Porter Families South Australia

Editorial: The Porter girls

 

The important word in that sentence is ‘all.’ Given that it is well known around the world that the approach to addressing the problem of prostitution promoted so vigorously by Attorney General Christian Porter and Premier Colin Barnett has failed spectacularly on every occasion where it has been implemented (Holland, Victoria, New South Wales to name just a few), it will not be much of a surprise if the legalised brothels in the suburbs Premier Barnett’s Government so dogmatically proposes are re-named Family Entertainment Centres. Wherever prostitution has been legalised in Australia and abroad its associated evils such as police corruption, increased control by criminal organisations and shocking examples of suburban violence have sprouted, hydra-like. The result has been tragic everywhere and good nowhere. It strongly tempts the formulation of a new verb for the English language. ‘To porterise’ may come to be defined as the adamant refusal to acknowledge all previous evidence to the contrary and to resolutely set one’s self on the path to failure. The philosophical principle is simple. When one refuses to acknowledge or analyse the essence of any problem it becomes impossible to solve it. This is the primary flaw in the approach of Attorney General Christian Porter, the main architect of the current proposal to legalise prostitution. Subsequent attempts to redefine a problem out of existence (by, for example, legalising it) results in a delusional state and an even worse situation than before. The primary problem with all prostitution, legal or illegal, which the Premier and the Attorney General have not acknowledged is that it is first and foremost a form of slavery which depends for its success on the physical, spiritual, psychological and sexual degradation of its victims and leads overwhelmingly to their destruction. This failure in basic diagnosis is one of the very disturbing aspects of Mr Porter’s push for legalisation as a solution. If drug-crazed bikies shoot dead strippers and prostitutes and anyone else happening to be standing around in the streets at the time or who, God-forbid, seeks to come to the aid of an injured person, let the Attorney General then explain defensively to journalists that it was not his fault that it happened, it was all really because his policy was never properly implemented in the first place.

On the path of success | Milduraweekly

THE Kokoda Track is recognised as one of the toughest, most challenging, heartbreaking and exhausting – and if you finish – rewarding, treks in the world.

People from around the world, but mainly from Australia and New Zealand, train for months to prepare themselves, physically and mentally, for the 100-kilometre adventure.

On average, one in 10 don’t make it. Some have had to be airlifted out. Others have died trying to get over the worst sections.

Trekkers have to overcome steep hills, treacherous footholds, fast-flowing streams, rocky patches, a slippery path, precarious makeshift ‘bridges,’ humidity, monsoonal rain and other obstacles… day after day for an average eight days.

By the time they have finished walking the track made famous by the courageous exploits of our World War Two Diggers and their Fuzzy Wuzzy Angel helpers, trekkers will have cumulatively climbed the equivalent of half-way up Mount Everest!

Most of the adventurers who decide to tackle the Kokoda Track never want to go back. There are a handful of people, including some from Mildura, who have done the walk a few times.

And then there’s porters like Papua-New Guinea’s Robert Bamawe, 35. He’s walked the track a staggering 36 times, each time carrying 26 kilograms of food, camping and cooking equipment for clients.

Robert, a direct descendent of the ‘Fuzzy Wuzzies’ who were the saviour of many an Aussie Digger after the Japanese invaded PNG, has just spent a week in Mildura as the guest of former Merbein resident Gavin Hogg, now a winemaker in the Coonawarra region of South Australia, and who still has strong business links with the region through his Kopparossa Wines brand.

Robert was Gavin’s porter when he did the Kokoda Track as a 55-year-old in 2007… he describes it as probably the toughest thing he’s ever done, and has great respect for Robert and the other porters who do the trek on a regular basis. A few years ago, Robert completed 10 treks in one season!

Quietly-spoken, reserved, hugely respectful, well read and with a good grasp of English, Robert took the opportunity while in Mildura to give a brief talk to prospective trekkers and mentors from the Mallee Accommodation Support Scheme, which is making preparations for the fifth group trek under the leadership of Ken Innes.

He said Robert spoke from the heart about his country, and the job he loves.

Robert and his fellow porters, ranging in age from 14 to 50, are employed by the Australian-based trekking firm ‘No-roads Expeditions,’ which charges around $3000 per person for the eight-day trekking experience, not including air fares.

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