Prime Minister Scott Morrison is at the centre of a storm over a handful of words uttered as federal parliament marked the anniversary of the national apology to Australia’s stolen generations.

Mr Morrison, Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese, Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt and Labor spokeswoman Linda Burney acknowledged 14 years on Monday since the apology was given by former prime minister Kevin Rudd.

In 2008, the formal apology was given to ​Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, particularly to the stolen generations, who had been impacted by past government policies of forced child removal and assimilation.

Mr Morrison said each anniversary was an opportunity for Australia to remind itself of times past and lessons learned.

He said progress was being made in closing the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians and the government was taking action to right past wrongs.

“Out of great tragedy and loss there can be hope,” he said.

But it was what he said next that has sparked opposition.

“Sorry is not the hardest word to say – the hardest is ‘I forgive you’. Forgiveness does not mean forgetting, nor does it mean there does not need to be action,” Mr Morrison said.

Indigenous senator Lidia Thorpe was furious. She said Mr Morrison’s statement was “not an apology”.

READ MORE:

https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/politics/australian-politics/2022/02/14/stolen-generations-anniversary-apology/

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Maintaining and defending our reputations, protecting our image and the perception others have of our moral values must be a full-time job for those in the public eye.

Women do so much work to stand by their men. They are so often used and abused as human shields. That’s a term used to describe the use of civilians to shield military operatives, and it’s banned under international humanitarian law. It’s not always involuntary. But this week we saw perfect examples of the use of women as shields. It’s a tactic used by a range of men for a range of reasons.

Emma Roberts, the estranged wife of former soldier Ben Roberts-Smith, gave evidence she was forced to stand by her man to save his reputation. She says she discovered he’d been unfaithful when a woman, known to the court as Person 17, turned up at her home and took Emma Roberts through the evidence, which we now know as text messages and selfies. Be careful what you send, people.

And then, according to evidence heard in court, Roberts-Smith threatened her with the loss of their children if she did not back up his claim that they had been separated at the time of the affair.

There’s a tragic photo of the couple together back in August 2018 on the front page of The Australian, with many quotes from Roberts-Smith, but none from her. She claims she was forced to lie to defend his behaviour. Utterly involuntary.

On a more cheerful note, it was lovely to see Jenny Morrison on 60 Minutesstanding by her man, despite ongoing attacks both on his character and his parliamentary record. I swear to god if I was married to a politician, I would not be out there defending his errors.

Research tells us maintaining moral reputation is our most important value - but what sacrifices do we make along the way? And why are women always doing the protecting?

NSW Liberal Senator Hollie Hughes, for example, bought into this protection racket this week when she attacked Rachelle Miller online. Miller’s affair with sidelined minister Alan Tudge is the subject of an inquiry. This is not Hughes’s argument to have but there she is. Shielding Tudge. Or as she calls it, “I stand with Tudgey.”

I asked Michelle Ryan, director of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership and professor of social and organisational psychology at the Australian National University why women are used as protectors.

She calls it the “women are wonderful” effect.

“We know gender stereotypes cast women are being more moral and kinder than men ... the stereotype applies particularly to women that take on stereotypically female roles, like mothers, nurses, teachers.

It makes sense, she says, that men call on the women who are closest to them - their daughters, their wives, their mothers – when they want to cast themselves in a more positive light. No matter who the men are, the women to whom they are connected are more wonderful.

And people are also highly motivated to protect the reputations of people close to them – whether they be a romantic partner, close friend, or colleague. This makes sense.

As University of Canterbury’s Andrew Vonasch says, the closer someone’s connection is, the stronger the motivation to protect their reputation.

“If it looks like a cover-up that may not help protect reputation, and may even backfire, such that the partner appears more guilty,” says Vonasch, co-author of Death Before Dishonour: incurring costs to protect moral reputation.

But if the protection appears to stem from a genuine belief that the partner is a good person and their bad actions don’t reflect their true character, that is more likely to help.

In the case of our Prime Minister, Vonasch says there is some evidence of motivated reasoning, such that the PM’s supporters may be more likely to believe his wife’s motives are genuine, whereas the PM’s political opponents may be more likely to disbelieve this.

Like the vast majority of wives and partners, Jenny Morrison is here to help. But other women find themselves used, coerced into consent.

Read more:

https://www.smh.com.au/national/standing-by-your-man-is-fine-until-you-become-a-human-shield-20220215-p59wn9.html

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