SWISS VOTERS BACK BAN ON THE BURQA
GENEVA: Swiss voters on Sunday narrowly backed a ban on full-face coverings in public places — a decision hailed by supporters as a bulwark against radical Islam but branded as discriminatory by opponents.
Official results showed that
51.2 per cent of voters, and a clear majority of federal Switzerland’s cantons, supported the proposal.
The so-called anti-burqa vote came after years of debate in Switzerland following similar bans in other European countries — and in some Muslim-majority states — despite women in Islamic full-face veils being an exceptionally rare sight in Swiss streets.
Some 1,426,992 voters were in favour of the ban, while 1,359,621 were against, on a 50.8 per cent turnout. The proposal “Yes to a ban on full facial coverings” did not explicitly mention the burqa or the niqab.
However, campaign posters reading “Stop radical Islam!” and
“Stop extremism!”, featuring a woman in a black niqab — which leaves on the eyes showing — were plastered around Swiss cities. Rival posters read: “No to an absurd, useless and Islamophobic ‘anti-burqa’ law.”
ON International Women’s Day yesterday there was a focus on women in leadership … and a great example of this is rural women.
According to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences, in 2016 women made up 32 per cent of the agricultural workforce.
And these women are increasingly breaking into traditionally male-dominated roles.
In days gone by, women were largely expected to manage the station books or cook for the stock camp – both very important tasks – but now they are running the stock camps, flying choppers, catching bulls and managing the books. Maybe even all in one day.
They are also joining the boards of important agricultural bodies such as Agforce, Cattle Council, National Farmers’ Federation and others to help shape the industry’s future.
Despite the growing number of rural women shattering the stereotypes of country life, there are still challenges needing attention.
Among them are access to a quality education, availability of specialist healthcare, including allied health services, accessibility of communication such as mobile phone reception, and functional internet speed.
Tired of the lack of progress in solving these problems, and unanswered questions by governments and organisations, rural women are starting to develop their own solutions.
These solutions are championed by volunteer-run bodies led by ordinary rural women.
Organisations such as the
Isolated Children’s Parent’s Association, Queensland Rural, Regional and Remote Women’s Network, Better Internet for Rural, Regional and Remote Australia (BIRRR), the Country Women’s Association, and the National Rural Women’s Coalition are just some of many working to achieve better outcomes.
As the state borders closed amid COVID lockdowns last year, boarding school students in
Queensland faced being unable to return home to NSW.
Parents pulled together and, along with the Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association, created an online protest. Thanks to their strong advocacy which brought the issue to light, the Queensland government eventually relented, allowing the children to return home to their families.
In 2014, BIRRR was formed after poor internet connection began to severely affect the ability of remote students to learn online.
BIRRR lobbying led to the NBN eventually creating the satellite system known as “Sky Muster.”
Sadly, BIRRR’S work is not over and it continues to advocate for
better internet access for those living in regional, rural and remote Australia.
Natural disasters are a reality of life in the Outback. Drought, floods and fires have dominated state and national news for a couple of years.
In early 2019, thousands of cattle died in and after a monsoon event that devastated the North West Queensland shires of Winton, Cloncurry, Carpentaria, Mckinlay, Richmond and Flinders.
From the floodwaters rose a charity that was co-founded by women from those areas, called Sisters of the North.
This organisation managed to raise significant funds in order to support affected families and give
mental respite to those who had suffered loss and hardship.
These women live in some of the most isolated areas of our nation, continually going above and beyond for their families, communities and rural Australia.
They are truly the unsung heroes of our country and their leadership must be acknowledged on this internationally significant day.
I am proud to be part of the Morrison government, which has a special focus on helping women in rural, regional and remote Australia.
The Women’s Leadership and Advocacy Program – via its Advocacy Grant Scheme – supports six networks to ensure that women’s voices are heard in the
policymaking process. These networks are known as National Women’s Alliances.
The program also awards grants through the National Rural Women’s Coalition to provide scholarships and business mentoring for women from marginalised or disadvantaged backgrounds.
If you need help accessing these and other federal government programs for regional women, visit www.susanmcdonald.com.au and contact my office.
SENATOR SUSAN MCDONALD Senator Susan Mcdonald was raised on a cattle station outside Cloncurry and is chairwoman of the Senate’s Regional and Rural Affairs and Transport Committee
STARTING school is a momentous occasion in a child’s life – a step into a new world of learning and development.
They are growing into independent individuals, and for Townsville’s 2021 cohort of prep students there are many exciting days ahead, full of learning, laughter and life lessons.
Don’t miss your chance to get your hands on the Townsville Bulletin’s special My First Year Prep School pictorial, appearing in the paper on Wednesday, March 24.
More than 2000 prep students in 127 classes from 47 schools will grace the pages; this special feature will be a keepsake for the whole family.
But first watch out this week for our massive online photo gallery of hilarious photos of our cute preppies pulling funny faces at the Townsville Bulletin’s photographers.
TOWNSVILLE Catholic Education’s Inclusive Education Team has been upskilling teachers across the Townsville Diocese as part of National Hearing Awareness Week to ensure they are equipped to assist students with hearing problems.
Inclusive education coordinator Kimberlee Lynch said it was vital to upskill teachers in the Townsville Diocese to ensure adjustments could be made for students with hearing loss.
“In Australia, almost four million people have some form of hearing loss, and this continues to grow as our population ages,” she said.
“Early detection can assist in children’s ability to learn and so we work with our teaching and support staff to give them a better understanding of working with students with hearing loss in their classroom and how they can adjust their teaching, environment and planning to cater for them.
“Our inclusive education team includes hearing impairment specialists and speech language pathologists, and these staff assist with hands-on strategies for teachers and classroom learning so that every student has the opportunity for learning to meet their needs.”
As part of a professional development day held last week, audiologist Jessica Keel addressed the group on hearing loss and the mechanics of hearing aids to better understand how they work.
Townsville Catholic Education speech pathologist Harriet Naylor also talked about the effects of hearing loss on speech and language development.
“Hearing loss is often described as the invisible disability and the number of Australians who are deaf or hearing impaired is increasing due to long-term exposure to excessive noise, often in the workplace, accidents, the environment and the ageing of the population,” she said.
“As an inclusive education team, we want to ensure our teaching and support staff have the best information and resources and so we will also hear from a parent of a child with hearing loss, a uni student and past pupil with hearing loss as well as one of our teachers with hearing loss so that our team can have a well-rounded view of the implications and what works in the classroom.”
Other activities throughout the day included a simulation of what it was like to have hearing loss.
Hearing loss is the second most prevalent health problem in the Australian population, so Townsville Catholic Education is constantly further developing its teachers’ skills to ensure they can best provide support for students who suffer from hearing loss.