Australians rally at Parliament to demand justice for women
CANBERRA, Australia — Australians rallied in the capital and other cities Monday demanding justice for women and calling out misogyny and dangerous workplace cultures as the government reels from two rape allegations.
Outside Parliament House in Canberra, the crowd of hundreds was mostly female and most wore black. They carried placards with slogans including “Justice for Women” and “Men, Own Your Guilt.”
Prime Minister Scott Morrison refused organizers’ demand that he address the crowd, and organizers said they wouldn’t meet him behind closed doors.
“We have already come to the front door, now it’s up to the government to cross the threshold and come to us,” organizer Janine Hendry said.
“We will not be meeting behind closed doors,” she added.
She estimated more than 100,000 women had protested at 40 rallies around the country.
Morrison later told Parliament that he shared the protesters’ frustration and concern. “This is not to suggest that good faith and genuine efforts are not being made, whether by this government or the many governments that have proceeded us. Those efforts are being made. But the outcomes still elude us,” he said.
Morrison is standing by Attorney General Christian Porter over an allegation that he raped a 16year-old girl when he was 17 in 1988. Porter denied the allegation. His accuser took her own life last year after withdrawing a complaint to police.
Separately, Defense Minister Linda Reynolds has been criticized for failing to adequately support a young staffer who alleged she was raped by a more senior colleague in the minister’s office in Parliament House in 2019.
Brittany Higgins said she felt she had to make a choice between reporting her allegations to police or continuing her career. She quit her government job in January and reported her allegation to police.
To venture onto a trail is to break away from the grind of the man-made world, to find respite in open spaces and comfort in woods. It is to peak around corners and bends, to enter vast clearings, marvel at blue skies and climb over subtle rolling hills. This world, expansive and beautiful, as striking as a field of bluebonnets in April or the burst of a startled deer at dawn, as calming as a deep breath, is all around and deep inside us.
“I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief,” Wendell Berry writes in his lyrical meditation “The Peace of Wild Things.”
“For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.”
Berry’s words capture the inspiration and refuge to be found along the Howard W. Peak Greenway Trails System, which meanders through woods and along creeks, breaking away from this sprawling city while residing deep within it. It is a magical place to witness deer and hear the hoots of owls; to count butterflies and marvel at blue jays; to cruise over limestone and past live oaks.
The greenway system is a jewel. It is one of the best investments of public funds the community has ever made — and it must be completed and expanded, circling and connecting San Antonio. This will happen because we are confident the political will exists to make it so. But it will be a relief when funding is formally identified because the 1/8-cent city sales tax that had funded the trail construction will shift to VIA Metropolitan Transit, per voter approval.
It’s possible federal funds from the American Rescue Plan may be used to help finish the trail system, or Bexar County of the city of San Antonio could issue bonds. Popular before the pandemic, these trails have become a place of refuge for thousands of San Antonians. Nearly 57,000 people hit the trails in May 2020.
What’s clear from a recent survey is visitors to the trails want more. They want lighting to safely expand hours. They want trails to be connected and expanded for commuting. And so do we. Here’s to a visionary project that connects San Antonio and takes us away from the city, revealing stunning natural beauty. It merits more attention and continued investment.