ALTRAV wisdom; although an orangutan would make more sense.

"otherwise he is a NORMAL male." HARRIS and PELL

"It has ALWAYS been the males prerogative and birthright, to be the predator." HARRIS and PELL

"They can be ANY age, tart themselves up" Nine year old girl home in her bed.

"why I defend the men who have been found guilty of some wrong doing towards a female." HARRIS and PELL.

BTW ATLRAV, do you believe HARRIS and PELL should also be given Order of Australia awards, I'm sure you do, after all they're your kinda guys!

Josephus, nothing to link Batty to Hennassy? Of course like many in the community Rosie Batty is outraged that an Order of Australia was awarded to Bettina Arndt. I have no problem with Arndt defending men in family break ups, they need defending. As I said earlier, many males get a very bad deal in these matters, particularly when it comes to access to the children. Not withstanding Arndt misrepresenting her qualifications, or her defence of a convicted paedophile in Pell, although I agree with much of what she says, I simply don't believe she has done enough to warrant her receiving a prestigious Order of Australia award

Paul you are pedantic. The TV showed Ms Batty and others had approached Ms Hennessey and requested she approach the Governor General. End of story.
Your constant claim of her lack of qualifications is spurious. I have see persons with degrees put to shame by self taught real skilled persons. Bettina did the degree but never registered.

That's fine Josephus, if Batty approached Hennassy about Arndt, well she has a right to do so. That in no way should influence the decision of the GG through the committee.

Can you provide us with what are specifically Arndt's greatest contributions to Australia. Did she do anything that changed Australia, other than a book, and her years of social commentary.

I think that it is largely understood Paul that this is not a courtroom. However, reasoned debate also has its requirements.

You have made numerous comments about alleged inappropriate statements by Ms Arndt.

But you haven't at any point written what she was supposed to have said. Thus, it detracts from the impact of what you are trying to impart, and relegates your view to that of the opinion of one disgruntled individual alone.

Conversely, if you injected some fact into your tirade, undoubtedly that would give it a measure of credibility.

May there always be a place for the "Devil's Advocate."

Now, I know virtually nothing about this person Ms Arndt. But even so, the area of "Family Law" being considered, along with its peripheral and associated matters, is clearly one of the utmost significance, for reasons from both sides of the spectrum.

And as I have already tried to demonstrate, it is recognised by those who are well informed that there has been some terrible injustice involved and the lives of more than a few good people have been significantly damaged by it.

Thus, any person who has devoted a not-insignificant portion of their lives to giving voice to the aggrieved and attempting to educate the population about the issues at play is going to be up for consideration for an accolade.

To what extent that may or may not apply to Ms Arndt I don't know as as of yet I have no basis for consideration, other than recognising she is apparently a controversial and polarising figure.

I did have a look at the links visa vi the question of her qualifications. And whilst I accept that it is a matter of conventional wisdom that public figures need to be both forthright and honest visa vi same, it is not always as "black & white" as it may initially appear.

To try and illustrate what I mean by that let me offer an example regarding myself.

I hold an unrestricted private pilots license. And unlike a car license, pilots licenses exist in perpetuity. However, in order to exercise the rights attached to the license one must also be medically current and maintain that on an annual basis.

So, whilst I flew a lot at one point it has been many years that I have done so. You could say, oh well, he did his pilot training but he hasn't flown for many years and he is not currently eligible to fly, or, he is not currently a pilot. And I accept there would be some truth to that statement.

But if we were all up in a little plane, and the pilot collapsed, and assuming no one else had any skills in the area, it is not unreasonable to think that I would quite comfortably be able to bring you all back to ground safely.

So, I trust you understand the point that I am trying to make. Sometimes an individuals skills or lack thereof are not necessarily accurately reflected by some tin pot australian educational facility.

Relevant worldly experience can get you credit at educational facilities. Thus, if Ms Arndt took up study in an associated field perhaps she would receive an amount of credit such that it obviated the need for studying certain units.

And of course, sometimes the universities will award "honorary degrees" for those who have considerable worldly experience and or have made an impact in their chosen area.

To what extent that may be relevant to Ms Arndt I don't know as I don't know the facts. What I do know is that she has alleged to have said things which to some people like yourself are quite appalling.

I myself have a passionate hatred of "rock spiders" and may well have a similar position to you visa vi Ms Arndt, but as of yet I do not, and the reason for that is I do not know what it is that she has said, because you have not supported your position by telling us

rEPRUSu, Ms Arndt made it clear that paedophiles must be imprisoned from the community. However in some cases it is a one of event, [in the case in point she was a 15 year old student in his class], and the convicted person after they have done their time Bettina felt he should be allowed to return to a normal life.