NOT THE TIME FOR IDENTITY POLITICS

THE Greens’ reaction to Andrew Forrest’s video of children being bashed shows how deadly stupid we’ve been made by identity politics.

No wonder Forrest, the mining magnate, is so infuriated that he calls the Greens the “party of paedophiles”.

His foundation has compiled CCTV footage of children in West Australian towns suffering depraved violence.

One child, body limp, is lifted by the hair by a clearly drunk adult and dropped into a shopping trolley. Another, seemingly unconscious, is bashed and stomped on by a man. Children run wild in the streets at night and attack each other.

And the video gives statistics of true horror. Outgoing Police Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan tells of one WA town where a third of the 500 children have been raped.

The mayor of Port Hedland begs for help: “Drugs and alcohol are killing our town, turning adults into child rapists.”

A mum urges: “We have to help to save the next generation.”

There’s more such stuff, but check how the Greens respond.

“The use of the term ‘war zones’ sounds like propaganda,” sniffed Greens Senator Rachel Siewert, who opposes Forrest’s plan for a cashless welfare card to stop welfare money going on booze and drugs.

“I … have deep concerns for the Aboriginal people who are collectively painted in this light.”

Oh, yes. These were Aboriginal children being raped, bashed and neglected, so the Greens’ concern switches from protecting children to protecting the image of a “race”.

Consider how the Greens would react if these were children raped by Catholic priests. Would Siewert babble of her concern for the image of the church?

Worse is the reaction of Curtin University’s Indigenous Research Fellow, Dr Hannah McGlade, demanding more “respect of Aboriginal leadership”.

“In the video, we see three powerful, white men tell us what needs to be done, and this is how we’re going to look after our children,” she said.

McGlade studied Forrest’s video so lazily she failed to see that of the three people shown, only two are white men. The third is an Aboriginal woman.

But note the deadly identity politics. What does it matter if it is a white man or a black woman who warns you children are being raped?

How could the Greens and academics be more concerned with the colour of the experts than the wounds of the children?