It got so bad that the human rights organisation’s largely anonymous national director Sam Klintworth issued a mea culpa to attendees via email, citing the “unprecedented levels of emotion, conflict and distrust” that went down.
Loading
“As an organisation and movement we value inclusion and safety, and I am deeply disappointed the situation left some feeling unsafe,” she continued. Attendees were then directed to Amnesty’s employee assistance program and mental health support services such as Lifeline.
Klintworth didn’t return CBD’s calls, but we hear the email was a way of checking in after a meeting that went on five hours longer than any previously held, owing in part to an influx of new members.
Given Amnesty’s job is to keep an eye on some of the world’s nastiest human rights abusers, we imagine things must have been pretty heated to lead to sending such a conciliatory email.
According to our spies in the room, the source of much tension wasn’t members’ reaction to former Labor MP Belinda “Iguanagate” Neal finally winning a seat on the board. Instead, the ongoing fallout from the organisation’s confused, mealy mouthed response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine dominated proceedings.
Things got particularly heated toward the end of the marathon meeting, when local Ukrainian activists and anti-CCP bomb-lobber Drew Pavlou introduced a motion calling for a retraction of a 2022 Amnesty International report which accused Kyiv of endangering civilians, and was used by Russia to justify its atrocities.
Senior Amnesty figures insisted on holding a Google doc ballot for this motion, despite its movers wanting to vote via a show of hands. In response, some Amnesty figures argued an “in-person” show of hands vote might make people feel “unsafe”.
The irony of AGM-goers feeling threatened by a Zoom call was not lost on the Ukrainians in attendance.
BOOKED OUT
Supporters of the proposed Indigenous Voice to parliament are a literary lot, if sales figures from Readings booksellers are anything to go by.
Figures from the last week in May show a pro-Voice title outselling a naysaying tome by a factor of 100-to-1.
Janet Albrechtsen lost out to Kerry O’Brien in the Readings sales war.Credit: John Shakespeare
Beyond Belief: Rethinking the Voice to Parliament was published in November 2022 and brings together the musings of a dozen high-profile conservative pundits regularly featured in the opinion pages of News Corp papers.
That includes former prime minister Tony Abbott, Labor president turned-Liberal wannabe Warren Nyunggai Mundine, hardline columnist Janet Albrechtsen and a few other usual suspects.
Readings moved just 55 copies of that effort last week, with 30 going to an institution whose identity the bookseller sadly didn’t reveal.
On the other side of the aisle, Uluru Statement from the Heart signatory Thomas Mayo’s joint effort with former 7.30 host Kerry O’Brien, The Voice to Parliament Handbook: All the Detail You Need, was flying off the shelves with nearly 5000 copies sold, making it to No.2 on the chain’s bestseller list, outsold only by home cooking sensation Nagi Maehashi (aka RecipeTin Eats).
While there’s a fair way to go before the referendum, if book sales were votes, we could all pack up and go home right now.
Voice-supporting Readings managing director Mark Rubbo certainly hopes so.
“I’m pretty chuffed at those figures; I hope they are significant,” he told us.
BELL RINGER
Earlier this year, NSW Chief Justice Andrew Bell warned that a wave of repossession cases could hit the courts as Australians struggled with “extreme mortgage stress”.
It’s fair to say Bell isn’t feeling the pinch quite like most home owners, having just filed a development application with Northern Beaches Council to give his Palm Beach house a moderate facelift.
The four-bedder, shared with Bell’s wife, ASIC executive director, financial services and wealth Joanna Bird, will get a $350,000 makeover, which includes adding a second balcony.
That leaves more space for the state’s top judge to enjoy his sweeping ocean view and pontificate on the plight of the mortgage-stressed battlers.
The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.