Christian anxiety

Understandably, security concerns post 9/11, the media's instance on linking terrorism with Islam and the predominance of primarily Muslim boat people arriving in our country of late appears to have added to existing anxieties many of us have about people from other nations and their possible threat to our existence and livelihood. Extreme reactions, such as vilification, overt prejudice, stereotyping and acts of violence upon Muslims, especially Muslim women caused many to recoil from Australian culture and become isolated and fearful, adding to the notion that they were somehow separate from the rest of multicultural Australia. Petitions, such as the one lodged in the House of Representatives by the Hon Paul Murphy, Labor Member for Reid (NSW)  on Monday 21 February this year certainly don't do anything to smooth the waters between Christians and Muslims. The petition asked that the Parliament of Australia:

1. Review our Commonwealth Immigration Policy to ensure the priority for Christians from all races and colours, especially from persecuted nations, as both immigrants and refugees.

2. Adopt a ten year moratorium on Muslim immigration, so an assessment can be made on the social and political disharmony currently occurring in the Netherlands, France and the UK, so as to ensure we avoid making the same mistakes; and allow a decade for the Muslim leadership and community in Australia to reassess their situation so as to reject any attempt to establish a Muslim nation within our Australian nation.

The preamble to the petition drew upon the very foundation of the Australian parliament and I quote:

That we re-affirm our support for the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia which states “Whereas the people of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland and Tasmania humbly relying on the blessing of Almighty God, have agreed to unite in one indissoluble Federal Commonwealth” (Constitution Act 9th July 1900) and the affirmation of 69% of our Australian population that they are Christians, and the statement of one of our founders that “this Commonwealth of Australia from its first stage will be a Christian Commonwealth” (Sir John Downer 1898), and the Opening Prayer of the Parliaments “Almighty God we humbly beseech Thee to vouchsafe Thy blessing upon this Parliament. Direct and prosper our deliberations to the advancement of Thy glory” and recognizes the importance of these beliefs in ensuring the ongoing stability and unity of our Christian nation.

Murphy also lodged on the same day a petition, which expressed concern about the Islamisation of Australian schools.The book in question is: Learning From One Another: Bringing Muslim Perspectives into Australian Schools, contracted by the National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies at The University of Melbourne (previously called the Melbourne Institute for Asian Languages and Society).The Centre brings together established expertise in teaching and research at the participating universities, and plays an important leadership role in public debates on contemporary Islam, particularly in the Australian context.

From my memory Jesus Christ (Jesus of Nazareth c. 5 BC/BCE – c. 30 AD/CE), said Love One Another, As I Have Loved You - Lesson 23 – Luke 22:1-38; John 13.So, would it be too much to expect those who say they are Christians to actually follow the teachings of the personage they purport to follow and begin to accept other peoples' differences?


I find it extremely interesting that the people of Melbourne actually applaud the fact that we have little enclaves of different cultures, which we love to frequent. Vietnamese restaurants line Victoria Street, Richmond.China town in Little Bourke Street actually dates back to gold rush days and is a tourist destination. Lonsdale Street is known for the array of Greek coffee, cakes and food shops.  Lebanese food and culture abounds in Brunswick and Lygon Street, Carlton is well known for its Italian culture and cuisine. I'm sure that they are many more and within each suburb there are prayer groups, churches and community centres that cater for the diversity of different peoples, their culture and religion and non-one is complaining that these people are not like us!

Cameron Doomadgee (Mulrunji)...when 'sorry' just isn't good enough!

The following is short extract from an interview between reporter John Taylor and Martin Moynihan from the Crime and Misconduct Commission conducted and aired on the 7.30 Report ABC on 17 June 2010.

JOHN TAYLOR: So this would have been handled differently if Cameron Doomadgee was white?
MARTIN MOYNIHAN: I think a lot of people have believed that to be so.

I'm sure that everyone who has been following the events of the Cameron Doomadgee 'death in custody' case will be heartened to hear that the Crime and Misconduct Commission has made recommendation that consideration be given to commencing disciplinary proceedings for misconduct against the following people involved in the 'death in custody' of Cameron Doomadgee: Detective Inspector Webber, Regional Crime Coordinator ~ Detective Senior Sergeant Kitching, Officer in Charge ~ Detective Sergeant Robinson Officer in Charge at Palm Island, Inspector Williams. It further recommended that '...the QPS give consideration to disciplinary proceedings against the members of the Investigation Review Team who initially undertook the investigation'.

See the following for more information:

CMC Review of the Queensland Police Service Palm Island Review June 2010: http://www.cmc.qld.gov.au/data/portal/00000005/content/13053001276649217949.pdf
Indigenous view of the latest findings:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/17/2929840.htm?site=indigenous&topic=latest

Information about Chris Hurley:

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/palm-island-officer-chris-hurley-promoted-while-fellow-officers-face-sanctions/story-e6freuzr-1225880670086

The Tall Man - Latest in Cameron Doomadgee 'death in custody' inquest + Piggy

Close your eyes for a minute and I'll tell you a story. A 36 years old, drunk and disorderly man is walking down the street of a tropical island. He sees a police officer and begins to sing the song 'Who Let the Dogs Out'. The officer annoyed by the disturbance and apparent insult, decides to arrest the man and throws him into the back of his divisional wagon. When they arrive at the police station he attempts to remove the man from the van and take him into custody. The man resists by punching the officer who is twice his size and twice his weight. The officer, annoyed by being hit, deals out several punches to the prisoner. A scuffle ensures in which both officer and prisoner fall to the ground. The prisoner sustains the following injuries: four broken ribs, a ruptured portal vein and spleen and a cleaved liver. One hour after being placed in the cell he is found dead. I want you to picture that man ~ imagine him as your father, your brother, your son. He is alone in the cell ~ in pain ~ bleeding and dying. I want you to picture that man ~ now imagine him as aboriginal. Does your sympathy towards him change because he is an indigenous Australian?

Nearly six years on from the 'death in custody' of Palm Island man Cameron Doomadgee (in 2004), the Queensland Deputy Chief Magistrate Brian Hine 'said he was unable to make a definitive finding into the death of Cameron Doomadgee because of the unreliability of police and aboriginal witnesses. However, he did find that Mr Doomadgee's arresting officer Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley - angry after being struck by his prisoner - had punched him several times as he lay on the floor of the Palm Island watchhouse'. See:

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/1052532/coroner-blames-cops-over-doomadgee-death

And for your viewing and listening pleasure please watch: Nine Inch Nails ~Piggy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn26LcQYqEE

The Tall Man ~ Mulrunji's death...

These quotes are from the following article:

Justice Talk: Legal Processes and Conflicting Perceptions of Justice about a Palm Island Death in Custody by Janet Ransley and Elena Marchetti, AUSTRALIAN INDIGENOUS LAW REVIEW, Vol. 12, No. 2, 2008: 41-53.

'In November 2004, Mulrunji 1. a 36 year old Palm Island Aboriginal man, died in police custody. His death triggered a chain of events including community riots, the invocation of emergency powers and evacuation of white workers from the Island, and suicides by the deceased man’s teenage son and a key witness'.

'Most strikingly, 'Both pathologists gave evidence that the liver injuries suffered by Mulrunji were more commonly seen ‘in high speed road accidents, plane crashes, [and] falls from heights’. Although Hurley weighed more than 115 kg, compared to Mulrunji’s weight of 74 kg, both pathologists agreed that it was unlikely that such injuries would have been inflicted by a simple fall unless Hurley’s knee had struck Mulrunji in the abdomen. Neither pathologist was prepared to say whether, had the injuries been caused by a knee, they were caused deliberately or accidentally. They did rule out the possibility that the injuries had been caused by punches since there was no bruising to support such a claim. There was a suggestion that Mulrunji’s intoxicated state may have contributed to his death since ‘alcohol relaxes the muscle’s tone and that can make a person less conscious of the need to protect themselves in a fall’.

Senior Sergeant Hurley received considerable compensation 2. for the loss of his personal property in the riots within two months of that occurring, while the family is awaiting the outcome of a civil trial to receive any damages for Mulrunji’s death.'

1. Cameron Doomadgee's tribal name.
2. Chris Hurley received $102.995.00 in compensation.

See also:

HART, Naomi, Separating the inquest from the trial : the Mulrunji Case. INDIGENOUS LAW BULLETIN; 7 (10) January / February 2009: 23-26

WEBER, Leanne, Contemporary comments : bridges or bandaids? Another death in police custody reveals fatal flaws in Aboriginal liaison officer concept. CURRENT ISSUES IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE; 19 (2) November 2007: 235-242

The Tall Man: Death and Life on Palm Island (Chloe Hooper)

I've just finished reading Chloe Hooper's The Tall Man: Death and Life on Palm Island (Penguin, 2009) an account of a true event. Cameron Doomadgee (Mulrunji), an aboriginal man from Palm Island, who had never been in trouble was arrested by Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley on 19 November, 2004. Mulrunji died forty minutes after he was placed in police custody.

The autopsy carried out by Dr. Guy Lampe from Cairns Base Hospital on 23 November 2004, found that Mulrunji died of a fall, possibly by his body hitting the concrete steps of the watch house.

Due to public outrage a second autopsy was carried out by Associate Professor David Ranson. Professor Anthony Ansford and Dr Byron Collins were also in attendance, together with Dr Lampe in November 2004. Ranson said:

'A complicated fall where the two individuals fall together from a standing position would not usually cause the liver laceration seen in this man unless during the process of the fall a small area of direct crushing pressure was applied to the front of the upper abdomen with the back or posterior lateral aspect of the body fixed against a hard surface'.

At a later coronal enquiry in 2006, the Officer of the State Coroner found that Mulrunji had the following injuries:

"The right sided rib cage showed lateral to anterolateral fractures of four ribs, from the sixth to the ninth inclusively. There was no associated contusion of the muscle area above the fractured ribs, but there was some internal hemorrhage of the muscles above and adjacent to the eighth and ninth rib fractures.The most significant finding was in the peritoneal cavity. There was at least one and a half litres of blood and clot. The liver was virtually completely ruptured- “… cleaved in two” in Dr Lampe’swords. The two halves of the liver were only connected by some blood vessels. The portal vein had an oval hole along its posterior surface measuring 1.5 by 0.7 centimetres which was along the line of the contusion extending through the soft tissue. There was localised haemorrhage to the pancreas adjacent to the peri-duodenal hemorrhage".

http://www.courts.qld.gov.au/mulrunji270906.pdf

The Queensland Coroner Christine Clements '...found Snr Sgt Hurley...caused the fatal injuries by punching Mr Doomadgee numerous times'.

In 2007 Chris Hurley was acquitted of the manslaughter of Mulrinji, even though Hurley did say in court that he must have been responsible for Doomadgee's injuries.

In 2008 the Townsville District Court Judge, Bob Pack set aside the findings of Christine Clements and ordered a new inquest.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/judge-sets-aside-palm-is-findings/story-e6frg6oo-1111118355409

In March 2010 a third inquest has been opened into the 'death in custody' of Cameron Doomagee to include new evidence.

A lot has been said about how drunk the witnesses for the prosecution were at the time of them giving their account. The grey areas in which the other officers on duty have perceptual differences about what occurred when Mulrinji was arrested and Chris Hurley's own account that Mulrinji was injured when Hurley accidentally fell on him (he originally said that they fell beside each other after a struggle). But the facts remain that Mulrinji was walking around, drunk, singing and happy prior to his arrest. He could not have sustained the injuries described prior to his arrest, because injury to the liver of that magnitude usually ensures a quick death. His injuries killed him and they were caused by someone, the prime suspect being Chris Hurley. Police officers have a duty of care for prisoners and in this case, officers were shown to be negligent, particularly since that were aware that Mulrinji had been drinking and was more vulnerable to choking on his own sputum.

I will watch with interest the outcomes of this highly controversial case. For more information see:
http://www.treatyrepublic.net/content/police-racism-dock-new-inquest-opens-aboriginal-mans-death

Also, here is an interesting article on why males are violent:
http://www.psychohistory.com/originsofwar/02_whymalesaremoreviolent.html