Domestic violence deserves the attention

The self-satisfied tone of the editorial on Bill Leak did nothing to address the issues of domestic violence in First Australian communities. Rosie Batty went to the remote north of Western Australia this week, stating on ABC TV that, as she is “white, privileged, living in a fancy house in a big city”, her presence could assist Aboriginal women feel they are not alone with their problem. Leak bitingly, even angrily, pointed out in his cartoons that drunken Aboriginal men are a problem for Aboriginal women – they brutally beat them. Leak’s cartoons certainly were a gift to racists but he wasn’t illustrating fiction. Notably, his cartooning always expressed concern for Aboriginal women and children – the victims of domestic violence. A focus on Leak as “a racist” sidesteps the issue of drunken Aboriginal men and their conduct.

– Des Files, Brunswick, Vic