenous.

It is time to change 18c to prevent extremists from all sides from attacking free speech and the innocent.

The HRC, Triggs, Malcolm Turnbull, anyone supporting Section 18c and all enemies of free speech should feel very uncomfortable about their probable role in the premature death of Bill Leak. However, turds that they are, it is unlikely that they will make any connection between their filthy attitudes and Leak's death.

R.I.P a very decent, compassionate and brave man.

s18C deters and may punish others for saying this,

"There is a new, dangerous Aboriginal culture emerging

Langton spoke of "a new version of Aboriginal culture that keeps a few elements of the older culture and adds a new set of dangerous elements", elements that expose women and children to assault yet forbid them from speaking out about it.

She believes legislators have "drunk the Kool Aid" and are too afraid to interfere with the "culture" of communities, a culture that now involves high levels of violence and abuse.

From this comes a "culture of silence" as explained by Cashman, which "allows criminals to gain power over communities and to establish unfettered access to children through fear, which perpetrates a misguided tolerance of criminal behaviour."

In situations where domestic incidents are reported, victims are called "dog and snitch" for collaborating with white authorities and those who report violence and rape often find that the police responses range from slow to non-existent, she said."

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/news-and-views/experts-urge-australians-to-forget-bill-leak-think-of-indigenous-women-instead-20161117-gsrjo0.html

Imagine a Bill Leak cartoon depicting any of that. But wait, there was one wasn't there and wasn't Leak denounced for it?

I find Marcia Langton to be a particularly sensible woman. Her often mentioned mistreatment of women and children in indigenous society is generally ignored by the up-themselves elites and politicians who are too busy squawking about 'recognition' to care about domestic violence.

Aboriginal women are 84% more likely to be victims of domestic violence than are other women in Australia.

Will Recognition change this. Of course it will not. The vast sums of money already spent on this divisive notion would have been better spent enforcing the same laws on back thugs that apply to white thugs.

Were the Q&A host and his hidden prompters, the Q&A panel members and audience, and last of all the protesters, totally ignorant of reports like this,

http://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/the-point-with-stan-grant/article/2016/03/08/josephine-cashman-im-not-hyped-and-i-dont-need-calm-down

Bill Leak put his head and the future of his own loved ones on the block to get something done. As someone who was prepared to step forward and take the hypocrites to task.

I wonder if any of the easily led cowards on the Q&A panel are feeling a mite shabby after?

I admired much of Bill Leak's work. He was a talented
artist and satirist. My condolences to his family.
We lost a great talent far too soon.
May he rest in peace.

Foxy,

Neither you nor I might be regular listeners of Michael Smith. However, in searching for some of Bill Leak's art I chanced upon Michael Smith's tribute to him. It had the portraits of Bill's sons, beautiful artwork that would bring tears to the eyes of any parent.

The link,
http://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2017/03/vale-bill-leak.html

Dear Foxy,

Bill Leak probably doesn't quite rank with the absolute greats of Australian cartoonists, he too often went for the cheap shot rather than some of the brilliant dissections our best are capable of, but he was more than just capable, was gutsy, and went at things pretty straight on.

While it is safe to say he tended to pull his punches far more with the conservative side of politics there were quite a few decent jabs aimed in their direction.

http://www.safecom.org.au/images/abbott-real-action-muslims-bill-leak.jpg

http://cdn.theconversation.com/files/28655/area14mp/9kmz88q5-1375699192.jpg

Ultimately I consider him a pretty decent bloke who found a niche with the conservative press and played to that audience to keep food on the table.

Both sides of politics repeatedly hijacked his 'truths' without addressing his message.

He will be missed.

Bill leak's cartoons were extremely well drawn, incisive, and funny. He championed free speech and lampooned hypocrisy, and was not afraid of making enemies within extremist ranks whether Islamic or PC.

He ranks well amongst the all time greats, and if there are any better cartoonists today, I certainly haven't seen them.

leoj,

Thank You for the link.

The paintings were beautiful and illustrate the man's
talent. I had not seen them before.

Dear Steele,

I admired much of Bill Leak's work.

As did Bob Hawke who commissioned Bill Leak to paint his
portrait in the 1990s.

I think Bill Leak was a talented cartoonist much more so
than Pickering. Although I also admired Pickering's
earlier work. Especially his calendars of the pollies.

Ok bill leak.had two sides his professional side and his graphity side. His gravity side was very sarcastic to make a point, but very well presented,

Dear Foxy,

Uttering Bill Leak's name in the same breath as Pickering should be criminalised.

The latter is a disgusting con artist, a philandering dole bludger and an all round nasty human being.

I have always felt cartoonists who focus on the physical features of their subjects rather than the absurdity of much of politics were going for the easy laugh, which is why I admire Tanberg so much. Simple lines distilling complex issues.

In the last decade or so Bill Leak played to his conservative audience, but there are those who do exactly the same for the left.

And don't get me wrong, when I say he isn't among our best cartoonist but when we are talking about political cartoonists he certainly deserves that accolade. At his peak his Walkley Award winning works were top shelf.
http://www.walkleys.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/walkley_magazine_cover_2.jpg

Perhaps like many of us curmudgeonation elbowed its way in as he get older and in Bill's case perhaps to a degree the rapier was later replaced by the broadsword. I can understand that perfectly.

My favourite cartoonist remains Leunig. Perhaps being a Victorian I'm slightly biased. I don't think he ever won a Walkley. The work that made me truly gasp in awe was one in which he had the conning tower of the Kursk poking through some clouds with the sun shining on the Captain's face. I may well have been cutting onions at the time.

Leunig has probably faced more censorship and condemnation than Leak ever did over his cartoons particularly this one;

http://ma.ttrubinste.in/wp-images//Leunig.jpg

The rabid rightwing in this country called for him to be sacked and he received death threats.

But he remains a national treasure.

SR,

So to be a great cartoonist, one can be artistically challenged, occasionally funny, as long as one has the correct political alignment and is racist against Jews?

Dear Steele,

I don't know much about Pickering's personal life.
I read that he has terminal cancer. I like
Ron Tandberg's cartoons very much. They're usually
spot on. Michael Leunig is a legend (likes meeting
people and doesn't own a duck). And of course there's
Fiona Katauskas (the Katauskas family is very well known
in the Lithuanian Community, especially in Canberra).

It is the violations, taking risks and reflecting on the sad and exasperating human condition that makes for good satirical cartooning in my view. Suffering and frustration and powerlessness - we only fool ourselves that we have any control over events - are part of the human experience. Most of us need those flashes of inspiration from astute and frank observers like the late Bill Leak and Pickering too, to front the day and keep on doing it.

Ron Tandberg is something else entirely, a predictable stodge who does his daily duty for his paper. Nowhere risky and disarmingly whimsical like Leunig and chalk and cheese when compared with the genius of Bill Leak.

SteeleRedux applies a political filter to everything it seems and is constantly on the lookout for confirmation of that bias. That makes everything so simple.

But for the rest of us there is life to contend with. We appreciate being unsettled, to go away with a different view even of the common and mundane. Pickering's vulgar depictions of politicians for instance pricked the balloon of politicians' egos, but they were also humbling for all of us who realise that underneath the front afforded by clothes, image and respectability we are all vulnerable, sensitive and rather flawed works in progress. We struggle with that and it is good somehow to find out that it is all part of the human experience.

I was going to add but forgot, that the astuteness and subtlety of Fiona Katauskas that was apparent in the images she drew of Malcolm Turnbull, the 'many moods of Malcolm' or something like that (will look for it later), again shows the gulf between the gifted, risky and forever frank satirist and the duty man for SMH,
Ron Tandberg.

Tandberg is never refreshing and novel, more an assembly line for not so funny, not so well illustrated, obvious biffs.

SMH should give that girl ;) Fiona a go.

Dear Foxy,

Yes Tandberg is a step above isn't he.

He has won 12 Walkleys compared to Leak's 8. But most impressively two of those were Gold which is the award for “Best Piece of Journalism, Newspaper, Television or Radio”. He really does sit at the top of the tree for political cartoonists in Australia.

And Leunig is indeed a treasure. I wonder if you have seen any of his sister's work? Pretty dark but powerful.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-27/cartoonist-mary-leunig-talks-politics-family-and-brother-michael/7880200

Both are more social commentators rather than avowedly political ones and Michael's whimsy is a delight. But still there are many of the right elite who will disparage him at every turn.

Dear Shadow Minister,

You call Leunig a racist while you would contend that Leak is not? How does that work in your mind?

(Pickering) "is a disgusting con artist, a philandering dole bludger and an all round nasty human being". They say it takes one to know one, and SR has just proved the saying. Although, I find Pickering amusing and clever, which I cannot say for Steeleredux, who is not the slightest amusing, and Left-wing dumb.

The role of a great cartoonist, surely, is go to the edge, to shock (hopefully in the right direction), and to make connections, inescapable connections, between what looks like a simple story and something much deeper and more significant - and more disturbing. The wonderful Bill Leak put his life on the line doing that and it is us who shrink back and wonder if, 'Gee, maybe, he might have gone too far this time." No, he was OUR consciences, what we might have said or done if we had his courage - what NEEDS to be said.

I had hoped to, sooner or later, when he came back to Adelaide, the centre of Australian political innovation and genuinely progressive spirit, that I would have the honour to shake his hand. But 'sooner or later' sometimes doesn't come. So, comrades, seize the time ! Find your inner courage, your inner Bill Leak, and do what you KNOW should be done !

Thank you, Bill, for showing us what a real man, a real person, can do, and what one should stand for.

Joe Lane

Yes indeed.

I read somewhere that the first step to be a good
person is to deeply feel the burden of the stones
someone else is carrying.

SR,

To try censor criticism of any minority is a blight on free speech and is racist in its own right. At the time of Leak's cartoon there was intense discussion on the problems in aboriginal communities and families in particular. That aboriginal fathers are abandoning and abusing their children in droves is creating a lost generation of damaged children far worse than the stolen generation. Leak's cartoon was not news, but cast light on Australia's dirty secret, that the PC brigade was trying to sweep under the carpet.

However, the poorly drawn and fact free implication that the Nazi death camp built to murder millions of Jews and the state of Israel are equivalent is deliberately racist and as offensive as possible. It is pure unadulterated race hate and was condemned by any person who wasn't an anti semetic racist.

I wonder why the "progressive" community while supposedly trying to protect minorities considers that anti semitism is OK?

Dear Shadow Minster,

Much as I admired Bill Leak's work I can understand
the criticism that he received from that controversial
cartoon. I felt that it was a bit simplistic to
condemn Indigenous people as a whole from a position of
affluence, privilege, and middle-class comfort. That's
what Bill Leak's cartoon did.

Many Indigenous people would have felt that everyone was
having a laugh at their expense. Cartoons should be funny
to us ALL

This was never about how good, bad or funny Bill Leak was compared with other cartoonists; it was about freedom of speech, something sadly lacking now in Australia.

Trust the Left to get off the subject to take the heat off their obvious negative attitudes to free speech.

Dear ttbn,

Does labelling people give you a sense of superiority?

Or do you only recognise just the one point of view?

'That' site that conditions the opinion of the leftist, the so-called 'Matilda' site (they have a hide to use a name that is reminiscent of an Aussie icon while they are so down on everything Australian), is trying to revise history and is dumping on the dead body of Bill Leak.

Now for the reality,

"JE SUIS BILL LEAK!
The notion that parents in indigenous communities must take more responsibility for their children is not particularly controversial – it’s a point often made by indigenous leaders such as Noel Pearson and Warren Mundine. Mundine, who is also a former national president in the Australian Labor Party, has defended Leak. ‘If the allegations are that [Leak] has incited racial hatred, I don’t support that at all’, Mundine said. ‘[The cartoon] has a black police officer and it’s opening up a debate. Cartoonists have always been in-your-face – and that’s definitely in-your-face.’

However, extraordinarily, the complaint against Leak was encouraged by the commission’s race-discrimination commissioner, Tim Soutphommasane, which will most likely prejudice the commission’s investigation. A government entity has effectively told people to be offended and will accordingly be investigating. Yes, Leak’s cartoons are often offensive.

That’s what a good cartoonist does. They highlight topics of debate through confronting, hard-hitting and pointed imagery. If you fall foul of their pen, it can be tough. Leak recently portrayed same-sex-marriage activists as the ‘WAFFEN-SSM’, made light of domestic-violence leave, and poked fun at fat, bald and transgender people to highlight the importance of freedom of speech. And that’s the key thing here: the freedom of Leak and others to draw and say anything they like."
http://www.spiked-online.com/newsite/article/je-suis-bill-leak/18882

The similarly inappropriately named 'Australian Human Rights Commission' and its truly nasty, manipulative head, Gillian Triggs, have been found out where the QUT students and Bill Leak are concerned. The far leftists are fighting a rearguard action to re-write history notwithstanding the emergence of facts concerning those cases.

How typical of the amoral Leftists, while the loved ones and friends, Australia too are still grieving.

Dearest Foxy,

I don't know anybody who would have interpreted THAT cartoon as being " ..... a bit simplistic to condemn Indigenous people as a whole from a position of affluence, privilege, and middle-class comfort."

Anybody who has worked or lived in any Aboriginal community, anywhere in Australia, would immediately recognise the butt of that cartoon, and it certainly wasn't "Indigenous people as a whole." Not women (well, not many women), but certainly (the minority of) blokes who never work and spend all their money on grog and drugs, and (again, a minority) beat the daylights out of their women.

But, given that the victims of such behaviour may actually constitute a majority of people in more remote communities, then perhaps your call to in-action works effectively " .... to condemn Indigenous people as a whole from a position of affluence, privilege, and middle-class comfort."

Think of the victims, dear Foxy, the women and kids, and to hell with the perpetrators.

Bill Leak was brave enough to do so, again and again, even putting his life on the line. A real feminist, a real anti-racist, and a real human being.

Love,

Joe

leoj,

I'm surprised at your post. And you a warrior for "Freedom of Speech,"
or is that only if it agrees with your viewpoint?

I've stated earlier that I loved Bill Leak's work.
Some of it made me laugh out loud. But then I'm not
Aboriginal and I wasn't looking at his work from
their perspective . Amy Mcquire (an Aboriginal woman)
wrote an article in New Matilda from an Aboriginal
perspective. It's worth a read.
Being Left/Right/Centrist or Green in this case should
not make one iota of difference. All you need is an
open mind and "Freedom of Speech." Right?
Or should that be Left?

http://newmatilda.com/2017/03/15/amy-mcquire-on-bill-leak-respecting-the-dead-doesnt-mean-you-have-to-ignore-their-racist-legacy/

I can't see why Leak's controversial cartoon is in any way a justification for removing 18C.

Some were offended by it and some were not, but 18C didn't stop him from publishing it and he wasn't charged as a result.

Dear Shadow Minister,

You wrote;

“However, the poorly drawn and fact free implication that the Nazi death camp built to murder millions of Jews and the state of Israel are equivalent is deliberately racist and as offensive as possible. It is pure unadulterated race hate and was condemned by any person who wasn't an anti semetic racist.”

Typical right wing elitist codswallop

An criticism of the slaughter by Israel of thousands of civilians and it is a direct dive to the 'Anti-Semetic' button for you, just like any criticism of the Chinese free trade agreement drove you to label people racists.

It is a form of uber-PC that drives at the very heart of free speech – the ability to speak against tyrannical behaviour.

Leunig's very valid point was about the lies used to slaughter people. “War is Peace” is from Orwell's 1984. “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.”

Leunig is a courageous cartoonist who should be celebrated. You sir are a base ideologue.

Leak's cartoon of the drunken aboriginal father not recognising his son highlighted a common problem which puts the onus on self reflection instead of blaming others for all their woes. Offensive? Yes. True? Yes.

SR,

Criticism is fair, but the cartoon of Leunig's to which you linked is an obscenity which violates any standards of decency. Any point Leunig is trying to make is overpowered by crass racism. There are thousands of powerful ways of making the point you suggest without being vile, and this is not one of them.

Amongst the left whingers especially in the greens there are a cohort who absorbed the old eastern bloc anti semitic leanings and no sense of decency, and small scratch below the surface exposes the deep racism which thinks that this cartoon is appropriate.

That you opposed Chafta primarily because is was with the chinese (the USA FTA had less restrictions) shows that the racism on the left is not limited purely to Jews. The proof is in the pudding, the Chinese are investing $bns in Aus, and Aus businesses and farmers are getting more access to Chinese markets, and there is as yet no sign of the yellow peril invasion that the left feared.

Leunig is a treasure to those of the left that hate Jews and vaccinations, but not to the rest of us.

Dear Shadow Minister,

This is political correctness gone mad from a right wing elite who considers any criticism of the actions of the Israeli government to warrant the immediate slanderous accusation of anti-Semitism.

For instance in your mind the CORRECT POLITICAL line to take is to agree with everything the odious Likud party does even when they commit identifiable war crimes such as stealing land from an occupied people. Why? I think it is in part a measure of the Australian right-wings obsession with all things American, particularly their uber-capitalism. Whatever US supports we must get behind 110%. Another is a racist view of Middle Easteners. But mainly it is to disguise the deep seated racism that those from the right keep in their saddlebags. Just look at the comments about Soros that always seem to peak out of discussions on American Politics, even here.

So perhaps it is time for you to park the toxic political correctness, to ditch the sickening sycophantic attitude toward the US, to acknowledge your stereotyping of Middle Easterners and to address your 'just below the surface' anti-Semitism.

I loves me-self a bit o’ feigned outrage.

That’s the second time I’ve seen a righty get all anti-racist on a lefty in the last couple of weeks (the first was in a very onthebeach-esque criticism from leoj about a silly Chinese restaurant joke). Why don’t you guys ever chastise racists when they're fellow righties? Heck, two of them on OLO even wear the label, ‘Racist’, as a badge of pride, and yet not a peep from any of you!

It looks very insincere.

‘Anti-Semite’ is a charge designed to stop people in their tracks when criticism directed towards the actions of Israel’s government becomes uncomfortable for the accuser. It’s a form of censorship, and a rather ironic one given that it is mostly used by those who think they hold the mantle of ‘Free Speech Defenders’ simply because they place an unreasonable level of importance on the ability to slag off at racial minorities.

Hard racism is fairly and squarely the domain of the right. But that shouldn’t worry anyone on the right, because it says absolutely nothing about anyone on the right as individuals. And to make the mistake of thinking otherwise is to commit the Association fallacy - and against oneself, for that matter!

Outrage and offense are in the eye of the beholder.

Remember when those cartoons portraying Mohammed as a mad bomber and other things were published in Denmark and caused extreme protests by Muslims?

Despite pleas from diplomats not to proceed with their pre-announced and deliberately provocative publication, the newspaper continued under the guise of "free speech".

However when a cartoon showing the Pope sexually assaulting a child that was being held down by Jesus was submitted just afterward, they refused to publish it, arguing that they "did not want to cause offence".

Double standard or selective outrage?

Sadly, Bill Leak will probably be best remembered for that one cartoon - which wasn't funny , made a point but really achieved nothing as a result.

SR,AJ, and Rache,

Considering that the left whingers are the masters of shutting down down debate or criticism of any kind by playing racism card, your confected outrage is laughable.

While I have no doubt that the charge of anti semitism can be used to shut off debate, I also have no doubt that more often than not it is justified.

Sometimes the racism is undisguised, as in one poster declaring that the Jews had no claim whatsoever over Israel, and that an invasion that wiped them out or subjugated them under an islamic regime would be great.

Some are less directly racist in that they simply apply vastly different standards to Israel than to any of their adversaries.

ie.
1. because Israel is militarily far stronger, it is duty bound not to retaliate.
2. If Hamas attacks Israel from populated areas, Israel is committing war crimes by retaliating (not according to the Geneva convention.)
ETC etc.

Any one claiming that Israel is entirely innocent would be lying, however, many of the claims I have seen on OLO against Israel are blatant lies.

I'm not entirely sure we can blame any part of the continued machinations associated with amending or repealing, S.18c, on any particular event. Least of all, the unfortunate demise of the popular cartoonist, Mr William (Bill) LEAK. Whether or not the continued controversy surrounding this Section, has had even a miniscule impact upon the general health of MR LEAK, is again arguable.

I for one don't see any need to remove or amend any part of the legislation. After all most of us go about our business without feeling the need to abuse, insult or threaten anybody, especially minorities. That's not to say, those who adjudicate on complaints should adopt a much more pragmatic and level headed approach, on matters that are proven, in terms of penalties, and other punitive measures available to them.

It's just another cowardly way of bullying people, and I've seen plenty of that over time. And it can result in infusing a real sense of fear in some people - a spineless act for sure! Therefore the section should remain untouched, and without amendment. In order to seize some of these repugnant bully boys who like to act tough when supported by gangs. Besides, I have this real aversion to bullies!

Foxy,

I don't label people – they do that for themselves through what they say and what they think. When people consistently take a view, they automatically fall to the Left of centre or the Right of centre. The centre does not really matter because there lies the wishy-washyness of indecision and unwillingness to make commitments. Anyone not committed one way or the other is unworthy of any consideration in my book. They are useless. Irrelevant. I prefer people with convictions , even when they don't align with my own, to hollow people who go with the flow.

I simply do not get your reference to my supposed 'superiority'. Do I make you feel inferior? If I do, it is entirely your concern, because I have never considered myself superior to anyone. And, I really cannot understand your horror of 'labels'. I'm quite happy with my label. If you are not happy with yours, then you have some hard thinking to do about just what it is you stand for.

O sung wu,

Whether or not any of us actively wants to 'insult and offend' people is beside the point, I think. The very fact that Section 18C exists at all in a country like Australia is in itself insulting and offensive to a people who have accepted millions of people from all over the world into their midst. There is simply no evidence that such hideous, draconian legislation is any more necessary in Australia than it is in countries without such undemocratic laws. Long before this insidious muck was made law, Australia had adequate legislation in common and statute law to deal with racial vilification.

But, the Left of the political spectrum, and now the dwindling Right, have demonstrated – via the recent indecisive cop out by the panel charged with looking into 18C – that they do not give a damn about freedom of speech in one of the oldest continuing democracies in the world.

If that is not insulting and offensive to Australians, I do not know what is.

You say that you have a “real aversion to bullies”. I think you really mean that; but it certainly does not fit in with your opinion that “the section should remain untouched, and without amendment.”. Section 18C is the epitome of legalised bullying.

Dear ttbn,

Go back and re-read some of your posts.

Then tell us again that you don't label people.

I was merely trying to understand why you do this.
Thus my reference to the fact that perhaps this
makes you somehow feel superior.

Still the choice is yours as to how you behave.
Just don't be surprised at how others may see you.

Memorial Service for Bill Leak

Foxtel Bill Leak: 1956 - 2017
LIVE
A-PAC
648 A-PAC
On Today 2:30pm - 4:30pm More Times

A public memorial service is held for cartoonist Bill Leak at Sydney Town Hall.

I suppose that the taxpayer-funded national broadcaster will briefly mention and bucket Leak on the news as 'controversial' or similar. Best forgotten as far as the ABC is concerned.

However, Leak's preeminence as an icon of political and social cartooning should warrant a life story soon by the ABC. Don't hang by the fingernails waiting though, it is 'their' ABC.

A very sad day, raw, for family, friends and colleagues.

Shadow Minister,
"Racism card..Confected outrage"?

My comments were about the response to that famous Bill Leak cartoon and the selective outrage of others.

If it wasn't for that one particular cartoon, what sort of adulation would we have been witnessing?

You're the typical thin-skinned Reich-Wing apologist that sees imaginary sinister (and sometimes anti-Semitic) motives behind everything and chooses to divide everything into back and white with no room for shades of grey.

Here's a link from the ABC that asks:

"Let there be no talk today of left and right, of
conservative or progressive... Bill was one of those
rare artists who gives meaning to that ridiculously
over-used word "larrikin"... And boy could he draw.
He took the most robust view of freedom of expression
and was prepared to live with the consequences."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-10/bill-leak-a-satirist-who-played-hard-and-took-no-prisoners/8344732

For anyone interested - Bill Leak released a book 36 hours
prior to his death of a heart attack.

"Trigger Warring - Deplorable Cartoons by Bill Leak".
It should be available from all major book shops (and
libraries). $25.49.

It would be great to own a copy or as a gift.

G'day there TTBN...

In normal circumstances I'd agree with you unreservedly; regrettably we have a certain demographic, that without the constraints of S.18C, would take the opportunity to abuse or vilify anybody they didn't like their appearance. I also agree with you, the very need for a law of a kind similar to that of 18C, is a real anathema in a country like Australia. Regrettably without it, there'd be no practical resolution in law available, in which to remedy or 'set to rights' those who're inclined to behave in such a fashion - it's essentially a Tort - a civil 'righting of wrong(s)'.

Similar to any law or prohibition - The fact laws are on our Statute Books at all, is because they're necessary, even though most of the population would never think of transgressing any of the Criminal Law. And for the record, I'm averse to political correctness in all it's forms, as are most ordinary people, I think?

Where to order Bill Leak's book, 'Trigger Warning',

http://www.wilkinsonpublishing.com.au/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=527

I'm getting a few copies for gifts. It will be small thanks and recognition for his surviving loved ones.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-17/bill-leak-united-australians-says-malcolm-turnbull/8364210

Eternal rest grant to him O Lord
And let perpetual light shine on him
May he rest in peace.
Amen.

Bill leake will be remembered not only as a artist and writer, but as a top tier cartoonist that was prepared to say what had to be said in spite of the consequences from the Islamist extremists or the PC extremists.

There are few people prepared to put their money where their mouth is, and they need to be remembered.

Dear Shadow Minister,

Put your money where your mouth is - buy Bill Leak's
book!

Already have,

Waiting for its arrival.

Me too!

I have no doubt Bill LEAK was an exceptionally gifted cartoonist, both in the way he rendered his drawings, together with the clever captions that complimented those drawings.

There were many other cartoonist I found quite humorous, among them was a fellow called 'KNIGHT' and several others, who's names I can't recall. All of whom were equally as clever and quick witted as each other. But there's something about the entire genre of cartoonists, (especially; political satirists) that I find somewhat unsettling. Though probably they're all decent people without a mean bone in their body, but sometimes the illustration and/or caption attendant to those illustration, might just have too sharper barb to it, to a point it causes real hurt, real emotional hurt?

Some years ago I was given supernumerary duties on a close protection detail, of a well known (female) public figure who had her threat assessment appreciably increased. One night quite late I found the subject outside her Hotel room weeping quite dramatically. Apparently she'd received some unwanted attention from a few of the cartoonists, where she was sketched as being inordinately fat, grotesquely so, and generally appeared utterly repellent, as only a well drawn cartoon can depict, she had been thoroughly embarrassed by it all.

After we spoke briefly, I could understand that not everyone appreciated the funny side and absurdity generated by these cartoonists, that's despite the fact they probably meant no harm, and they were just doing their job. Moreover they'd probably be mortified if they thought they'd really offended or upset someone quite unintentionally. It can a does happen, without any doubt whatsoever.

Myself, I do enjoy reading the cartoons, providing they're in good taste, and not calculated to hurt the subject contained therein. Nothing like a good laugh to drive away a bad mood in the morning?