Leigh Swift says please let me keep Mikala

Tennant Creek is a small, isolated, mainly Aboriginal town in a remote part of the Northern Territory, 1000 kilometres south of Darwin.  It's surrounded in the east by the Barkly Tablelands - a vast expense of lands that supports some of Australia's most successful outback cattle stations.  The properties are huge, generally company-owned, and very productive.

Tennant Creek front street

Leigh Swift 56, is the local fire chief at Tennant Creek.  He and his partner, who works for the Health Department, want to adopt a 4 year old Aboriginal girl called Mikala, but authorities say he is too old and the wrong colour.

When Mikala was six months old, her parents who lived over the road, asked the white couple to babysit their daughter while they went out on drinking sessions.  The baby had scabies and ringworm.

The mother had already lost two children to relatives and the baby's father was sent to Alice Springs Correctional Centre on domestic abuse charges.   FACS intervened and she was removed and placed in the care of her aunt who lives in Alice Springs, 500 kilometres south of Tennant Creek.

When the aunt asked the couple to come and see her, they agreed, but when they arrived at the house in Alice Springs, it was a crime scene - there had been a homicide in the house the night before.

When FACS ruled that Mikala must return to her aunt, the couple went to the mother and asked if she could stay with them and she agreed and said they could "grow her up."  Authorities know about the informal arrangement with the fire chief and his wife, and they also know there are many other informal arrangements in Tennant Creek.

Last year, the birth mother wanted Mikala back.  Mr Swift's new posting will be either to Alice Springs or Darwin and she told the couple they could keep her if they moved to Alice Springs, only 500 kilometres away, but she wouldn't allow them to take her to Darwin, as it was too far away to visit.  However, FACS have told her many times that she has no hope of getting any of her children back until she completes an alcohol rehabilitation course and so far, she has refused to take part.

There is an important reason why authorities are reluctant to place Aboriginal children with white guardians.  After the 'stolen generation' debacle, a decision was made that all Aboriginal children must be placed with their own people, no matter what, they must stay within the environment of their culture.  This rule virtually eliminates whites from fostering or adopting neglected children.

On Christmas Day, Mikala's mother was allowed custody of her two older children and she turned up at the Swift household for a visit.  Her older girl, aged 7, arrived with a shaved head, the result of lice treatment her relatives gave her, and was wearing clothes much too big for her.  She also smelled of urine.  She started crying when she saw her little sister had been given Christmas presents.

Even though Mr Swift and his wife know that it's unlikely they will get custody of the little girl they have come to love, he's extended his posting in Tennant Creek, hoping for a miracle.  

"I want her to grow up in society where she won't have the outcomes of her family which is alcoholism - abuse - jail.  "It's the grog" he said.  "We'll go away broken hearted and she'll grow up like a sister, handed around the family."

Eddie McGuire's racist slur

Eddie McGuire appeared on Channel 9's Today show this morning, desperately trying to justify what he said on radio - that Adam Goodes should be used to promote the stage show King Kong.  

Carl Stefanovic tried to help by saying he'd known Eddie a long time and knew he wasn't a racist, but it was a lame attempt, it is what it is - a racist slur that came from the mouth of the President of the Collingwood Football Club.

But the most embarrassing thing about this affair is that Eddie made such a big show of being outraged when the 13 year old girl called Goodes an "ape" at the game last Friday night.  He fell over himself apologising to Goodes on radio and television and now we discover that he and the young girl share the same mindset about Aboriginals.

Goodes coach John Longmire said Goodes was "staggered" by McGuire's remark and said "He saw first hand how upset Adam was, I just can't believe that he said it."

Collingwood Football Club released a statement on Monday 27 May 2012

The Collingwood Football Club met today with a member who used offensive and racially loaded language during last Friday's match against the Sydney Swans at the MCG.
As a result of a meeting, a confidential understanding was reached which will see the man participate in education and counselling related to racial vilification.  An apology to Sydney players Adam Goodes and Lewis Jetta has also been written.  For reasons of privacy, Collingwood will be making no further comment on the matter.

Collingwood can have counselling for racial vilification sessions until the cows come home, but until embarrassing penalties are put in place, nothing will change.  Fans have to be educated not to shout out racial slurs and if they do, the player concerned should do what Goodes did on Friday, stop the game, point them out and kick them out.  The young girl was booed when she was escorted out by security, so it's clear the fans don't like it either.

Eddie McGuire is from the "old school", too old to change.  Move over Eddie, with more brilliant black players on the field than ever before, the ape jokes just aren't funny any more.

Edit:  As expected, today Collingwood's board offered its "full support" to Eddie McGuire for his racist comments so he won't be standing down as President.  

Maajid Nawaz's book about Islamic terrorism in UK

Maajid Nawaz has written a book called My Journey From Islamist Extremism to Democratic Awakening.  He must be either crazy or very brave because he's told us what goes on inside Islamic terror cells that are tearing Britain apart.  He spent 13 years inside Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT), the Islamist organization that spawned the banned group founded by Omar Bakri Muhammud and Anjem Choudary.

Maajid Nawaz

He says that not all young British Muslims join terror groups because they can't get a job or are socially awkward loners - he had plenty of friends and great career opportunities.  In 1995 he was president of the Student Union at Newham College in East Ham which is a front for HT, and was able to siphon off money for their cause.  

They were encouraged by Omar Bakri to form street gangs and prowl around London streets which they did, fighting Indian Sikhs in the west, African Christians in the east and intimidating Muslim women until they wore the hijab. And when a member of his gang stabbed Nigerian student, Ayotunde Obanubi, shouting Allahu Akbar (God is great), he watched him die and felt nothing.

Sydney protest 2012

He was confused and didn't know if he was British, Pakistani or Muslim and at age 16, he was recruited by a member of HT who sold him the idiology of Islamism which is totally different from Islam.  Islamism, he says, is the desire to impose a version of this ancient faith over society and to achieve this aim, they use political grievances to alienate vulnerable young Muslims.  He sums it up nicely by saying "Preying on grievances of the disaffected young men is the bedrock of Islamism."

Injured Sydney police in 2012

Mr Nawaz's group kept the hate alive by preaching in the streets of Britain.  He told the British people they were responsible for occupying their lands and that Muslims are the victims of this terrible crime, something that's hard to deny.

Harold Wilson

When President Bush over-reacted to 9/11 and charged into Iraq, Tony Blair was quick to join him and so were we.  But Labor PM Harold Wilson didn't succumb to pressure from America to send troops to Vietnam in the 60's, he wouldn't have a bar of it and proved that you can still remain friends with the US and stay out of trouble.

Maajid Nawaz admits to setting up terror cells in Denmark and Pakistan where they targeted army officers to incite military coupes.  He tried to do the same thing in Egypt in 2001 but was arrested and sentenced to five years in Mazra Tora prison.

And that's when he had an epiphany.  In prison, he came in contact with kind strangers, especially Amnesty International, whose campaign to get him out was led by an 80 year old in England - someone he didn't know, and never met.

If you can believe the rumours, Muslim inmates are at the top of the pecking order in British jails and not only intimidate other prisoners, but prison guards as well.

Full Sutton is a maximum security prison in Yorkshire and houses some of the most dangerous category A and B inmates in the UK, including dozens of terrorists.  Last Sunday, three Muslim inmates assaulted two prison guards, a man and a woman.  The female guard was slashed as she tried to stop them dragging her colleague away but they took him to a cleaning room and beat him severely, breaking his cheekbone.  After four hours, he was rescued by prison guards in full riot gear when they stormed the room.

Milad bin Ahmad Shah al-Ahmadzai

Two days ago, 23 year old Sydney man Milad bin Ahmad Shah al-Ahmadzai  was arrested at his apartment in Auburn.  He's charged with making a threatening phone call to a Commonwealth official on May 2. The court heard that he threatened to "crack your neck" and "slit your throat."  He is also due to be sentenced on Friday in an unrelated matter involving the ram-raid of an ATM on Sydney's north shore.

Australia's Defence Chief General David Hurley warned all military personnel to be aware of possible copy-cat attacks and not to reveal too much about themselves on social media.

Our politicians from both sides keep telling us not to worry, Muslims are a minority, give them a fair go, they are good people, but when we see the news, we know that someone is telling porkies.

Aboriginal footballer called an "ape"

Adam Goodes is a brilliant footballer at the top of his game.  He knows all about racism because he grew up in Australia with black skin.  The old saying 'sticks and stones can break your bones but names can never hurt me' is a lie.  Cruel words cut deep, and in some cases, with fatal results.

Goodes said he never stood up to the kids at school when they called him a monkey and an ape, but knows that he should have.  And when a 13 year old Collingwood supporter sitting in the front row at the MCG on Friday night called him an "ape", he heard it loud and clear and this time, he wasn't going to let it go.  He stopped the game and pointed her out to security who led her away to the sounds of boos from the audience.  She spent two hours with police and security.

Goodes works with troubled indigenous youth in detention centres.  He and Michael O'Loughlin have started an indigenous football academy and in 2009 launched the Goodes O'Loughlin Foundation (www.go-foundation.org) aimed at empowering the next generation of indigenous role models in all walks of life.

Michael O'Loughlin

Goodes was so upset by the insult, he left the field straight after the game and went to the dressing rooms instead of joining his team on the field to celebrate their win.  "That's what hurt me so bad....when I turned around, I just saw this young face.....and it was just sad......that's why I had to leave the arena, it just broke my heart" he said.

"It's not a witch hunt" he said "I don't want people to go after this young girl, we've just got to help educate society better so it doesn't happen again."

It's been twenty years since Nicky Winmar reacted to a foul torrent of verbal abuse on the field.  He lifted his jumper and pointed to his black skin and yelled "I'm black and I'm proud to be black."

Nicky Winmar

So what's changed?  Not much.

Edit May 5, 2013:  After Collingwood president Eddie McGuire made a public show of being outraged by the young girl who called Adam Goodes an “ape” at the game on Friday night, he suggested on radio that Goodes should be used to promote the musical King Kong.

Hate preachers banned from British television

Home Secretary, Teresa May

The British people are crying out to Prime Minister Cameron for justice after the brutal murder of soldier Lee Rigby.  But instead of doing what they want him to do - change the laws and deport Muslim extremists and their families back to the home country of their ancestors, whether born in the UK or not - the PM is going to set up a task force on extremism.

Home Secretary Teresa May said she was disgusted with the BBC and other networks for airing an interview with hate preacher Anjem Choudary soon after the murder of Lee Rigby.  What were the television executives thinking when they set it up, surely they knew it would enrage everyone who saw it.

As expected, Choudary seemed pleased with himself and blamed the British people for the soldier's death.  He described Adebolajo as a man of  "impeccable character" and boasted that he had attended some of his lectures.

Ms May said the new task force is expected to stop hate preachers from appearing on television.  Maggie Thatcher did it in 1988 when she stopped IRA spokesmen from being heard, but the politically correct were outraged and said it put a gag on free speech. 

Although it's hard to believe, security services aren't allowed to monitor emails, phone calls and social network messages, so security agencies have been trying to do their job with one hand tied behind their back. And the Liberal Democrats have in the past, and continue to block all attempts to toughen up security powers.

Ms May said her government had intercepted 2,000 people on the path to violence since they came to power but there were "potentially several thousands more."

Surely she jests.  How did it ever come to this?

Australia's first bloke goes bush

Four months ago, Tim Mathieson, the Prime Minister's partner, also known as "First Bloke" did what many people would love to do if they had some spare cash - buy a block of land beside a river, deep in the heart of the Aussie bush.

He's been chilling out alone and with some mates on a 1150 square metre block on the banks of the Goulburn River near Jamieson in Victoria.  At the moment there is a caravan on the site but he plans to build a shack, something akin to a man's shed.

Tim Mathieson is the patron of the Australian Men's Shed Association (AMSA).

The concept of the Men's Shed has been ongoing for 15 years and there are now 300 sheds in existence.  They have achieved proven results in bringing communities together to provide men with a place of belonging where they can work on worthwhile community projects and participate in youth mentoring programs.

It's also a great place to get away from the wife.

Drummer Lee Rigby hacked to death in London

The crazy man wielding a knife after hacking a British soldier to death yesterday in London was born in England and came from a devout Christian family.  

Michael Adebolajo was described  as a "lovely, lovely guy" by his friend at Marshall Fields School.  He was bright and witty, studied hard and played football with his mates. 

His parents were hard working Nigerian immigrants from an academic family in West Africa and arrived in the early 1980s.  His father, an NHS nurse and his mother a social worker, were determined to assimilate into the British way of life. When their son turned to petty crime, they were devastated and moved the family to Lincolnshire, hoping for a fresh start, but it was too late.  He told a friend he was converted to Islam in prison.

After his A levels, he went to live in student accommodation at the University of Greenwich - a suburb with a large Muslim population.  It was around the time Tony Blair sent troops to Iraq and he attended the nearby mosque in Lewisham.  In 2006, cleric Shakeel Begg was recorded  urging students to wage jihad against Israelis in Palestine.

He changed his name to Mujaahid - one who engages in jihad - and joined banned Islamist groups. With sermons of preacher Anjam Choudary ringing in his ears, he learned how to hate and by 2006 he was marching with radicals bearing signs that read "Behead those who insult Islam."  Last year he was stopped from travelling to Somalia to fight with other fanatics.

Anjam Choudary

Last night Choudary boasted that Adebolajo embraced Islam around the age of 15 or 16.  "I knew him as Mujaahid, he attended our meetings and my lectures" he said.

He blames the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby on Britain and said "We must concentrate on why this incident took place - which is the presence of British forces in Muslim countries and the atrocities they have committed, and how the Muslim community in this country are under pressure due to draconian laws which have tried to silence them."

BBC footage shows Adebolajo sanding behind Choudary as he rants on a megaphone during a London protest in 2007.  Although Choudary burnt a poppy on Remembrance Day in 2010 and continues to spew hatred towards British soldiers returning from Afghanistan, he has never been prosecuted in the UK.

Enoch Powell

Enoch Powell must be spinning in his grave.  In the 60s he warned British politicians that their immigration and anti-discrimination legislation would bring trouble, but nobody listened and he was branded a foul racist. "As I look ahead" he said "I am filled with foreboding;  like the Roman, I seem to see the River Tiber foaming with much blood."

Gina Rinehart lost 7 billion dollars last year

Gina Rinehart is still Australia's richest person according to the 2013 BRW Rich 200 list.  Even though she lost 7 billion last year, her net worth is still $22.2 billion.  Miners across the board have been hit by around 30 per cent because of lower commodity prices.   Westfield Group owner Frank Lowry came in second and James Packer with his gambling investments came in third.

Frank Lowy

Ms Rinehart doesn't do interviews with the media, she just releases statements but this time, she chose to make a video to get her point across.  She warns that Australia must take action to avoid ending up like Europe.  "It is as if Spain, Greece, Britain, Italy and Portugal had no warnings to give us about the similar path we are now taking" she said.  "It is as if their struggles with unemployment, riots, increased crime, debt and sheer lack of money for even essential services, had nothing to teach us."

PM Julia Gillard dismissed her claims as "absolute nonsense" and said we have nothing to worry about because we have a triple-A rating and avoided recession for 21 years.  But what the PM failed to mention was that our good fortune is mainly due to past conservative governments who have produced consistent surpluses.  When Labor came to power they inherited a huge surplus thanks to John Howard and Peter Costello, and if Tony Abbott is elected in September, he'll inherit a huge black hole that will take years to fix.  The irony is, if he gets the budget back on track, in another three years, he'll be voted out again.  And so it goes.

Gina's video upset a lot of people, to say she's not exactly popular would be a gross understatement.  Here is part of what she said.

"What few seem to properly understand - even people in government - is that miners and other resources industries aren't just ATMs for everyone else to draw from, without that money first having to be earned and, before that, giant investments are made.  It is incredible that after the last six years of record commodity boom times, we now find the once lucky country in record debt, with the federal budget tipped to deliver yet another deficit, to further increase our record debt.

This debt is simply unsustainable, especially when Australia faces an increasingly elderly population with increasing needs, and fewer workers to pay for it all.  This lucky country has got to start thinking and acting."  And then "Too many of our governments seem to have had their thoughts clouded by six record years of revenue.  They seem to think the ATM would never empty, and never need refilling.  They seem to think we could somehow afford to be increasingly cost un-competitive and become deeper in debt."

A few years back when Labor introduced the mining tax, Gina jumped on the back of a truck and yelled with enthusiasm "Axe and tax" and if Tony Abbott is elected in September, that's one of the first things he will do - scrap the mining tax along with the carbon tax.

There are basically two opposing opinions about Gina Rinehart.  The right think she's a brilliant business woman who knows what she's talking about.  The left think that because the minerals in the ground ultimately belong to the people of Australia, she can afford to pay a bit extra and therefore the mining tax is well justified.

But after the Prime Minister, she's probably the most despised woman in the country.

Laura Fernee, too pretty to work

Laura Fernee is a very attractive 33 year old science graduate who says she can't hold down a job because men keep hounding her for attention and jealous women make her working life unbearable. According to Ms Fernee, her good looks have ruined her life. She quit her job in scientific research two years ago and since then, has been living off her wealthy parents.


"I'm not lazy and I'm no bimbo" she says. "The truth is my good looks have caused massive problems for me when it comes to employment, so I've made the decision that employment just isn't for me at the moment...it's not my fault....I can't help the way I look."


And Ms Fernee is definitely not a bimbo. She studied medical research to doctorate level and started work in a laboratory in 2008 and stayed there for three years.


Her parents, Catherine and Alan Fernee have supported their daughter for over two years by paying the rent on her expensive London flat. They also pay the credit cards she uses for dining out and other living expenses such as designer clothes, shoes, handbags and expensive haircuts.


This sad story is all about mummy and daddy's little princess whose love and support never ends. The bright, precious child, showered with unconditional love since birth, has morphed into a spoiled adult with no work ethic. Bad parenting has produced a woman who is happy to allow her parents to fund her upper-class lifestyle, and for this reason alone, they should hang their heads in shame. 

If only we all had her problem.

B and B owners say no to gay couples

Karen and Michael Ruskin, owners of Pilgrim Planet Lodge, have received death threats after they refused to allow a lesbian couple to share a double bed in their Bed and Breakfast in Whangarei, New Zealand. 

The engaged couple had booked a king size bed online and were shocked when Mrs Ruskin told them they had to share a room with two king-single beds instead.  They were offended and left.

Word of mouth spreads quickly and the owners know the bad publicity could hurt their business.  Mrs Ruskin said she was sorry for the couple's inconvenience but was standing firm on her morals and the sanctity of her home.  "It's our home - it's not a motel" she said.

Lesbian couple Jane Collison 30 and Paula Knight 45 were not amused and filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission and were surprised to discover that it had happened before. In 2010, a gay couple also complained to the Commission about the Ruskins, but found there was an exemption in the Human Rights Act that allows owners of residential accommodation to choose what goes on in their own homes.

"Everyone knows what homosexuality is" Mrs Ruskin said.  "It's quite clear if two guys rent one bed, you know what's going to happen, we have to protect our other guests."

The couple are Antioch Orthodox Christians and have a small chapel inside the lodge.  Mrs Ruskin said they do not discriminate against other religions and Muslim and Jewish people have always been welcome.

Michael Ruskin said they are open to advice from the gay community as to how to change the wording on their website but "only if they're genuine in helping us and respect our viewpoint."

They tell gay couples the rules when they arrive.  "We always explain to them that because of our values, we don't make provision for sodomy in our home" he said.

Britain's Welfare Revolution

I can remember years ago when people said that Britain had created a monster with their generous welfare benefits scheme and now it's official.  The latest results of a think tank report say there is only one country in the whole of Europe with a worse record for government handouts than Britain, and that's the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

Welfare ghettos have sprung up around the country and the British people must be wondering how it came to this.  The highest amount of welfare spending per head is in the Sefton area of Merseyside in Liverpool.  In parts of Wales, 67 per cent of people aged between 16 and 64, are on unemployment benefit.

The study is called Signed Off, Written Off and stated the bleeding obvious - that parts of England have become a national disgrace and reform is urgently needed.

People in these neighbourhoods have been consistently written off as incapable and their poverty plight inevitable.  Their lives have been limited by a fatalistic assumption that they have little prospect of anything better, the report reads.

Iain Duncan Smith

Charities struggling to meet the demand for food and clothing said that some children do not understand what work is, as their parents and grandparents have never had a job.

Iain Duncan Smith, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, founded the think tank that wrote the report and is working on the second phase of the "Welfare Revolution."  He's got the job from hell and it's fraught with danger.  If he cuts benefits, the poor will simply rob the rich.  And what can he do about the young man who has made sure he'll never get a job by displaying prominent neck tattoos and has metal piercings hanging off his face and lips - he knows very well he won't get the job and of course, he doesn't.

The people who have a job say there is plenty of work out there for those who want it and there is no excuse for not working;  those without a job, earnestly looking for work, say there are actually very few jobs out there; and the truth lies somewhere in between.  

It's Mr Smith's job to find out what it is.

Nimbin, marijuana capital of Australia

Cannabis is prohibited under NSW law.  Any activity involving cannabis is illegal - possessing it, using it, growing it, and supplying it.  All cannabis offences are dealt with in court, except if you qualify for a "cannabis caution" and police decide to caution you instead.

Nimbin is a tiny town in northern NSW with a bad reputation.  It's on the backpacker route and thousands of young people arrive in buses every week.  It became the marijuana capital twenty five years ago when hippies arrived with their alternative lifestyle culture and a few decided to stay.

It's a bizarre situation, drug dealers blatantly sell illegal drugs right under the noses of police so are they doing enough to clean up the town?  One police officer who doesn't want to be named said "Drug use here is incredible, we walk from one end of the street to the other, someone yells 'taxi, taxi, taxi' and everyone disappears."

At the end of a lane, five "lane boys" sit around a table underneath a big tree.  "They are back in town at the moment, a lot of the dealers have grown up here but most live on the Gold Coast now" the officer said. Police take wads of cash off the dealers but the courts give it back. Most sales take place on Friday when everyone comes to town for Bongo Night, the going rate to tourists is $140 for half an ounce.

Det Insp Greg Moore, based in Lismore, is in charge of 190 officers and he has 9 officers at Nimbin.  "Nimbin is known the world over for its drug culture and the numerous buses that come in daily make it hard to ensure the same level of compliance with the law that we have in the rest of the state.  There could be a higher level of enforcement if we had more officers but we've got to be responsible with the resources we have" he said.

Tourists keep coming to Nimbin to buy marijuana, it's a matter of supply and demand, but the rights of the individual hamper police efforts.  "If I stop you on the street" one officer said "I have to tell you the reason why, and make sure your rights are not impinged.  It makes it tough when you've got a barrister and self-proclaimed solicitors giving you advice."

On the Nimbin Hemp Embassy website, they tell you what to do if you get caught.

• You do not have to say anything to police, whether they arrest you or not
• It is usually better to say something like 'I do not wish to say anything until I get legal advice'
• Beware of small talk and being trapped into a conversation, just tell them your name, age and address.
• If you admit anything, or say something that sounds like you're admitting something, the police can use that in evidence against you.

So there are three opposing points of view in Nimbin.  The locals say their town was taken over by a bunch of no-hoper dole-bludgers twenty five years ago who have never worked a day in their lives;  the alternative lifestyle folk want things to stay the same, and police seem to be fighting a losing battle.

According to the 2011 Census, 11.6 per cent of Nimbin's population is unemployed which is more than twice the national average of 5.5 per cent.  "You've got people living off the dope" the officer said. "They are all getting Centrelink benefits and making cash deals, it shits me."