Time for White to show leadership
REBECCA White should take responsibility on the O’Byrne fiasco and not leave it to Mr O’Byrne to do the honourable thing by resigning.
She should stand up as Labor leader and dismiss him from the Labor Party.
To renege on her responsibility and to allow this mess to continue shows a lack of care for victims of abuse, and that does not stand her or the Labor Party in a good light.
The inquiry into the allegations was always engineered to fail as the standards set in Labor’s discrimination policy favoured the perpetrator by not allowing a comprehensive investigation and always gave the victim little chance of a fair hearing.
If Labor has such a pathetic policy on discrimination, be it sexual or otherwise, how have they the temerity to call themselves the worker’s party
Scott White
Sorell
LACK OF JUSTICE
GREG Barns’ comments are fair and just (Unfair O’Byrne slur a new low, August 30). Whether a supporter or not of David O’Byrne, an independent inquiry (found) allegations made against him weren’t proven. For Kristie Johnston MP to then denigrate and deny natural justice to Mr O’Byrne (owing to the decision not being the outcome she desired), under the guise of “parliamentary privilege”, surely this could be seen as workplace bullying from Ms Johnston, if fairness and equity are alive in our so-called “democracy”? Raymond Harvey
Claremont
STUBBORN STANCE
WHAT on Earth can David O’Byrne hope to gain by his stolid, intractable stand in the political wilderness into which he has been cast (O’Byrne’s fuabuse
ture is up to him, White says (Mercury August 30). Whether one believes or disbelieves the past events and current outcomes that have befallen the hapless Mr O’Byrne, he now finds himself in a position where he is seemingly ostracised by his own party. There is only one way forward for him and that is to recover some of his lost dignity and quietly leave the political maelstrom.
Sitting quietly on the outer looking glum and disenfranchised will not help the Labor Party to regroup and form some sort of viable, much needed opposition to the current Liberal government.
Chris Needham Kingston
ANGRY FOR MIDSON
RECENT events have brought the issue of sexual harassment and consent to the forefront of public discourse. It is critical that the Band-Aid is ripped off the wound of this issue and we see it for what it is before it can heal.
We all need to learn more about what constitutes sexual harassment and its effect on women.
I would urge all workplaces, including the Mercury, to undertake training in this area, as it troubled me deeply to read the words of Simon Bevilacqua (August 28) a well-respected and longtime journalist with the paper, who turned a story of sexual harassment against a young woman into one of being merely “stolen kisses, flirty texts or offensive remarks”.
Not only that, but he turned her story into a personal and vitriolic attack on the messenger, Paul Lennon. While I was angered for Paul knowing much of what was said was not true, I was more angered for Rachel, whose issue was tossed aside and belittled in such a way. This is why women don’t complain and bad behaviour continues to occur.
I was also left puzzled by the contribution that same day by Natasha Cica (August 28). She raised concern about being imputed that has not been substantiated through due process and accused a number of us as having played “the gender card” against David O’Byrne. And yet she went on to say she herself had experienced historical behaviour in the workplace that had “been professionally substandard and legally actionable”.
But she chose not to speak out for fear of her career in Tasmania being destroyed. I say no more!
I was a minister in 2009 when the events of which Rachel Midson has complained occurred. Sexual harassment in the workplace was not accepted then as it should not be now. So, rather than shoot the messenger, we all need to learn from this and ensure that women are protected in the workplace. Lara Giddings
Howrah
EXAMPLE OF GRACE
OUR amazing Grace Tame has shown Tasmanians that sexual harassment is not and never will be accepted or be appropriate in our community and is definitely not acceptable in our parliament.
Tasmania’s parliament should be a place of high standards and values, not a place of selfish behaviour and actions.
The low regard that some people have for women in our community can lead on to child sexual abuse with the ruin and failure of so many lives!
The Tasmanian Labor Party have a lot of work and healing to do following their recent shenanigans; female voters will not accept sexual harassment on any grounds!
In our community we need to treat each other with dignity, respect and kindness; this is a right that we all should cherish, whatever our sex, race or creed.
Linda Collier
Legana