Three things can be safely said about the entire Brittany Higgins affair. Firstly, the average punter has no idea where the truth actually lies and probably never will. Secondly, pretty much any commentary about where the truth does lie, including speculation about what may or may not have happened during any number of events surrounding the alleged rape and its aftermath, will lead to costly and time-consuming legal proceedings. Thirdly, the most disturbing aspect of the entire tawdry affair may not necessarily be who did what to whom, whose clothes may or may not have been removed by whomever, who was or wasn’t inebriated, what other substances if any were or were not involved or indeed who did or didn’t engage in consensual or non-consensual intercourse with whomever. Some of that will no doubt one day provide the titillating plotline of a Netflix mini-series based on one of the participants’ lucrative best-selling tell-alls, but the real story that should concentrate our minds is the disgraceful abuse of power by elite individuals in positions of authority and the collusion between them to extract political and financial gain from the plight of two foolish but not necessarily naive sexually aware young-ish individuals.

Those guilty of abusing or misusing their positions of authority include two prime ministers, any number of other politicians and their advisers, members of the legal profession and judicial authorities and a grubby clutch of media players and celebrities. Astonishingly, both major political parties stand accused of seeking to profit from the affair. The Liberals chose to hop onto the Brittany bandwagon in the run-up to the last federal election because they were terrified that failure to do so would cement in Labor’s preposterous and vile smear that the party ‘has a problem with women’. In their desperation to prove otherwise, the Liberals happily ditched one of the longest-standing principles of our legal system, the presumption of innocence. Blind Freddy could have told them (and this magazine’s columnists frequently did) that it was a fruitless exercise and to not lose office in 2022 they should have instead stuck to one of their core promises from 2019’s ‘miracle’ election win and not adopted net zero. But that’s a different story. From the moment Scotty packed his bags for Glasgow, even backing Brittany was never going to save the Libs.

As for the Labor party, the disgraceful lack of due process in the awarding of taxpayer-funded compensation to Ms Higgins was equally as bad, if not worse. As with virtually every other aspect of this affair, the voter in the street is left in the dark as to the amount awarded and even precisely why it was awarded. The decision-making behind that compensation package will hopefully be scrutinised by the new national anti-corruption commission.

On top of which we have the entire judicial process, with abandoned trials, dropped charges, conflict between the police and the DPP and so on, all of which is currently the subject of its own inquiry.

As for the media, it could be argued the recent disclosures surrounding preparations for certain TV interviews suggest conduct tantamount to the ‘coaching’ of a witness. Whether it was or not is for others to determine, but what is clear is that the media cart was put well and truly before the ‘due process’ horse to the shame of those high-powered individuals involved. Links between certain parties are also deeply disturbing. Basically, democracy and the rule of law are in peril when we as a society abandon core conservative principles and conventions and instead seek to profit from or manipulate the illusory and seductive power of identity politics.

This magazine, virtually alone in the Australian media, has for years warned of the corrupting influence of identity politics on our lives, from #MeToo and Black Lives Matter to #IStandWithSo-and-so. The fear and cowardice these neo-Marxist, irrational movements strike into the bosom of our political and corporate elites is the scariest story of all. And it is not only a tragedy, it is a deadly threat to the functioning of our cherished democratic way of life.

Sadly and inevitably, many more lives, careers and reputations will be sacrificed in coming years on the altars of these pernicious leftist political movements. The injustices will surely continue to mount.

The sooner we abandon identity politics altogether the better for everyone.

Coincidence?

Avid readers of this magazine will no doubt have noticed a startling coincidence of timings. Less than a fortnight after a female contributor had her first article published in these illustrious pages, warning about the dangers of demonising our coal and gas industries, that very same writer was made West Australian of the Year! Indeed, our columnist, a Ms G. Rinehart from Perth, was lauded by outgoing Premier Mark McGowan for her ‘outstanding contribution to the state and national economy’. Touché! As well as penning her article for us, Ms Rinehart has also been hard at work recently saving the entire Australian economy through her mining activities, including generously gifting a surplus to the otherwise moribund Labor federal Budget. As always, we are thrilled when one of our writers proves to be such a star. Congratulations!