Australian opinion has been divided for days now over the Sarah Hansen Young incident in Canberra on Thursday in which her daughter Kora age two was taken from her out of the Senate Chamber. Hansen Young made history as the youngest person ever elected to the senate and the youngest female member of parliament. Hansen Young was caught short while she was saying goodbye to her daughter before she flew back to Adelaide when the bells calling Senators to vote rang...she had four minutes to get to the Chamber.
Kora could be heard to scream through the solid doors of the Chamber although before the incident she had been fine. Governor General Quentin Bryce, who was at one time the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, found herself in a situation recently when a baby cried during a recent swearing in ceremony for new Ministers. She handled it much differently.
Channel Nine News presented the most incredibly biased report on Friday evening, including an interview with ex Sex Discrimination Commissioner who also ran the Federal Office for the Status of Women under John Howard Pru Goward, which was extraordinary in its viewpoint coming from someone who used to be a foremost fighter for women's rights in this country. She even went as far as to say on Channel Nine that Kora was the victim in all this, was traumatised by her mother's actions.
I wondered at Pru's words until I read the Age just now...I was not aware that Pru is now a Liberal Minister and even more bafflingly considering her comments the Shadow Minister for Women. I wonder if she will be another Peter Garrett and William Hayden....doing a back flip to suit the new situation they find themselves in. I do not know who I was more disgusted with Channel Nine for their biased reporting or Pru for her extraordinary viewpoint.
What do you think?
I feel so sad for her. What an awful position to be in. I think it's so symbolic of how many working parents must feel--torn in two directions. This was a dramatic illustration of all that.
ReplyDeleteI can definitely relate because Jack has had separation issues. And when he can't separate, it becomes very hard for me to separate.
As much as I agree that Kora is the poor victim in this case, I still am not so sure a child should have been present there anyway. If her care had been planned better ahead of time, none of this would have been an issue. That doesn't mean this was handled in the best manner, but it could have been avoided altogether in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI feel so sorry for her I think it was handled horribly and I agree with Dina, even though I am not working now, a few years ago when I was studying and my youngest was at creche, sometimes the separation scene some mornings was horrendous I was in tears as I left (then when I went to pick her up she was so happy she didn't want to come home) and even if care is planned ahead that can change last minute too
ReplyDeleteIt has certainly been a very interesting debate....unlike most working parents Senators do not have nine to five or clearly defined shifts...Sarah was actually in down time when the bell rang so all the furious people who said that they have to have childcare so should she were not technically correct. It is interesting the venom which was spewed at her....unlike here where we Were very civilised!
ReplyDeleteThank you ladies for your input....it was a distraction from the awful events in Iran....sometimes I wonder if that is a media ploy. It took fifteen minutes this evening for the Iranian situation to be shown on the half hour news on the ABC.