Thank you for your patience.

Bruce Lehrmann has been demonised from one end of the country to the other.

He has never been found guilty of anything and barely given the benefit of the doubt.

Brittany Higgins has been turned into a saint and gets book deals, guest speaking engagements, and a whopping secretive payout from the government.

Now Bruce has chosen to be interviewed for TV to tell his side of the story.

Lehrmann was never treated with fairness by the likes of Lisa Wilkinson, Channel 10, 7Nil Milligan, Fairfax and the ABC.

Now the cranky haters are trying to cook up an advertiser boycott against the station airing his interview. 

Meanwhile Brittany and the self-proclaimed ‘mover and shaker’ boyfriend (with the interesting past himself) are enjoying the payout.

"I have experienced racism in the Greens": Deputy Leader Mehreen Faruqi has spoken out about racism, just days after Independent senator Lidia Thorpe, announced she'll lodge a racism complaint against her former party.

Read more: https://t.co/oZKbUADnWT pic.twitter.com/52DbGGM1mY

— SBS News (@SBSNews) May 31, 2023

Hi Michael.

 

I hope you are well.

 

Not sure if you're interested in this, but I wrote a letter to the Richmond Football Club explaining why I have discontinued any support for them, based on their public announcement supporting a yes vote in the voice referendum.

 

G

I've exchanged correspondence with James and have spoken with other media industry figures who confirm his story.

Tracey Spicer has a lot to answer for.

Reading about the recent Phillip Schofield ITV scandal in the UK has stirred up deep emotions. Its eerie familiarity has been deeply triggering - as if I'm watching a personal story of mine and others I know of unfold once again.

As a survivor, I've witnessed countless others trying to break their silence, just as I did. In Australia we pinned our hopes on movements like the #metoo initiative, spearheaded by Tracey Spicer. It was meant to be our megaphone, amplifying our voices, but instead, it felt like an exclusive club primarily for privileged white women and in my opinion, just didn't do justice to reflect the diversity of people affected.

I want to share something publicly that I've kept private until now: I was among those who confided in Spicer when she put the call out for disclosures from within the Australian entertainment industry, I emailed Spicer a confidential disclosure. I was shattered when I later discovered the email had been used on screen without any form of blurring (in the preview copy) of her 2019 documentary, "Silent No More". This copy was distributed to media outlets throughout the industry and the entirely viewable disclosure was seen on her computer monitor in close up and included complete identifying information relating to perpetrators, locations, and more.

https://www.news.com.au/national/unprofessional-unethical-unsafe-abc-breaches-rape-victims-privacy-in-new-tracey-spicer-documentary/news-story/584bcc2fc1bb28c534ff8d7a79e660f1

It turns out I was not the only one who fell victim to this breach of confidentiality. Reports at the time claimed only women were impacted by this confidentiality breach, when in reality that was not the case. When the story broke in 2019 and questions began to be asked, the media was incorrectly informed that I had willingly given consent. However, at the time it was being circulated, I wasn't even aware of the documentary's existence.

What followed was an orchestrated series of attempts to coerce and retrofit my consent, twisting events and details. The climax of this ordeal was a meeting where I was led to believe I signing consent documents for something entirely different, but during this meeting, an error led to me being shown the preview copy which contained my unblurred disclosure.

When the program went to air it still included the disclosure however it was now only partially blurred but still contained identifiable information. A legal journey, began when I found myself spending Christmas Eve in meetings with lawyers working through the logistics of filing an injunction against the ABC for its removal.

Ultimately what I'd hoped would be a platform for my voice turned into a gross misuse of my story. My confidential disclosure became a mere prop for Spicer's documentary.

I teamed up with advocate and writer Nina Funnell, and we worked together over the next few years forensically combing through everything to bring the true story together with the view to be published via the media. I eventually made the difficult decision that I ultimately had no choice but to reveal my identity, I was determined people needed to understand I was someone real behind the headlines.

With great difficulty, I completed a publicity shoot and we had it all in the can but at the last moment when the Craig McLoughlin cases were making headlines, the story was dropped. I felt used was misled once again. Was I the ONLY one that had the guts to speak out? It was only going to work if the media could match my gut and determination, but sadly it seemed it couldn't.?

Perhaps this is reflective of the overall societal disposition in Australia. In my opinion, we are quite piss weak, furthermore, a story like this appears to be deemed just too risky for mainstream media to contemplate, especially with so many skeletons in their own closets. When you take a step back you realize, after all, this is the media reporting on itself!

I've also come to realize that stories of male survivors like myself just don't fit neatly into the mainstream narrative, especially if you add being gay into the mix.

Yet, observing the public response to the Phillip Schofield scandal, I am hopeful. It has proven that maybe that is beginning to change, perhaps people are beginning to now understand that abuse or situations of power imbalances aren't exclusive to one gender or sexual orientation - it can, and does happen to men as well.

The truth is though, the Australian entertainment industry isn't immune, either.

When will the industry fully confront its demons?

Just what will it take?

I placed my trust in movements and figures that promised to advocate for survivors, only to experience fresh trauma. My story has now become a tale within a tale - a story about the consequences of speaking out.

So, how many more of us need to raise our voices before we're heard? I am still here, ready to share my story and stand alongside other survivors. Maybe next time we have an opportunity to truly address this issue, we'll seize it. not squander it like before!

Perhaps then, and only then will we see true diversity and representation of the reality of the range of people this affects.

Only then will the healing even begin to start, and the hope of ever preventing these things ever again.

I tried to speak out not only for me but for others as well, I speak out today for the same reasons.

I know I am not alone – if you are a survivor please know YOU are NOT alone either!

Author: James Paterson

contact: [email protected]

Senator James McGrath: Secretary, how much do you earn?

 

James: Oh Senator, I don't have that matter to hand. 

 

Senator James McGrath: You don't know how much you get paid?

 

James : Um

 

Senator James McGrath: We're in the middle of a cost of living crisis and you don't know how much you get paid. Says plenty. Out of touch. Most Australians know exactly what they get paid. It's their total focus. 

I'm going to give the tried and trusted old comment system (ie where you can reply to others) another go.

I'd really appreciate any feedback on how it goes.

Thank you,

Michael

UPDATE

The plot thickens.

In my location in Indonesia all comments are showing properly.

In London, all comments are showing properly.

But when I connect to the internet via a VPN connection in Australia - the comments disappear.

If you have a VPN, could you please do us a favour?  Connect via the UK and let me know about your experience.

If we haven't got this resolved satisfactorily by tomorrow morning, I'll revert to the default system, where comments appear to be reliable, but the 'reply to' feature is not available.

Thank you for your patience.

Michael