News: Defence Force Academy sex culture report released

Report into Australian Defence Force Academy released

The report into the ADFA cadet program by Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick was handed down yesterday. The report was commissioned by the Federal Defence Minister Stephen Smith after a female cadet was secretly filmed over Skype during an act of consensual sex. Other complaints arose at the time, some stretching back years, and the Minister requested a report into the culture at the Academy. Ms Broderick found the Academy was a ‘safe and rewarding place’ for most women, most of the time. “We heard that most women have a positive experience at ADFA … however the review also found widespread low level sexual harassment, inadequate residential supervision, particularly of first-year midshipmen and cadets, and cumbersome complaints processes,” she said. About 74 per cent of women had experienced these types of sexual or gender harassment, alongside 30 per cent of male cadets.

Senator calls GetUp ‘Nazis’

Liberal Senator Ian MacDonald, while debating the carbon tax legislation, called the left-wing activist group GetUp ‘the Hitler Youth Wing of the Greens political movement’. He was later rebuffed by Liberal colleague Josh Frydenburg, who is Jewish, said: “while robust political debate is part of a vibrant democracy, however, the use of Nazi analogies to make political points is inappropriate and offensive.” GetUp national director Simon Sheikh wrote to the Senate asking for an apology, saying the comments were made with ‘a weight of hate and ignorance’.

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Kim Kardashian ditches Stakes Day commitments

Kim Kardashian, who was in Australia for a one hour, $150,000 appearance at the Swisse vitamins marquee at Stakes Day in Flemington this Saturday is now heading back to Los Angeles to deal with the fallout from her announced divorce after 72 days of marriage to Kris Humphries. In a statement, she said: “I am very disappointed that I am unable to attend the Swisse marquee but I hope to come back and work with the Swisse team at another point in time.”

Family court judge filmed beating disabled daughter

This one might be tough to stomach. A family court judge in America, who deals with cases deciding whether parents are fit to care for their children, was filmed beating his own disabled daughter after he caught her downloading illegally from the web. He lashed her legs dozens of times while demanding she turn over to be beaten. The judge said he did not see himself doing anything wrong, and that he was simply disciplining his daughter for stealing.