Men’s rights activist Bettina Arndt won’t have her Order of Australia award stripped following a review by the award’s judging committee.
Arndt, who completely un-ironically preaches about #MenToo was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia earlier this year for her “significant services to the community as a social commentator, and to the gender equity through advocacy for men.”
Now let’s get one thing straight here: men are undeniably the most privileged of any gender, so it’s unclear how advocacy for men counts as a step in the right direction for gender equality. But hey, that’s not even the reason people called for her award to be stripped.
Mere days after she was awarded, Victoria’s Attorney-General Jill Hennessy joined calls for the award to be stripped, calling it an insult to sexual abuse victims.
But if that wasn’t enough to convince you she *probably* shouldn’t be praised, she was then met with further calls for the award to be stripped after she made some truly abhorrent comments about family annihilation victim Hannah Clarke.
“But note the misplaced outrage. How dare police deviate from the feminist script of seeking excuses… and explanations when women stab their partners to death, or drive their children into dams but immediately judging a man in these circumstances as simply representing the evil violence that is in all men,” she said at the time.
But in a statement on Friday, Shane Stone, who chairs the committee, confirmed that she and fellow questionable recipient Mike Carlton will not be stripped of their awards.
“The Council for the Order of Australia has considered requests for the cancellation of appointments to the Order of Australia of Ms Bettina Arndt AM and Mr Mike Carlton AM and will make no further recommendation to the governor-general,” Mr Stone said in a statement on Friday.
In defence of his decision, Stone essentially gave a big “you can’t please everyone” response.
“In a system that recognises the service of hundreds of people each year, it is inevitable that each list will include some people who others believe should not be recognised.”
Sure, you can’t please everyone. But when the recipient has been called out for allegedly trying to make excuses for perpetrators of family annihilation, *maybe* we should reconsider awarding them.
According to SBS, Order of Australia honours are generally only revoked for people who have been convicted of a crime and have exhausted all chances at an appeal.
Just for reference, George Pell still has his Order of Australia award. I’ll let you do with that information what you will.
