Before a decision has even been made on the lawsuit which Larissa Behrendt is participating in against News Limited columnist Andrew Bolt, she has managed to undo herself with a single tweet, likening the comments of Aboriginal activist Bess Price, to the offence created by watching a man having sex with a horse!
And now, ironically, her own appointment as Chair of the Gillard Government's review on closing the gap between indigenous and other Australians when it comes to higher education, is in jeopardy.
What Behrendt and the Labor government claim was an apology emailed to Price, could hardly be described as one - it was not an apology for the substance of her comments per se, but to any "offence" they may have caused, as though offence lies solely within the reader/hearer, and not in her slur in and of itself! And besides, Price has stated she will not accept the apology until it is made publicly.
And yet, the Gillard government continues to prop up Behrendt and her appointment, which was made on the very day the revelations of the tweet were reported on by the Australian. For a government that can't seem to get anything right, this appointment would have seemed to be an easy decision to reverse - given that it eventually will have to. It could have saved the egg on its face, but for some reason has decided not to. The longer this destructive government stays in power, the harder it will be for Australia to claw back from the destruction.
UPDATE: Alan Jones (of 2GB Radio in Sydney) vindicates YAF's view above on Behrendt's tweet & so-called "apology." YAF maintains that the Federal Government MUST dump Prof. Behrendt now!
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