Ernie Awards

FOUR hundred women assembled in the NSW Parliament House dining room on Monday to clap and cheer the Ernie Awards-the feminist awards for comments or opinions deemed offensive to the feminist audience.

They're named after Australian Workers Union secretary Ernie Ecob, famed for his misogynist remarks. His piece de resistance :" Women aren't welcome in the shearing sheds. They're only after the sex,"!

Some honourable mentions:

The Gold Ernie and Media Ernie
 News Corp journalist Andrew Bolt for saying : 'Can the Australian Defence Force afford this social engineering, in which gender becomes a qualification - and a fault line? What will this do to the tight mateship so critical to a fighting unit? Does a woman turn her male colleagues from warriors to escort?'



 
The Political Ernie
Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott for standing in front of the placards describing the Prime Minister as 'Bob Brown's Bitch' and 'Ditch the Witch.'


The Warnie for Sport
Aussie Rules footballer Spida Everitt for saying  : 'Girls! When will you learn! At 3am when you are blind drunk & you decide to go home with a guy, it's not for a cup of Milo!

'

The Elaine
Liberal Party MP Pru Goward for attacking the community workers equal  pay case, saying they 'failed to make their case' and referred to the 'so-called' wage gap.

Punishing Prince Andrew

Our tale yesterday on April Ist was slightly misleading. We meant to say HRH Prince Andrew should be appointed as Governor of NSW.

It's the ideal punishment. Four years opening endless garden fetes and charity bazaars, signing local government bills into law and meeting new Cabinet Ministers of the Coalition-with a threat of a further 4 year appointment should he not mend his ways.

Our apologies to the one London tabloid scribe who sent a fierce email castigating the Shuttle for the 3 hours he spent checking on the tale. The other two British newspapers were much more jovial about it.

The crafty Madame Arcati spotted the ruse immediately. One would have to get up early to  pull the wool over her eyes unlike the Times of India which ran the story on page three.

The excellent website Anorak.co.uk was sensibly sceptical.

Anorak also got stuck into our good pal the multi-millionaire adventurer  Dick Smith with his "2 children only" policy and pointed out who would never have been born under such a rule- Don Bradman and Ned Kelly being just two.

Unfortunately they linked to that opinion writer for hire Andrew Bolt, climate denier pal of the dotty Lord Monckton and right wing mouthpiece for the Melbourne Herald Sun. Andrew is also a stolen generation denier who makes Pauline Hanson look like an old lefty.

He once famously challenged left wing Professor Robert Manne of La Trobe University to Be a Manne and name just ten (sic) stolen children whereupon Manne produced 4 pages of names.

Bolt has spent the last few days in the Federal Court where 9 Aboriginals have filed a claim under the Racial Vilification Act over his columns and blog in 2009 when he got stuck into mixed blood indigenous folk who identify as Aboriginal.



Andrew Bolt

 In one piece titled White Is The New Black Bolt suggested “white Aborigines” were illegitimate and therefore not eligible for prizes and benefits"

As one of the claimants pointed out "what prizes and benefits does one get for being black ?"

Yesterday Bolt lost his cool under questioning in the witness box  and slammed the claimants who he said brought the anti-discrimination case brought against him as an “unforgivable travesty” designed to “smear me.”

That brought a swift rebuke from Justice Bromberg and Andrew was forced to apologise. Bolt actually said at one stage "some of my best friends are are gay Aboriginals".

It's not looking too good for Bolt.

Today former Former Federal Court Judge Ron Merkel who is acting for the nine prominent members of the Aboriginal community linked Bolt's writings to the eugenics movement saying :

“Mr Bolt’s assumption is because you’ve got mixed descent or you are white you have a choice to renounce who you are,” “But they never had the choice that Mr Bolt ascribes to them…throughout their whole lives they have identified as Aboriginal persons.”

“That’s the real sting that you’ll see in these articles.”



James Murdoch

 Which brings us back to Anorak.co.uk and their "third child" syndrome.

On Wednesday News Corp announced that James Murdoch is now Deputy COO, Chairman and CEO of News Corp International which makes him 3rd in line and the presumed heir to Rupert Murdoch

James, 38 is the Third Child of Rupert Murdoch and the former Anna Murdoch !