Oh dear. It seems half of the councillors at a Sydney Council have voted to ban a book on same-sex parenting. I was silly enough to think most Australians were immune to this sort of stupidity. Seems not.
An article in The Guardian reported “During the meeting, [councillor] Christou brandished a book he alleged had received “really disturbing” constituent complaints, saying parents were “distraught” to see the book, Same-Sex Parents by Holly Duhig, displayed on a shelf in the children’s section of the library.”
I admit, my first response without reading the story was ‘why is this book in the children’s section?’ But it seems the book is age-appropriate in a section about different types of families. In which case, what’s the problem? Same-sex marriages are legal. Some kids have two dads, some have two mums.
As usual, this is all about the ‘grown-ups’. The councillor has been approached by people who feel same-sex unions are wrong, often on religious grounds. So the obvious answer is censorship. Because that’s what it is. Here’s a link to the book on Amazon. It’s one of a series talking about families.
I’m glad to say the ban was passed by a very slim majority. I’m hoping this action is illegal under the anti-discrimination act. If it’s not, there may be unintended consequences, affecting funding for the council’s libraries. And that would be very, very sad.
The Voice referendum might have been well and truly lost but Australia’s traditional owners are exerting their rights all over the country. Uluru is still a Mecca for tourists – but nobody is allowed to climb the rock anymore. I appreciate that when a place becomes too popular, tourism is a detriment. It’s well known that Amsterdam and Venice are over the hordes of visitors treating their city with scant respect. I suppose that was true of Uluru, too. This article from Australian Traveller explains a little more about the ban.
But sometimes you have to wonder.
Horizontal Falls in Western Australia’s Kimberley region has been a drawcard for at least a decade. People come for the wonderful scenery and also the thrill of riding a jetboat through the gap in the cliffs when the tide is turning. Peter and I did that a few years back.
That surge of water through the two gaps happens twice a day when the tide changes. All that water has to surge through a narrow gap. Here’s the blog post that explains a bit more about the experience. It was wonderful. But now the traditional owners have put a stop to it. The ban starts from 2026 for most operators. One company has a longer lease but that runs out in 2028. And I’ll bet I’m not the only person who thinks that’s a damn shame. Here’s the story. Sure, it was unfortunate that one jet boat hit the wall. But that was one unfortunate accident. They happen.
So much of our country is becoming off limits to the vast majority. In Victoria many popular rock climbing sites in the Grampians, including Mt Arapiles, have been declared off-limits to climbers. Which means a significant drop in tourism to the areas. Apparently climbers damage art at the sites – but in fact the places where rock art exists are rarely places where people want to climb.
“More than 25,000 people signed a petition to reverse the bans, and tensions exploded over a controversial picture released by Parks Victoria. The image, released when the bans were announced, allegedly showed a climbing bolt in a piece of rock art; however, the bolt was actually part of a safety cage installed to protect the rock art.” [source]
If the intention was to make non-Aboriginal people feel like they’re visitors in their own country, it’s working. I dunno. I would have thought that sharing these places and allowing visitors to enjoy them in different ways was a sensible approach to deepening understanding.
But what would I know?
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