The English Touring Opera has virtually sacked 14 white musicians to increase "diversity" in accordance with Arts Council guidelines. Wrong colour, no renewal of contract. Some of the artists dumped have been with the company 20 years.

The ETO is taxpayer funded.

ttbn,

It would be nice if you provided a readable link for these little obscure tid-bits you put up. This sort of story is not general news in Australia so the source of your startling revelations is not known to us. Is it real, is it a beat up, or is it simply a figment of the ttbn imagination.

Paul,

Why do you need a 'link'? Don't you believe me?. You are great one for declaring these 'links', that you seem to think are compulsory, as right wing or Nazi, which, to you negates any information they provide. That's on top of throwing in Cory Bernardy at anything I post. Why would I bother providing you with references! Google it if you are genuinely interested.

ttbn,

Not interested.

Paul,
How could you demand a link?
The links that you have ducked giving would make an anchor chain.

Paul,

I think we all know you are "not interested", and that you are only here to to slag off anyone who is not an extreme Leftist like yourself. Only an idiot asks for links to something they say they not interested in, and you certainly fit that description.

Issy,

The other day you asked for a "reference", did I not give you a reference. Did you not get the job? Assistant shoveler at the sewerage works.

BTW, are you ttbn's office assistant?
BBTW, I always provide "links" where appropriate.

This story as presented is rather inconsequential in an Australian context, lacking substance, just a vague outline about something in Pommy land.

Others might like to comment on what's presented, but for most they would be ignorant of the subject matter.

Paul,

You are determined to "remain ignorant of the subject". That's fine. You are ignorant of most subjects. The puzzle is, WTF are you spending so much time on it.

Paul 1405,

<<It would be nice if you provided a readable link for these little obscure tid-bits you put up. This sort of story is not general news in Australia so the source of your startling revelations is not known to us. Is it real, is it a beat up, or is it simply a figment of the ttbn imagination.>>

I usually, don't agree with ttbn on these types of matters (like the one here), as the topics are often over exaggerated, but in this case based on detail put out by the musicians union, his case has merit, they simply don't refer to any woke movement.

http://musiciansunion.org.uk/news/mu-appalled-to-hear-about-english-touring-opera-s-recent-action

As the media and most television programs are terrible in terms of content, just because it is not covered in mainstream media, does not mean it is not out there.

I'd suggest you watch SBS World News or other forms of media, like Social Media for example or engage more with The Conversation website online.

Paul...who has told us before that he never explains his claims, demands an explanation. How very typical.

"The ETO is taxpayer funded."

Of course its publicly funded. If it was private and needed to get paid by being good, it would be hiring people based on their expertise. Only those who live on the public teat have the luxury of hiring based on diversity and prejudice.

In the same vein...."Tony nominee Chad Kimball: I was fired from Broadway for being Christian".

The English Touring Opera company's director
James Conway in trying to diversify its company
has shot itself and 14 freelance white musicians
in the foot.

In trying to align itself with what it thought the
Arts Council of England wanted the ETO dropped 14
white musicians (including many who have played with
the company for 20 years) to "increase diversity."

But the ACE have said they did not advise the ETO to
fire musicians. And although the ACE gives funding of
$1.78 million a year to the ETO - it claims it never
encouraged the company to sack musicians.

An investigation is now under way whether "funding
criteria has been breached."

It appears that the Arts Council of England sensing a
scandal has distanced itself from the Opera's actions
whilst still continuing to advocate for a transformation in
the sector workforce. There are currently no musicians of
a non-white background in the orchestra which is said to
resume shows.

The Musician's Union put it best:

"This clearly works against creating an incluisve environment
for more diverse musicians."

and it won’t be long before it happens here, once the loony left get to hear about it.

Hi Foxy and Nathan,

Thanks for much more detailed information on this obscure bit of OS news. No one was "sacked" as all musicians worked on a freelance contractual capacity on a seasonal basis. The fact those not reengaged for the 2022 season were all white, is not surprising as the 2019 (last performing season of ETO) orchestra members were all white, all 50 members. According to ETO they will engage 50 musicians based on talent rather than years of performing with the orchestra. For this purpose auditions were held over the summer months. Those who have performed in the past season and are no longer required have been sent thankyou letters, they were all aged between 40 and 66. At no time was there an obligation for the musician to be retained by the company for future seasons. This new arraignment puts the orchestra members on the same merit footing as singers and technical staff who are engaged on a seasonal bases.

The ETO is partly funded through The Arts Council of England, other funds are privately donated.

Looks like that old fart whose been beating his drum for all those years, on a good earner, has been left out in the cold.

Is Mise,

Yes it could very well spread here, which is why I called it a "warning". It is not an 'obscure' piece of news as some unenlightened people think. What happens in the rest of the West usually gets to us eventually. The unenlightened are the sort of people who think not having your contact renewed isn't the same as getting the sack.

Yes it could very well spread here,
ttbn,
Could spread here ? Here is where this started, that Opera outfit most likely got the idea from Australia's antics !

Paul 1405,

You are going against the rational argument put by the union on this issue. Regardless of the exact employment arrangements involving the employees, this doesn't justify the activity.

I take the position you are splitting hairs re employment obligations also. As the union put it:

"If ETO are really serious about recruiting a more diverse workforce, then their focus should be on creating an orchestra where musicians are valued, respected and encouraged to fully participate. Sacking half the workforce under the guise of ‘improving diversity’ is insincere and bad practice."

I agree and there is no real case for such practices. What the ETO has done shows no respect to those who have put in a lot of time, work and effort over many years and will do nothing more but create divsion, which is a huge problem worldwide.

Hi Nathan,

A couple of points, from what I have read the ETO handled the whole matter rather badly. I suspect having a new musical director joining there may have been some desire to cull some of the dead wood from the orchestra, which appeared to be an old white boys club, with some white women included. In fact it seems about 3/4 of the existing players were retained, they being all white. The orchestra had a pool of 50, not sure how the playing operated, but I assume not all were engaged at each performance. To use the pretext of "diversity" as a guise to remove those no longer wanted was not the right way to go about it, if that's what they done, trying to kill two birds with the one stone. I assume the 14 no longer required were give the opportunity to audition over the summer along with lots of others. In this way the selection was done on musical talent rather than some quota system based on diversity. As for the union I would expect them to advocate for their members employment.

This is typical of the woke garbage infesting much of the arts.

If they want to be fair all auditions should be blind, with the selection panel in another room with no vision of those playing. With such a system they can chose the best musicians, with out any racist complaints being possible.

This of course would not suit the woke who want to make everything racist against white races.

That's racism towards white people.
Firing them BECAUSE THEY'RE WHITE.

- BUT ITS OK TO BE RACIST TOWARDS WHITE PEOPLE, APPARENTLY
- If you're doing it in the claimed interests of diversity

It's not the same as telling a black person they can't have the job because they're black;

ITS WORSE.

It's like saying you've been loyal to us for 20 years, but your fired
- Because you're NOT black or some other ethnicity, instead of white.

That's pretty much the ULTIMATE kick up the rear.
We're not going to thank you for your service.
We'll give you the ultimate insult instead.
Don't bother coming back.

Not hiring someone because you're racist is one thing.
Firing someone because you become woke and become openly racist against white people
- With an end justifies the means attitude
- Doesn't make you a better person.
- It makes you total scum.

- Like the scum on the back of the toilet that you just can't clean, scum.

IT MAKES THEM THEMSELVES
EVERYTHING THEY COMPLAIN ABOUT IN OTHERS

But you expect this crap from people that originate in universities
- Let them screw their own over for wokeness sake
- Might as well start screwing each other
- Tired of them directing their crap at everyone else

Hey Hasbeen,
"This is typical of the woke garbage infesting much of the arts."

Most of the politicians running this country have arts degrees.
What a bunch of losers, no wonder they all come across as weirdos.

This should not get too many hackles up.

"History will be made at Carnegie Hall next year, as an all-Black classical symphony orchestra is slated to make its debut."

"In 2022, an all-Black classical symphony orchestra will perform at New York’s Carnegie Hall for the first time in the concert venue’s 130-year history."

"The finale of the concert, taking place on 24 April 2022, is an orchestral rendering of James V. Cockerham’s Fantasia on ‘Life Every Voice...’, a song with a deep history of Black pride."

Lee Koonce, president and artistic director of Gateways orchestra, said; “To be the first all-Black classical symphony orchestra to headline a performance there (Carnegie Hall) is momentous, especially at this time of racial reckoning in our country’s history".

“Hearing and seeing the Gateways orchestra on Carnegie’s revered main stage will show Black children that they can perform classical music at the highest level."

I find it disturbing reading the venom that's coming
from some of the posts here. Is it really a black
versus white thing? Or was the entire matter simply
handled badly by a director who wanted to please the
Arts Council and not lose his funding. That he misjudged
what he thought was being asked - and now the Arts Council
is distancing itself from the scandal.

We don't live in that country and we're not that familiar
with the real circumstances there. Particularly when it comes
to colour. I would have thought that by now (in this day and
age) a person's colour, especially in the wide mix that makes
modern England today - the country would have moved way past
this issue and set an example for the rest of the world.

Obviously in this country judging from the posts here - white
versus black is still very much an issue.

I can't help wondering - how diverse is
Opera Australia?

Are we doing everything we can to address the
issues in this country?

The following link is an interesting read:

http://australiacouncil.gov.au/investment-and-development/protocols-and-resources/gender-equality-and-diversity-in-opera-summit/

cont'd ...

My apologies. Sorry for the typo.

Here's the link again:

http://australiacouncil.gov.au/investment-and-development/protocols-and-resources/gender-equity-and-diversity-in-opera-summit/

Foxy,
I’m in contact with a number of people in the UK and colour is very much an issue as is ethnic origins, far more so than in Australia.

Can there be anything more racist than an all-Black classical symphony orchestra.

Dear Hasbeen,

There's probably little chance of that happening in
any world that we know. In all major American
orchestras only 1.8% of the musicians are black.
A statistic that does not touch the field of talent
that's available.

I read the story of the principal harpist of the
Boston Symphony Orchestra - when starting the harp
at age 14, was taunted by schoolmates with -

"You can't do that - only angels play the harp, and who ever
heard of a black angel?"

It may also be of interest to learn that some of the most
beautiful singing operatic voices belong to black people
and they are initially only offered the roles of -
Porgy in Gershwin's opera, or Otello in Verdi's.

We're told that classical music had a race problem -
20 years ago. And it still does.

There's more at the following link:

http://wbur.org/cognoscenti/2020/07/22/classical-music-racism-linda-katherine-cutting

Foxy,

All anyone should ask is that people are chosen based on merit. Apparently, that is a racist concept.

shadow minister,

I totally agree - it should be based on merit.
However, the sad reality is that it's not for some.
I know this may be difficult for some of us to
understand never having experienced this kind of
prejudice ourselves.

Hi Foxy,

Some very good posts from you as usual, thanks for your much valued input on this topic. Yes, the rabid right does become unhinged whenever they think their position of white privilege is under threat from the undeserving lower classes, and black people.

Playing in this particular orchestra, or one similar, would be a prestigious engagement for any classical musician. The proposition that entry be based on "merit", and in an ideal world that would be the goal, is a noble ambition. Unfortunately its not a level playing field for all aspiring classical musicians, and for those who never got out of the starting blocks. Obviously if one comes from a position of privilege, where one has gone to the best of schools, with a fine music department, and with supportive parents providing private lessons and financial support etc, and having the right connections, one being a very accomplished musician at the end of all that, one could find oneself playing in this prestigious orchestra for life, or even longer.

Dear Paul,

The last link that I gave was an interesting read.
It spoke of a cellist in the Boston Symphony
Orchestra who was asked by the three white musicians
in his string quartet while a student at Yale whether
he knew how to read music.

Then there's the story of an accomplished flutist, when
entering a predominantly white high school as a teenager,
she was told not to even try out for the symphonic band.
She tried out anyway, unseated the principal flutist, then
was cornered by the flutist's father with the
n-word.

I'd like top think that things are changing in the world.
Albeit - slowly. But change has to happen. Our future
depends on it. The link reminds us that -
author and activist James Baldwin wrote:

"Nothing can be changed until it's faced."

"We need to look at how entrenched white supremacy is in
all our institutions and demand change. And change might begin
with asking hard questions, then paying attention to the
answers."

Hi Foxy,

Once pre existing prejudices are overcome, and that is very difficult in itself to achieve, then only through equality of opportunity that true diversity can be achieved. Some well meaning folk confuse tokenism with diversity. I sometimes shutter at the idea of forced quota systems being imposed, but some will say it is the only effective way to bring about desirable change in a reasonable period of time. In Australian politics the Labor party has opted for a forced quota system as far as female representation within parliament goes, and after many frustrating years female representation is almost at parity. The Liberal party has taken a merit based approach without forced quotes, and after many years women are still woefully under represented in the party. The disadvantage of the forced quote system is that in the early stages at least, the representatives chosen from the diverse group are often lacking in desirable merit, they are simply making up the numbers. However over time, and with careful control the quality of the diverse group improves. Labor can rightly claim that women now are almost at parity with men in the party, and are of equal ability with men. The Liberal party has capable women, but there number is still far below what could reasonably be expected in this day and age.

What are your thoughts on this.

ABC/SBS have been doing that for a number of years now.

ABC/SBS had no choice when one looks at what the Caucasian Australian gene pool has to offer !

Dear Paul,

I have mixed feelings about the "quota system."
Of course we would all prefer in an ideal world for
it to be based on merit. However, it's not based on
merit as we can see from some of the people that do
get in. So the "quota system" is all we've got at
present to at least touch the field of talent that's
available. And as you said - hopefully this will
improve with time.

I can't help wondering how really diverse are our institutions
and organisations in this country? Not only in our
political parties. Are the audiences for
example who make up the bulk of theatre goers made up of
the "elite" of our society? Do people from the Western suburbs
in Sydney have access to opera and theatre tickets? Who gets
the scholarships available?

There's so many questions that need to be asked and so many
issues that need challenging. Are our big city suburbs
divided into those who lets say - live on the "North Shore"
in Sydney and those who live in the Western suburbs - and their
accompanying advantages? How do we level the playing fields
for the talent available?

Foxy,
Of course Opera, Ballet and a lot of Theatre is elite as it couldn’t exist without Government funding.
In Sydney the average Westie isn’t interested; football rules.

Is Mise,

I grew up in the Western suburbs of Sydney.
I was a Westie. And I still remember the time
that our Music teacher took our class to a
Saturday matinee in the city of the ballet
"Les Sylphides." We all gasped when the curtain
went up. There was a blue smoke-filled haze that
filled the stage. And slowly the dancers began to
move. The females wearing the long classical white
tutus. It was stunning. We had never seen anything
like it.

Exposing young people to something as beautiful as
that is indeed an experience that should not just be
kept for the select few. It opens up one's eyes.
And broadens one's outlook. And being taxpayer
funded it should be something available to all.

Equity demands that user pays be applied to all "the Arts" & the hangers on.

Taking city kids out for a days work on a small crops farm, or a dairy would make a much more useful contribution. Some of them might actually learn that milk is not produced in a factory somewhere, & vegetables do not come frozen straight from another factory in china.

Foxy,
Did the teacher tell you of the damage done to young girls feet, particularly the toes by ballet?
She should have told you so that you’d realise that the graceful dancing came at a price.
Note that male ballet dancers are not so stupid and don’t dance in a way that nature never intended.
Parents who send their daughters to ballet practice should be charged with child cruelty.

But then what would one expect from people who wear high heeled shoes?

Hi Foxy,

Thanks for the reply, the question; "I can't help wondering how really diverse are our institutions and organisations in this country?" If you look at the CEO's of Australia's largest 100 businesses, the vast majority are male Anglo-Saxons. That is no accident, it begins a long time before their appointment, its privilege from the outset that leads to such positions of authority. If you look at the diverse institutions around the place, they tend to be those that wheel little power and have little authority in decision making.

Even though I believe in egalitarianism there is a case for the support of what is elitism in such areas as the arts, encouragement through schooling, and providing access to children to the arts, children who otherwise would not have such access is desirable.

Hi Issy

Are you going to include 'Clay Pigeon Shooting' as elite, with $5.5 million of public money given to the Wagga mob for that purpose, was that elitism? Daryl and Gladys didn't think so. BTW when you mentioned football you left out that fine cultural pursuit of jelly wrestling down at the local on a Friday night.

Hi Hassy,

"Taking city kids out for a days work on a small crops farm...", Mussolini liked to do that. El Duce can be seen in many a film, shirt off, manly chest in all its glory, El Duce bring in the harvest. Hitler had similar ideas for children with his 'Hitler Youth'. Its not such a silly idea, in NZ Maori kids from Auckland are bussed up north for an outing, and they are introduced to those sorts of things, along with culture, something they enjoy, and are not normally exposed to in the city.

Dear Paul,

Thanks for your comments. There's so many issues involved
here and of course challenging things does take time. We need
the leadership to be able to achieve change - and thus far it's
been slow in happening. I believe that education at all levels
is the answer - followed by action. More words (blah, blah, blah)
we don't need. Look at what's happening at the climate conference.
And where Australia stands. Have you seen the program -
"Incarceration Nation?" I couldn't watch it to the end. It left me
numb. I could not believe this was happening in Australia.

Anyway, I really have nothing further to add.

I think I'll go and spend some time with my grand-kids. They always
give me hope.

Paul,
No, I wouldn’t include clay shooting as elite going on the performance of a couple of failed politicians.

Foxy,
Always good to spend time with the grandkids; hope none of them are deforming their feet with ballet lessons.

Is Mise,

Thank You for your concerns.

Tap dancing, martial arts, and football,
are their interests at the moment. And of course
mountain bikes, and computer games.

Issy, looks like flood warnings out you way, take care.

It shouldn't be just Maori kids Paul, it should be the whole damn lot. Not much use educating Maori kids in which way is up, if the majority have no idea.

Hassy,

You'll be pleased to know what I speak of is not a taxpayer funded exercise, rather totally funded by community. These are disadvantaged kids who never have a holiday, are never exposed to culture as such. Its disparaging to say "Not much use educating Maori kids in which way is up, if the majority have no idea." They have no idea if they are never given an idea.

Hey shadowminister

"All anyone should ask is that people are chosen based on merit. Apparently, that is a racist concept."

That reminds me of a video of watched yesterday
http://youtu.be/sdp9PQyrV2A

Paul,
Thanks, but luckily we’re well above flood level though I had to drive through a bit of water last night at the height of the storm

Foxy,
Your bleating 'diversity' crap is making me want to throw up.

14 people got fired for no other reason than their colour, and all you can do play the violin about 'other' races being discriminated against.

... And then you complain about what others think.

I'm starting to get sick and tired of all this greater good bs, honestly.

"14 people got fired for no other reason than their colour" AC that is not an established fact, they were not "fired" as they had been employed on a contractual basis. Also, the whole orchestra was white, so anyone who were "terminated" would be white. The orchestra consisted of 50 individuals, all white, stands to reason that any non renewed contracts would be of white people. ETO had employed a new music director Gerry Cornelius, Mr Cornelius may have under the guise of "diversity" taken the opportunity to clear some old dead wood from the orchestra, people whose best playing days were behind them. Over the summer auditions were held for all, seems 3/4 of the all white orchestra retained their positions. I said in an earlier post this was handled badly by ETO, and if they had wanted to "cull the crap", then they should have simply done so, and been honest about it.

It is time for all of us to come together to fight
discrimination like that carried out by the English
Touring Opera company and to demand that individual
merit, not group membership should be the determinant
of success.

Anything less is merely the continuation of division and
destruction and perpetuation of the group-based
discrimination we should all be fighting.

By all means we can laud efforts to increase diversity
in a workplace but this should be achieved fairly and
legitimately, not by "sacking " half an orchestra.

If the ETO was serious about recruiting a more diverse
workforce then its focus should be on creating an
orchestra where musicians are valued, respected, and
encouraged to fully participate. Sacking half of the players
works against creating an inclusive environment for
more diverse musicians.

Sacking half the workforce under the guise of "improving
diversity" is insincere and bad practice.

Foxy,
Half of 50 is 25 not 14.

Hi Issy,

From what I can work out the ETO has a pool of 50 contracted musicians, how they are paid I don't know, a flat fee or by performance. Being a touring company would some tour at times according to what is going to be performed.

I suspect with a new musical director Mr Cornelius on board he may have wanted to update the talent in the orchestra pit. With the Arts Council on their back about "diversity" the ETO might have seen this as an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. Cornelius runs his auditions, get rid of the dead wood, and the ETO hierarchy can claim they are adhering to Arts Council policy of "diversity". I suspect someone whose getting on in years might not be the musician he was 20 years ago, how do you tell him.

Glad you didn't get flooded, a bit hairy driving at night with flood waters about, bad enough in daylight. The relo's copped it at Orange. Cuz told me it rained, I think Wednesday none stop, heavy rail all night. The Wellington mob also copped a drenching, Cuz told me, with both the Bell and Macquarie Rivers bursting their banks in places. First time I've heard of flooding around Stewart Town and Euchreena

Paul,

That the ETO has essentially owned up to ditching these 14 musicians due to the colour of their skin makes your post bollocks.

Martin Luther King's dream was to see people judged on their merit and not on their skin colour seems to have eluded these half wits.

SM,

Can you provide evidence of the "essentially", and when the orchestra was 50 white fellas, was that race based, merit based or simply diversity.

Is Mise,

All media reports have stated that - "half of the
orchestra have lost their roles." If you have
evidence to the contrary kindly provide it for
us.

Foxy,
Then you should read the articles not just go on the headlines.
They got it wrong and so did you.
Your mate, Paul, got it right, 14 is 28% of 50 and that’s a long way from half.

Is Mise,

Where do you get the number 50 from?

How do you know how many musicians make up the ETO orchestra
at any given time?

The numbers vary in composition, depending on the
repertoire and project.

As far as the numbers go - I am merely
quoting what's been reported in the media. If you any evidence
to dispute the reports - supply it. In the meantime I have
no reason to dispute the reports.

Your saying that the reports are wrong without any evidence
can't be taken seriously.

Foxy,
Paul backs me up, isn’t he good enough for you?

On racism and.musicians, the great JamesGalway when he performed for PopeJohn XXIII was threatened with death by the Protestant terrorists in Northern Ireland; now that’s going to extremes and everybody was white.

I was shocked to read that the ETO musical director Mr Cornelius has sacked Horace Dogwhistle, Horace has been playing with the ETO Philharmonic Orchestra since 1927, and is considered in some quarters to be the worlds leading armless accordion player. Horace lost both arms in an unfortunate sausage machine accident in 1963. Despite his disability Horace has been a regular at orchestral performances sitting in silence in the back row with his trusty accordion at his side, gleefully anticipating that regular pay cheque. The evil Mr Cornelius has been reported as saying with 50 armless accordion players he thought the orchestra needed to diversify, and with much regret has had to let poor Horace go in favour of Ms Chesty Brown, a headless black lesbian flugelhorn player from Jamaica. Cornelius protested; "The bloody orchestra can't make an f'n sound, but its bloody DIVERSIFIED!"...."I quit, its back to my pizza delivery job tomorrow!"

Paul,

All the information you need is in the links that have been provided by others. If you are too lazy to read them you are beyond help.

You are the proof that the greens think that enough Bullsh1t baffles brains.

Is Mise,

Paul backs you up?

WHOAAA, I knew you have fantasies but keep them
to yourself.

Foxy,
Paul said that the orchestra consisted of 50 individuals and that all were white.
If you don’t read his posts we all understand.

Is Mise,

Paul said much more than that on page 9. You need to
read his further statements - dealing with "contracted
musicians." The facts as Paul stressed are that the
ETO orchestra is made up of the leading freelance
musicians in the country - varying in numbers, depending
on the repertoire and projects.

For the majority of their performances, the orchestra
performs in the theatre pits, sometimes in front of or
underneath the stages in their touring venues.

No venue is the same, so they have to be flexible and
adapt their layout.

In any case as Paul pointed out - the ETO had its reasons
for doing what it did - and they underestimated the
scandal that followed.

Foxy,
Paul said 14 were sacked out of a total of 50.
Do you dispute his statement?

Just as a point of interest and seeking diversity, should not the Aboriginal dance company admit white dancers?

The whole race thing in the UK is rotten.

The daughter of a pommy mate of mine went to the UK to meet the relatives & look at where dad came from. She met a bloke, got married & stayed, silly girl.

She had been in a specialist position with the local county council for some years, when her husband got a better job in another county, & they moved. She went to see the new council with great references, looking for a job. She was told that although they needed people in her area, she would not be considered as they were far too much in excess of their quota of white English staff.

When she told them she was Australian it changed everything. As an immigrant she was in a different category, which was below quota, & she got the job. Her father telling me this said it made him even more thankful he had got out.

Foxy,

Your comment "the ETO had its reasons for doing what it did - and they underestimated the scandal that followed."

That the ETO cancelled 14 people with 20 years of regular employment with the ETO purely based on their race caused a scandal should not be a surprise to anyone.

FYI to you and Paul, seasonal contracts that are renewed frequently (in Aus for more than 4 years) are generally considered equivalent to permanent employment and termination needs reasonable justification.

If the musician could no longer play, termination could be reasonable. But summary dismissal based on race does not cut it. Imagine if the all-black orchestra fired 14 musicians to hire white musicians. Under the law they are identical.

SM,

Not all 14 had been part of the orchestra for 20 years, that is an exaggeration on your part. "Musicians are hired by the ETO as freelancers, so can be dropped from the opera season-on-season" This case was in England, no relevance to Australia. The ETO offered contracts for the 2022 season to 12 musicians who had not been part of the 2018/19 orchestra. If as I surmised the ETO used a "diversity" directive from the Arts Council as a cover to remove some of the substandard players, and replaced them with musicians based on merit, a poor way to operate, but it was in their authority to do so. Remember 14 went only 12 came in, all aged between 44 and 65, surprising.

SM, remember this is the English Touring Opera, and not the Liberal Party of Australia where old useless fossils and f/w like Kevin Andrews and 'Cry Baby' Porter want to find a taxpayer funded home for life.

Paul,

Some were employed 20yrs others for shorter but still long periods.

As for all the alternate realities you are trying to create, the ETO made it clear that the reason the 14 musicians' contracts were not renewed was that they were white. This was racist and illegal and the ETO members who did this should face the music.

Paul,

You couldn't find a more useless collection of airheads than the greens. Their entire agenda is to stop everything and at the fringe of politics, they have achieved virtually bugger all except get any coalition partners of theirs voted out of office.

What a bunch of retards and criminals.

Sm,

How can you say that about 'Terrific' Adam and 'Fabulous' Sarah just to name but two.

BTW, I see the Coalition practices "diversity", not only do they have a stack of white Old Farts, and a couple of token women in the party, they also have a beetroot coloured person in the ranks. What tribe does Bonking Barney belong to? The Purple People Eaters.

Ah! The divine Sarah, aka ‘Sarah Sea Patrol’.

Paul,

So Tedious Adam and Fatuous Sarah are your heroes? Sarah who rips off taxpayers and Adam who is so boring that the only thing keeping people awake is the whine in his voice.

That is not counting the paedophiles, thieves and homophobes that represent the Greens.

SM,

I see another CORRUPT LIBERAL has been uncovered in South Australia, this time its the Deputy Primer 'Light Fingers' Chapman. Even other Liberals think she is CORRUPT and voted for a no confidence motion against her. Caught out making ministerial decisions to benefit herself, we should check to see if she has a Daryl Darling under the covers like Big Nose in NSW. Pathetic, Marshmallow Marshall should sack her.

Paul,

You mean that Sarah "light fingers" Hansen Young is as CORRUPT as anyone else.

The violent and homophobic thieving GREENS senator is due before court shortly.

Yet another GREENS CRIMINAL.

Yet not as Bad as the two GREEN CONVICTED PAEDOPHILES.

SM,

What about 'Cry Baby' Porter, hit with another $500,000 legal bill, will he expect the taxpayer to foot that bill, or will he set up yet another anonymous slush fund to cover expenses? The women in SA made a ministerial decision to benefit herself.

P,

All of this is small potatoes compared to the GREENS that rape children.

No Liberals voted against Vicki Chapman. One disgraced ex-Liberal abstained; those against her were Labor and crossbenchers.

Whatever Ms. Chapman did or didn’t do, it was of no interest to us South Australians. It didn't affect us. It was a political move by a very active opposition keen to ensure that the government is a one-term wonder, which it might very well be given its woeful performance. It might have fared better if Chapman (a very capable AG) had been the Premier instead of the dimwitted Marshall, who has at least enough sense not to get rid of her.

As for Porter, he hasn't had any taxpayer support to pay his last legal bill, and there is nothing to support claims that he will do so in the future.

On the other hand, taxpayers did pay the legal bills of the ABC's lying Milligan, Porter's chief antagonist.

It's hard to feel sorry for Mr Porter.
He was the one who sued the ABC for defamation in a
"purely personal capacity." He dropped the case in
May 2021. The case was finalised at the end of August.
Anonymous donors have covered some of his legal fees.
These were paid for by a blind trust with funds from
unknown sources.

There's so many questions that still need answers

SM,

Can you name one Greens elected politician accused of raping a child, you're making it up, trying to defend the grub Porter. Your lover boy Christian Porter stands accused of raping a 16 year old girl, at 16 a child.

Paul,

Once again you lie through your teeth. Porter doesn't stand accused of rape any more than does crybaby Adam Bandt.

The greens have two officials that stood for election for the greens convicted of paedophilia.