Senator Lleyonhelm drew the golden straw of life. Healthy, white and male in a contemporary western society.
He has met a human’s life imperatives. Surviving, working, pair bonding, breeding and nurturing a nuclear and extended family.
Like me he has not been born black and female in poor circumstances and he is neither invalid nor disabled.
He said last time he was sworn in as Senator, three years ago, that he felt his life had trained him for the job of an independent Senator.
We who washed out and re-used plastic bread bags for our packed lunches, re-used or re-cycled or composted everything as a matter of course and only ever replace our mobile phones when they break down or wear out, are criticized by those who have had multiple new phones just to get the latest model or “app” and yet delude themselves that they are more planet friendly.
They accuse us of destroying the planet, leaving them enormous debt and being racist, bigoted and xenophobic.
We are not women, so we cannot understand feminism, we are not black so we cannot understand racism, we are healthy and fit so we cannot understand the disabled. We are simply disbarred from understanding the problems and politics of all others.
And yet. You, our critics, are free, are educated, are able to participate to your capacity, have access to health care, can travel the world and can say what you like.
Who do you blame for that?
Angry white men?
It is we who say that you should be permitted to criticize us even if it may hurt our feelings?
Yet when we say repeal or amend and remove the “”hurt feelings” test from section 18C you do not even listen.
We are not saying you should be free to offensively slag off at people.
The objective criminal law test of offensiveness remains. The objective “recognized standards of common propriety” is the test. Not some individuals sensitivity.
The correct answer to “That hurts my feelings” in lieu of an argument comes from unashamedly gay Stephen Fry. “So f….n What?”