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Issue No. 125 | 22 February 2002 |
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Unfair and Dismal
Interview: If Not Now, When? Activists: Fighting Back Industrial: Croon And Divide Politics: Politics of Extinction History: Harry Bridges: International Labour Hero International: Rats in the Ranks Review: Follow The Fence, Find The Truth Satire: Howard Screws Refugee Kids: G-G Turns Blind Eye Poetry: Let It Be
The Soapbox The Locker Room Week in Review
 Dirty Politics Won't WashTom's FooleryGive Us a Spray!
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Tool Shed Spinning Out of Control
Only a tool of grand proportions could have beaten the impressive credentials laid out by John Howard and Peter Reith this week but Hollingworth, courtesy of extraordinary insensitivity and a mind-set crafted in a previous era, more than earned his week with the toads and snails at the bottom of the garden. If you try, you can find reasons to sympathise with the vice-regal bishop. For a start, the widely-respected William Deane was always going to be a tough act to follow. The Prime Minister clearly didn't want another leader prepared to speak up, no matter how diplomatically, on matters of conscience and Bishop Hollingworth, it transpired, was even better versed in that role than Howard could have been imagined. Then there's the "with the friends like these ..." factor. Hollingworth could have done with a couple of credible character witnesses. Instead, his two-person cheer squad consisted of a diminutive North Shore pollie whose own reputation had just been shredded beyond repair, and Queensland's own Mad Katter. Then there was Hollingsworth's lack of media savvy. Essentially, he has been hung, drawn and quartered by his own words. The offer of a whole episode of Australian Story to state his case must have seemed like salvation at the time. But the greenest political horn could have warned of the shafting that awaited if he fell into the trap of saying too much. And so it came to pass. What amounted to an on-air defence of the unique spiritual guidance offered to a 14-year-old girl by one-time Bishop Shearman, OBE, revealed Hollingworth as every bit as green as he was cabbage looking. "There was no suggestion of rape or anything like that," he intoned. "My information is rather that it was the other way round." Later, without a hint of irony, Hollingworth conceded his church had been behind-the-times in dealing with victims, and perpetrators, of sexual abuse. Few, by then, were wondering why. With demands for his resignation spreading out from victims and their feminist advocates, Hollingworth showed he had toughened up from his days of dealing with Brisbane sex abusers and insisted he would not be handing in his warrant. Then, with controversy raging all around him, another quote pitched him straight into the Tool Shed and, very likely, early retirement. On August 24, last, Hollingworth's senior advisor explained to national organisation Advocates for Survivors of Child Abuse why the new Governor General would not be taking over from his predecessor as their patron. "...there is an unavoidable risk of the office of the governor general becoming involved in controversy," it was explained. "In these circumstances, Dr Hollingworth must regretfully decline your invitation." Quite!
Nominate a Tool!
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