Gay Today: World

Australia's Prime Minister
Mired in Homophobic Scandal

Compiled by GayToday

Australia's Prime Minister John Howard is now reaping what he's sewn for befriending the fanatical homophobe, Senator Heffernan

Sydney Australia-Homophobic Senator Bill Heffernan's failed attempt to smear openly-gay High Court Justice Michael Kirby is creating severe problems for Prime Minister John Howard who is the homophobe's good friend.

Stephen Loosley, writing in the Sydney Sunday Telegraph (March 24) says that there is little sympathy for Senator Heffernan now that his attack on Justice Kirby has been shown to be based on what police have called falsified documents.

"Few in either Government or Opposition ranks" writes Mr. Loosley, "can understand how a person of the Prime Minister's unquestioned political skills could trust anyone who is so dumb as to be fooled by a document of such threadbare legitimacy as the forged Comcar docket."

"Labor remembers," writes Mr. Loosley, "(Heffernan's) perceived role in the remorseless pursuit of Senator Nick Sherry, which led directly to Sherry's attempted suicide."

"By the end of last week," according to the Telegraph's reporter, "there was actually more than a little disappointment in the ranks of the parliamentary Labor Party that the Senator had done so much to bring on his own end unaided."

He adds:

"(Prime Minister) John Howard's credibility has been severely damaged by the Heffernan episode… A majority of federal Labor MPs thinks that Heffernan should be obliged to resign from the Senate."

Related Stories from the GayToday Archive:
Controversy Follows Attack on Australian Justice

Australian Prime Minister's Support for Homophobe Backfires

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The Age: The Contradictions in Prime Minister John Howard's Values
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Faced by such calls for the homophobic Senator's resignation, the Prime Minister is standing by his man, according to Matt Price and Mike Steketee in The Australian (March 23). Speaking of Senator Heffernan, Prime Minister Howard is quoted: "He has paid a very heavy and deserved penalty for the mistake he made…He has suffered an enormous public humiliation, I don't believe the grounds exist for him to resign from the Senate."

Leo Schofield, of The Sydney Sunday Telegraph writes: "What an odious toad this Heffernan is."

E-mail your thoughts to Australian Prime Minister John Howard: http://www.pm.gov.au/your_feedback/feedback.htm