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Growing up under the White Australia Policy

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  By Helen Said, Melbourne, Australia With the White Australia Policy back in the media spotlight, I have decided to share my personal story as a person from a Greek-Egyptian ethnic background. My parents and older sister were born in Egypt and were part of a Greek speaking ethnic minority. They left Egypt as refugees from the Second Arab-Israeli War. As Greek-Maltese British Subjects living in Egypt, they had been placed under house arrest, following the tri-partite British, French and Israeli invasion, and ordered out of the country, under threat of imprisonment. My family arrived in icy London in the winter of 1956, carrying two suitcases of light Egyptian clothes and five worthless Egyptian pounds. My parents have always been grateful for the kindness relatives and strangers showed them when they were broke and homeless, and this motivated them to later become refugee advocates in Australia. But back in 1950s London, when my parents were refugees, there were some who were...
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One Nation's "English-only services" - ignorant and mean-spirited

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  by Helen Said, Melbourne Australia My grandmother (Yaya) moved to Australia when I was a teenager. Upon arriving at Tullamarine Airport, Yaya proudly announced to me and my sister that she read three English newspapers every day.  Yaya was born in Libya and learned to speak seven languages. She was the granddaughter of the local Greek Orthodox Priest. She grew up as a Greek speaker in Constantinople (Istanbul) and attended the local American Ladies College, where she learned English. She married a Greek-Maltese British Subject. My grandfather (Papou) found work with the occupying British Army shortly after the First World War, and accepted a transfer to Egypt upon marrying Yaya. Yaya and Papou raised their family in Egypt where my grandfather continued to serve the British NAAFI (Navy, Army and Air Force Institute) for the next 45 years.  In widowhood, living in Australia, Yaya developed dementia and lost her ability to speak all of her languages except her native Greek...
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Men of quality don't fear equality

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  By Helen Said, Autistic advocate, Melbourne Australia A Melbourne brothel owner helped fund a gutter level sexist attack on Victoria's Premier, hiring a truck to drive around the street bearing a huge sign depicting Jacinta Allan dressed as a witch, with the words "ditch the witch". There is nothing clever about this slogan; it has been used before on Australia's only woman Prime Minister, Julia Gillard. The purpose of these campaigns is to mock and belittle powerful women, especially powerful middle aged or older women. All women are being given the message that if you come forward and show your worth, in a non-traditional field, you will be shamed as a woman and compared to an ugly, fearful stereotype. This attack is not happening in a vacuum. Older people have grown up in a world where almost all power resided with men. Some boys and men fear recent advances in women's rights and are determined to drag women down so they can feel superior. But anyone who need...
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Drew Hutton is urging a vote against the Greens and there needs to be consequences

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 By Helen Said, Autistic advocate and former Green, Melbourne Australia Queensland Greens founder Drew Hutton was expelled from the Greens last year for refusing to remove anti-trans comments that appeared on one of his facebook posts. He claimed his expulsion from the Queensland Greens was undemocratic, and the party's own lawyers agreed. Hutton's Greens membership was then reinstated. Since then, Hutton has been on a non-stop anti-trans crusade, often making several posts a day, each of which attracts hundreds of comments. While some of his facebook followers' comments are supportive of trans people, most comments are simplistic, ignorant or downright hateful. This commentary has exploded since the pro-trans ruling in the Tickle VS Giggle court case, turning trans people into a political football and ignoring their humanity.  Hutton supports the reintroduction of Pauline Hanson's anti-trans "Sex Discrimination Amendment (acknowledging biological reality) Bill...
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Oppose conservative definitions of "Woman"

By Helen Said, Autistic advocate, Melbourne Australia This is the text of a letter I sent to my local Labor Member of Parliament:  The Tickle VS Giggle court ruling has prompted the Coalition to support legislation that would introduce a British/MAGA style definition of women. Pauline Hanson is also threatening to re-introduce the Sex Discrimination (Acknowledging Biological Reality) Bill. Any such legislation would be disastrous for equality and acceptance of all kinds of women, including women with hormonal differences, other medical conditions and many gender non-conforming women. Women in Britain and the US are now being abused for using the "wrong" toilets if they don't look "feminine". Ironically, while some lesbian separatists support the exclusion of trans women from women's spaces, lesbians are more likely to experience discrimination if these conservative laws are passed. I urge Labor to continue standing firm on trans rights and not to give in to ...
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Tickle VS Giggle - why I support trans inclusion

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  by Helen Said, Autistic advocate, Melbourne Australia The Australian Federal Court has recently upheld a decision that the female-only App, Giggle for Girls, discriminated against trans woman Roxanne Tickle by excluding her from the App. Many older feminists of my era are horrified by this ruling, as they believe that trans women are men pretending to be women, who make cis women feel unsafe in women's-only spaces, including social spaces, support groups, sports, womens bathroom facilities and women's prisons. But is the science and the hard data on their side? I proudly belong to these organisations which uphold trans rights * Australian Labor Party , whose Victorian Values Statement specifically opposes transphobia * Women With Disabilities Australia , which is run by and for women, girls, feminine identifying and non-binary people with disabilities * Australia & New Zealand Autistic Self Advocacy Network , which recognises the prevalence and rights of LGBTIQ people wit...
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How did the NDIS lose its "social license"?

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  By Helen Said, Autistic advocate, Melbourne Australia Australia's National Disability Insurance Scheme services are about to be cut.  Labor leaders say that the NDIS has lost its "social license", but what is this "social license" and how did it get lost?  After our longtime Disability Minister, Bill Shorten, retired from parliament, his portfolios were taken over by Mark Butler MP. Health and Disability were placed under the same government minister, supposedly to give Disability more attention. In fact the reverse is the case - combining Health and Disability  reinforces the outdated and disempowering Medical Model of Disability**, which contributes to disabled people's invisibility in society and government decision making processes. As long as disability is viewed through the same lens as sickness, disabled people will be seen as unfortunates in need of a cure, rather than a people in need of access and rights. Thus disabled people's social, emotio...
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