8chan/8kun QResearch AUSTRALIA Posts (12)
#20108528 at 2023-12-21 10:43:40 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #34: UNITED AGAINST THE INVISIBLE ENEMY OF ALL HUMANITY Edition
Anglican Church finds former governor-general Peter Hollingworth failed children over reporting obligations
JOHN FERGUSON - DECEMBER 21, 2023
The Anglican Church has found against former governor-general Peter Hollingworth over two allegations of significant neglect of a child regarding his handling of a sex abuse scandal.
An internal Anglican investigation into seven allegations has found against Dr Hollingworth twice on the grounds of an alleged failure to take action to protect children.
Sources familiar with the probe said Victoria's Commission for Children and Young People had been alerted to the internal findings and the matter would be referred to authorities to determine what action was to be taken. The findings related to "significant neglect" of a child, sources said.
Under the investigation protocols, the inquiry was conducted by the church but overseen by the CCYP.
Friends of Dr Hollingworth, 88, said the former archbishop had no intention of working with children and had not done so for a significant amount of time.
The church said: "Archbishop Philip Freier, who leads the ?diocese, takes his responsibility as the head of entity with mandatory reporting obligations under the Act, very seriously.
"The diocese ensures that any information about harm to a child that falls under the mandatory reporting regime is reported to the CCYP."
The investigation findings come after Dr Hollingworth this year was found to have mishandled abuse complaints against two clergy members, John Elliot and Donald Shearman, both of whom he allowed to remain in the church while he was archbishop of Brisbane in the 1980s
That board inquiry also found he had made unsatisfactory ?comments about abuse survivor Beth Heinrich ?in a 2002 episode of ? ABC TV's Australian Story.
A CCYP spokesman said the organisation was unable to ?comment on individual cases under the state's reportable ?conduct scheme or child safety standards.
"Under the reportable conduct scheme, investigations are carried out by organisations under the commission's oversight, with findings required to be reported to us,'' he said.
"The commission then refers any substantiated findings to Working with Children Check Victoria, which can then review whether a person is suitable to maintain their Working with Children Check.
"The commission may also make recommendations to an organisation about improving their reporting and investigation of allegations. The findings of investigations cannot be publicly released.
"In addition, the commission may undertake action, including investigations, to ensure organisations are meeting their obligations under Victoria's Child Safe Standards to adequately respond to child safety complaints.''
Chris Goddard a global expert on child abuse, said the latest development reconfirmed his view that Dr Hollingworth's governor-general's pension should be cut and the cash given to abuse victims. "This is just another opportunity to review his extravagant pension,'' Professor Goddard said.
Details of the two substantiated allegations - as determined by the church - have not been made public.
However, Dr Hollingworth has been widely condemned for his failure to deal with the child sex abuse scandal in Brisbane and his handling of offenders.
This includes keeping known offenders in the ministry, even in the face of strong evidence against them.
The constant publicity about his time as archbishop and governor-general have taken a toll on Dr Hollingworth, who was once the nation's main advocate for social justice.
A separate, church-initiated inquiry into Dr Hollingworth ?earlier this year found him guilty of seven counts of misconduct.
But at the time the board did not defrock him or strip him of the right to officiate; the committee had sought for him to lose the right to officiate, and says it submitted that it was open for the board to recommend his removal from holy orders.
But on May 12, Dr Hollingworth announced his intention to return his permission to officiate and this was accepted by the church on May 19.
On May 23, at the request of the committee, Dr Hollingworth gave an undertaking he would not apply in the future for a permission to officiate anywhere in Australia.
Comment was sought from Dr Hollingworth and the church.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/church-finds-former-governorgeneral-peter-hollingworth-failed-children-over-reporting-obligations/news-story/0ba4602aaf65dc01970dce41928bf3eb
#18422578 at 2023-02-28 05:57:58 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #27: THEY ARE IN FULL BLOWN PANIC MODE Edition
#27 - Part 41
Child Sexual Abuse, Pedophilia, Human Trafficking and Satanism Investigations - Part 4
>>18401557 A Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania school district is opening its doors to an After School Satan Club. It says its hands are tied by the law - Saucon Valley's superintendent defended a decision to allow a newly approved After School Satan Club to rent space at the district's middle school, saying in a letter sent Monday night the district legally can't discriminate against the group
>>18401628 Twitter, TikTok and Google ordered to explain efforts to crack down on child abuse trade - Twitter, TikTok and Google have been hit with legal threats from Australia's eSafety commissioner, who is demanding information on what they are doing to combat the vile trade in child exploitation material on their platforms - Legal notices were issued to the companies, as well as Twitch and Discord, along with a deadline of 35 days to respond or face daily fines of up to $700,000
>>18402307 Abuse survivors complain of being shut out of church hearing into former governor-general Peter Hollingworth - Two weeks ago, former governor-general Peter Hollingworth walked into the hearing that will decide if he should be stripped of holy orders over his handling of child sex abuse cases as Anglican archbishop of Brisbane in the 1990s - But only one of his accusers, Beth Heinrich, was there and says she was told she would only have the opportunity to read a victim impact statement - Most of those who brought complaints against Dr Hollingworth, who remains a bishop in the church, say they were not invited to take part at all
>>18417946 Malka Leifer was a 'replacement mother' to alleged victims, sex abuse trial hears - Former school principal Malka Leifer was spoken about in "glowing terms" and was considered a "replacement mother" for three sisters who came from a broken home, the County Court of Victoria has heard
>>18417971 AFP using digital forensics, online investigative techniques to catch Aussie offenders in Cambodia - Australian Federal Police are investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in new technology - and training police internationally - to track down Aussies involved in child exploitation rings - New online tactics by AFP officers and police on the ground in Cambodia are being used to support victims and identify, arrest and prosecute child abusers before they leave Australian shores
>>18418109 What life was really like inside the doomsday cult run by the paedophile known as 'Little Pebble' - His devotees call him Little Pebble; his victims know him as a paedophile - William Costellia Kamm is the self-appointed leader of a notorious doomsday cult that formed its headquarters in 1987, based in a secure compound in Cambewarra, just outside Nowra on the NSW South Coast - He declared his compound the Holy Ground, a new promised land for his followers for when the apocalyptic second coming of Christ would wipe out most of mankind
>>18418116 Video: Why self-described prophet Little Pebble is an evil menace - "He likes to be called Little Pebble and he wants people to believe he's a man of God. But he's not. His real name is William Costellia Kamm. And he's evil. Back in the 1980s he set up a doomsday cult, claiming to his followers he could speak to the Virgin Mary. He then spun the lie that God wanted him to have multiple wives so he could repopulate the earth. This very creepy man's real ambition was to have sex with underage girls. When he was caught, he went to prison for a decade. Now he's out, and there are substantial fears he's up to his old tricks." - 60 Minutes Australia
#18422575 at 2023-02-28 05:56:44 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #27: THEY ARE IN FULL BLOWN PANIC MODE Edition
#27 - Part 39
Child Sexual Abuse, Pedophilia, Human Trafficking and Satanism Investigations - Part 2
>>18269183 Probe into botched pedophile response inches closer - The Anglican Church's inquiry into whether to defrock former governor-general Peter Hollingworth over his mishandling of the child sex abuse issue is due to meet next week but survivors are questioning whether further delays will be added to the glacial, five-year process
>>18288442 Push to have disgraced former governor-general Peter Hollingworth defrocked to be heard by Anglican Church panel - Five years ago, an Anglican church investigator said there was enough evidence on the public record to defrock the disgraced former Archbishop for his failure to act on evidence of sexual abuse in the church - Yet Dr Hollingworth remains a bishop and the 87-year-old draws a vice-regal pension worth hundreds of thousands of dollars a year - Victim-survivors of Anglican abuse hope that will change after this week - when the church's special independent investigator, Kooyoora, finally hears the case against Dr Hollingworth
>>18288457 Outcry as Melbourne's Anglican Church sexual abuse reviews drag on - A judge-led review of the Anglican diocese of Melbourne's professional standards framework that investigated whether its response to sex abuse and other complaints was quick enough has been quietly warehoused by the church at the same time as it is embroiled in a messy five-year delay over whether to defrock former governor-general Peter Hollingworth
>>18288470 Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews set to formally apologise to child sexual abuse survivors in parliament - Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews is set to make a formal apology to survivors of institutional sexual abuse, including that which occurred in state government schools - The government said the historic apology will be delivered in parliament later this year
>>18299656 Peter Hollingworth's sex abuse hearing shut to the public - Potentially damaging evidence of former governor-general Peter Hollingworth's handling of the child sex abuse crisis will be kept secret despite attempts by a survivor to have the Anglican Church-inspired proceedings made open to the public
>>18299680 Abuse survivor tells of pain at Peter Hollingworth tribunal - Child abuse survivor Beth Heinrich has stared down former governor-general Peter Hollingworth in an emotional statement read to the tribunal that must decide whether to defrock the veteran Anglican
>>18299768 Australian football legend Barry Cable named as the accused in a long-running child sex abuse case - North Melbourne champion and Indigenous Team of the Century member Barry Cable has never been charged over the alleged incidents but will face a civil trial over the psychological damage caused when he allegedly sexually abused a girl at the peak of his playing career
>>18299786 2 years after extradition from Israel, Malka Leifer's trial commences in Australia - Closed session at Victoria County Court held to select jury; proceedings against ex-principal accused of abusing her students expected to last roughly six weeks - The trial of Malka Leifer, a former Haredi girls' school principal accused of sexually abusing her students in Melbourne, commenced two years after she was extradited to Australia from Israel, where she fled in order to evade prosecution 15 years ago
>>18306065 Australia hosts the eighth Bali Process Ministerial Conference in Adelaide - Australia will host key Southeast Asian and Pacific partners to tackle people smuggling, human trafficking and modern slavery - Foreign Minister Penny Wong will be joined by Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus and Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil, businessman Andrew Forrest and Pak Garibaldi Thohir, chief executive of major coal exporter Adaro Energy
>>18306149 Barry Cable sexual assault civil trial hears witness will also allege football star abused her - Lawyers for a woman who alleges she was sexually abused by football champion Barry Cable say they intend to call evidence from another woman who also claims she was abused by the now 79-year-old in the 1980s and 90s
#18402307 at 2023-02-24 11:16:24 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #27: THEY ARE IN FULL BLOWN PANIC MODE Edition
>>18269183
Abuse survivors complain of being shut out of church hearing into former governor-general Peter Hollingworth
Ben Knight and Richard Willingham - 23 February 2023
1/2
Two weeks ago, former governor-general Peter Hollingworth walked into the hearing that will decide if he should be stripped of holy orders over his handling of child sex abuse cases as Anglican archbishop of Brisbane in the 1990s.
But only one of his accusers, Beth Heinrich, was there - and says she was told she would only have the opportunity to read a victim impact statement.
"I remember a lawyer from Kooyoora trying to dissuade me from attending as it was too traumatic," she said.
"But I said, 'I do need to be there.'"
Most of those who brought complaints against Dr Hollingworth, who remains a bishop in the church, say they were not invited to take part at all.
Concerns about the process have been shared by the State's Children's Commissioner who said the five-year process had "not met reasonable community expectations".
The hearing, which began on February 6 and ran for four days, was closed to public and the media.
Advocates for survivors of church abuse have said there is already enough evidence on the public record to defrock Dr Hollingworth - including a finding by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that Dr Hollingworth made a serious error of judgement by allowing confessed paedophile John Eliot to remain in the church.
One said he was not even told the hearing was on until he received what he described as an apologetic call the day after it ended, from Fiona Boyle, the CEO of Kooyoora - the agency charged with handling and investigating complaints.
"She told me there had been some confusion about which member of the Kooyoora team was supposed to get in contact with him," said Brian*, who was abused from the age of nine in Brisbane by John Elliot at the Church of England Boys' Society.
"I told her she should be ashamed," he said. "She said, 'I am,' - and offered me a contact for trauma counselling."
Brian - and numerous others who have been waiting decades for this case to be heard - say they have been shut out and ignored.
Until that phone call, Brian said he had not heard from Kooyoora since 2021.
"I was told about the original hearing date in 2021, but I was never even informed that it was postponed," he said.
"I was promised constant updates, but they never happened.
"It's evident to me that if you're not contacting them, you're not going to get anything back."
"It's like the royal commission never happened," said Pamela*, whose child was a victim of alleged abuse at a Queensland Anglican college in the 1990s.
She wrote to Kooyoora's director of professional standards in 2022, asking when the hearing would be held, and if complainants would be brought to Melbourne to attend. She says she never received a response.
"The church said they would be model litigants,'' she said.
"Instead, the Kooyoora experience has been uninviting and non-transparent. It was far too secretive."
Pamela and Brian are among numerous complainants spoken to by the ABC who say they are angry they did not get the chance to see their case presented - and have no idea what went on inside the hearing room.
"I have never spoken with Kooyoora's current barrister," Brian said.
"It seems impossible she could be across it all."
Even more frustrating for complainants is that five years ago, a previous Kooyoora investigator said there was more than enough evidence on the public record for the Archbishop of Melbourne, Philip Freier, to defrock Dr Hollingworth without the need for a hearing.
That investigator's employment with Kooyoora ended shortly afterward, and his recommendation was never acted on.
(continued)
#18325076 at 2023-02-11 13:45:35 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #27: THEY ARE IN FULL BLOWN PANIC MODE Edition
>>18325068
3/3
The nemesis
In many ways, Beth Heinrich has been Hollingworth's nemesis.
Heinrich, now in her 80s, was sexually abused from the age of 14 by the late Anglican priest and bishop Donald Shearman, and Hollingworth was reported by the ABC as saying she had encouraged that abuse.
(He contests the reporting, arguing that he was referring to a later period when the relationship started again, both as adults. Either way, it reflects badly on Hollingworth, given Heinrich's decades-long battle with the effects of the child abuse she suffered.)
"Dr Hollingworth regrets making the comment but he did not say what the ABC said he did," his lawyers wrote to the national broadcaster this week.
The inquiry is also believed to have heard argument this week about the role Hollingworth played in a failed mediation in the 1990s involving Heinrich's abuser.
Heinrich, many years his junior, said Shearman had formed a sexual relationship with her when she was sent to a church hostel. A storm was created when Hollingworth was reported saying: "There was no suggestion of rape or anything like that; quite the contrary. My information is it was rather the other way around."
Heinrich, as much as anyone, has kept piling on the pressure over the church's handling of her case, which seems likely to head to the courts again, regardless of the board's findings.
The Shearman abuse and the church's response to her has had an undeniable impact on her long-term health.
Heinrich had several people supporting her this week, including lawyers Judy Courtin and Professor Gideon Boas, and UniSA adjunct professor Chris Goddard.
Goddard, a global expert on child sex abuse, is in awe of Heinrich's resilience.
"She is just amazing," he said after Heinrich read her victim statement to the board.
Heinrich wrote to the tribunal last year: "Of course none of this dragged-out drama is necessary. It can easily be solved. He should find the integrity, finally do the right thing and quietly resign."
One of the core arguments made by survivors is that Hollingworth, as a former governor-general, has profited enormously via the generous entitlements afforded to ex-governors-general but many of the church's abuse victims have battled with compromised health and careers.
Courtin, in a submission to the inquiry this week requesting the tribunal be open to the public, estimated Hollingworth had received $12m in taxpayer-funded benefits since he stood down in disgrace in 2003. Successive federal governments have been lobbied to remove Hollingworth's entitlements with no success, and the Greens have now reinvigorated attempts to give parliament the power to remove the largesse if former G-Gs have engaged in serious misconduct.
Australians have known for years many of the facts around Hollingworth's behaviour but they will never know the full deliberations of the Anglicans' Professional Standards Board.
Critics from the survivor community believe the church's own complaints system is on trial almost as much as Hollingworth.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/peter-hollingworth-the-anglican-church-and-a-long-fall-from-grace/news-story/4b8ec92eb958b2d3ed0e6a72be9e1370
#18299680 at 2023-02-07 07:52:01 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #27: THEY ARE IN FULL BLOWN PANIC MODE Edition
>>18269183
Abuse survivor tells of pain at Peter Hollingworth tribunal
JOHN FERGUSON - FEBRUARY 7, 2023
Child abuse survivor Beth Heinrich has stared down former ?governor-general Peter Hollingworth in an emotional statement read to the tribunal that must ?decide whether to defrock the ?veteran Anglican.
Ms Heinrich said she was vilified by Dr Hollingworth more than 20 years ago when he was widely reported questioning whether she was abused as a ?teenager by a priest who would later become a bishop.
Mr Hollingworth, through his lawyers, complained on Tuesday to the ABC for the second time, arguing the original reporting was wrong and he was not talking about Ms Heinrich as a 14-year-old.
Ms Heinrich was given the opportunity to read her impact statement to the Anglican-inspired tribunal that will decide what, if any, action should be taken over Dr Hollingworth's handling of the abuse issue while Archbishop of Brisbane in the 1990s and when governor-general between 2001 and 2003.
The tribunal is held in secret, but The Australian has previously reported comments from the statement that Ms Heinrich prepared for the inquiry.
The inquiry is also believed to have heard argument about the role that Dr Hollingworth played in a failed mediation in the 1990s involving Ms Heinrich's attacker, the late Donald Shearman. Dr Hollingworth was at the failed mediation nearly 30 years ago.
"You are looking at me and perhaps I look OK on the outside, but that's not how I feel," Ms Heinrich's statement prepared for the tribunal read.
"If I allowed myself to be me I would have to start cutting my arms to show people how much I was hurting. I am afraid to be me because it hurts too much. I feel like I am someone else."
The statement attacked the extraordinary delays in the inquiry, which has run for at least five years.
Ms Heinrich is in her 80s and Dr Hollingworth is 87.
"Of course none of this dragged out drama is necessary," she wrote to the tribunal last year. "It can easily be solved. He should find the integrity, finally do the right thing and quietly resign."
The tribunal has received evidence from several complainants and must determine whether Dr Hollingworth should be punished by the Anglican Church.
Ms Heinrich was sexually abused as a teenager by Shearman, who was later deposed from holy orders. She said Shearman had formed a sexual relationship with her when she was sent to a church hostel. Dr Hollingworth created a storm when he was reported saying: "There was no suggestion of rape or anything like that; quite the contrary. My information is it was rather the other way around."
Lawyers for Dr Hollingworth on Tuesday wrote to ABC managing director David Anderson complaining that the original Australian Story was wrongly edited to create the impression that Dr Hollingworth was accusing a teenage Ms Heinrich of causing her own abuse.
But Dr Hollingworth's lawyers said he was selectively quoted to create the impression he was referring to a child when he claimed he wasn't.
"The ABC knows that its journalism has been vigorously contested through an earlier complaint, yet does not even mention Dr Hollingworth's protests in its reporting,'' the letter states. "He is damned on national television and print when the ABC know, better than anyone, that the line they are running is not true.
"There was a complaint to the ABC managing director at the time in 2005 and I note that by some strange twist of fate that the ABC were never able to produce the unedited tapes of the interviews to examine its editing.
"This issue of the ABC program and its editing has come up on a number of occasions over the subsequent years."
The ABC did not comment on the letter.
The tribunal is continuing.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/peter-hollingworth-hearing-to-hear-from-abuse-survivor/news-story/6720a458407463acbe27ee5408b33c7c
#18299656 at 2023-02-07 07:44:54 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #27: THEY ARE IN FULL BLOWN PANIC MODE Edition
>>18269183
Peter Hollingworth's sex abuse hearing shut to the public
JOHN FERGUSON - FEBRUARY 6, 2023
Potentially damaging evidence of former governor-general Peter Hollingworth's handling of the child sex abuse crisis will be kept secret despite attempts by a ?survivor to have the Anglican Church-inspired proceedings made open to the public.
Lawyer Judy Courtin for complainant Beth Heinrich argued in a submission to the Professional Standards Board on Monday that Dr Hollingworth had received as much as $12m worth of taxpayer-funded pension and benefits after being forced out as governor-general in 2003.
Ms Courtin argued that it was in the public interest and the interests of open justice that the whole of the proceedings be held in public, but The Australian and other media were denied access to the tribunal in Melbourne's law precinct.
However, it is expected that Ms Heinrich will be able to sit in on any hearings that relate to her complaint against Dr Hollingworth, who wrongly claimed that as a teenager she had encouraged abuse committed against her by a senior church figure.
"The objectives and outcomes of the decision-making process of the PSB are matters of public importance and it is self-evidently in the public interest that they be open and transparent, as should be its processes and procedures," Ms Courtin argued in correspondence with the board.
Dr Hollingworth is facing several complaints from his time as archbishop of Brisbane in the 1990s and as governor-general between 2001 and 2003 and could be defrocked by the Diocese of Melbourne under the internal disciplinary process set up by the church but billed as independent by the Anglican organisation.
Aged 87, Dr Hollingworth ?arrived at the Victorian Bar ?Mediation Centre with a large contingent, using a walking stick for support and wearing a grey suit and blue tie. He appeared frail and did not respond to questions about his day at the tribunal.
It took five years for Dr Hollingworth to be brought to face questions raised by as many as 12 complainants. The process is highly secretive and a member of Dr Hollingworth's group said the former governor-general was not allowed to discuss the hearings.
Ms Heinrich, aged in her 80s, said she expected to attend the tribunal on Tuesday, where her victim impact statement may be read.
"Dr Hollingworth needs to know this is just the beginning," she said.
Dr Hollingworth allowed a pedophile priest in 1993 to continue to work against a specialist's advice, gave incorrect evidence to a 2002 abuse inquiry, and blamed Ms Heinrich for encouraging offending against her by a man who rose to become a bishop.
Ms Heinrich was sexually abused as a teenager by late Anglican bishop Donald Shearman, who was later deposed from holy orders. She said Shearman had formed a sexual relationship with her when she was sent to a church hostel. Dr Hollingworth created a storm when he claimed: "There was no suggestion of rape or anything like that; quite the contrary. My information is it was rather the other way around."
Dr Hollingworth has contested how the quote was reported.
Monday marked the end of a five-year battle by survivors for Dr Hollingworth to be brought before the board, which has a ?series of options that include defrocking him, as well as less punitive responses.
There has been speculation about his health but, while showing his age, Dr Hollingworth was able to move with the aid of a walking stick about 100m to a waiting car when the first day's proceedings ended.
The secrecy surrounding the PSB process means there is very little information available on what investigators are examining.
Dr Hollingworth was never an abuser but was condemned by survivors over his actions when he was an archbishop and commentary he made while he was governor-general.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/peter-hollingworth-in-hearing-on-defrocking-over-handling-of-child-sex-claims/news-story/d5207fc922419ee18ade60e68c3adfdc
#18288457 at 2023-02-05 08:47:30 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #27: THEY ARE IN FULL BLOWN PANIC MODE Edition
>>18269183
Outcry as Melbourne's Anglican Church sexual abuse reviews drag on
JOHN FERGUSON - FEBRUARY 5, 2023
A judge-led review of the Anglican diocese of Melbourne's professional standards framework that investigated whether its response to sex abuse and other complaints was quick enough has been quietly warehoused by the church at the same time as it is embroiled in a messy five-year delay over whether to defrock ?former governor-general Peter Hollingworth.
The diocese of Melbourne was handed the review findings in April last year into its professional standards legislation but is not set to formally act on any reforms until at least October this year, further angering survivors who have for years been denied a ruling on Dr Hollingworth's place in the church.
The glacial response comes as Dr Hollingworth is due to face the church's independent professional standards board this week, in secret, to defend claims he bungled the handling of the child sex abuse response while he was archbishop of Brisbane and in his responses while governor-general.
The diocese of Melbourne agreed in 2021 to set up a review panel of its professional standards framework headed by retired Supreme Court judge David Harper to examine whether the church law and the broader system were working efficiently.
The church said the review had examined the work of the Professional Standards Uniform Act 2016, which set up the framework for how the church enabled complaints to be investigated: "The panel's terms of reference included whether the overriding purposes of the (act) remained appropriate and if they are, how they may best be achieved.
"The first of these purposes is to enable complaints to be dealt with justly, quickly and inexpensively."
The church said the Harper-led review would be put to the diocesan synod in October, the first opportunity for the church to act, which is an 18-month delay. "The Hollingworth process is being conducted by Kooyoora which is, properly, entirely independent of the diocese and the Archbishop (Philip Freier) cannot comment on that,'' a spokesman said.
Kooyoora was incorporated six years ago as an independent not-for-profit company to provide professional standards and other services to charities, including charities that are Anglican dioceses, entities, colleges and schools.
Adjunct professor Chris Goddard, of UniSA, said these delays and those relating to the Hollingworth allegations were untenable.
Anti-abuse campaigner Hetty Johnston said the church's pursuit of the Hollingworth matters had been appallingly slow and damaging to survivors. "It's glacial, absolutely glacial," Ms Johnston said.
The Hollingworth tribunal has been earmarked to run behind closed doors in Melbourne this week but the process remains shrouded in secrecy, with key players being told limited information about how it will work, who has been investigated and who will appear.
Dr Hollingworth was never an abuser but was savaged over his handling of the crisis when archbishop of Brisbane and through his commentary when governor-?general.
He now lives in Melbourne.
His critics say there is already enough public evidence to remove him from his church, including that he allowed a pedophile priest in 1993 to continue to work against a specialist's advice, for giving incorrect evidence to a 2002 abuse inquiry and blaming a victim of child sex abuse for encouraging the offending.
Dr Hollingworth resigned as governor-general in 2003 after he was criticised at a Brisbane inquiry for his handling of alle?gations of child-sex abuse against pedophile priest John Linton ?Elliot. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse found he had made an error of judgment by allowing ?Elliot to stay in the ministry.
Secrecy around the Victorian process means it is not clear exactly what will be considered in Melbourne this week but survivor Beth Heinrich's complaint has been examined by investigators.
The plight of Ms Heinrich, now living in country Victoria and aged in her 80s, became public when Dr Hollingworth publicly commented on the case.
Ms Heinrich said she was sexually abused by late Anglican bishop Donald Shearman, who was later deposed from holy orders. She said Shearman had formed a sexual relationship with her when she was sent to a church hostel.
The ABC reported Dr Hollingworth saying about 30 years ago: "There was no suggestion of rape or anything like that; quite the contrary. My information is that it was rather the other way around.''
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/outcry-as-melbournes-anglican-church-sexual-abuse-reviews-drag-on/news-story/73dab7f4cc8581cd5d89a5fa0d172142
#18288442 at 2023-02-05 08:41:36 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #27: THEY ARE IN FULL BLOWN PANIC MODE Edition
>>18269183
Push to have disgraced former governor-general Peter Hollingworth defrocked to be heard by Anglican Church panel
Richard Willingham and Ben Knight - 5 February 2023
1/2
Beth Heinrich has been waiting for justice for decades. Justice for the sexual abuse that began at the hands of an Anglican priest in the 1950s, when she was just 14.
And justice for the trauma and humiliation inflicted on her by former governor-general Peter Hollingworth, who blamed her, on national television, for the abuse she suffered.
As a teen, Ms Heinrich was abused by priest Donald Shearman, who later became a bishop.
He groomed her over years, and Ms Heinrich says the trauma of her abuse was compounded by Dr Hollingworth telling Australian Story in 2002 that it was "not sex abuse" by Shearman, but "rather the other way round".
"He's not a fit person, he is not a fit character to have Holy Orders,'' Ms Heinrich says of Dr Hollingworth.
Five years ago, an Anglican church investigator said there was enough evidence on the public record to defrock the disgraced former Archbishop for his failure to act on evidence of sexual abuse in the church.
Yet, Dr Hollingworth remains a bishop and the 87-year-old draws a vice-regal pension worth hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.
Victim-survivors of Anglican abuse hope that will change after this week - when the church's special independent investigator, Kooyoora, finally hears the case against Dr Hollingworth.
In 2018, the ABC revealed that Dr Hollingworth was the subject of multiple complaints from survivors of abuse at the hands of Anglican clergy and teaching staff in the Brisbane diocese, where Dr Hollingworth served as archbishop in the 1990s.
Those complaints were investigated by Kooyoora but are still yet to be finalised, with the long-overdue hearing slated to begin on Monday.
But survivors are sceptical after other scheduled hearings were cancelled at the last minute.
"I'm not joking, this is probably the longest-running case of child abuse in the world,'' says Chris Goddard, an abuse expert and veteran advocate for survivors.
Victim blaming, the obfuscation of the church and constant delays reinforce the trauma for survivors, experts say.
"As far as I'm concerned, she's still being abused,'' Dr Goddard says about Ms Heinrich.
The ABC contacted Dr Hollingworth's office and legal counsel with detailed questions, but did not receive a response.
Royal commission found Dr Hollingworth made 'serious error of judgement'
Dr Hollingworth was forced to resign as governor-general in 2003 after a series of revelations over his handling of sexual abuse allegations against priests and teaching staff while he was the archbishop of Brisbane.
A 2002 inquiry by the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane found Dr Hollingworth allowed paedophile priest John Elliot to continue working until retirement, despite Elliot admitting to Dr Hollingworth he had sexually abused two boys.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse found Dr Hollingworth made a "serious error of judgement", and failed to take into account a psychiatrist's advice that Elliot was an "untreatable" paedophile who posed a risk of reoffending.
In the months following the report, Melbourne Archbishop Philip Freier renewed Dr Hollingworth's permission to officiate - a decision which infuriated survivors.
Five years ago, the ABC revealed that a former Kooyoora director of professional standards told a sexual abuse survivor there was "...more than enough justification to prove [Dr Hollingworth's] unfitness to hold Holy Orders".
This fuelled the anger of survivors who have been waiting years for justice.
Despite survivors and their legal teams preparing for the upcoming hearings, the executive director of Kooyoora, Fiona Boyle, would not confirm if any hearing was taking place this week, nor if it involved Dr Hollingworth.
She says it is "terrible" if any matter takes five years to be dealt with, but has declined to comment on why this case has been delayed for so long.
Archbishop Philip Freier is on leave, but an Anglican spokesman says: "Dr Hollingworth has a limited permission to officiate in the diocese. If a finding is made against him, that will be revisited accordingly."
"The complaint process regarding Bishop Hollingworth is, properly, entirely independent of the Diocese of Melbourne. The diocese has had no influence on the investigation, and the Archbishop cannot comment on the process."
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#18269183 at 2023-02-02 09:16:51 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #27: THEY ARE IN FULL BLOWN PANIC MODE Edition
>>17917750 (pb)
Probe into botched pedophile response inches closer
The Anglican Church's inquiry into whether to defrock former governor-general Peter Hollingworth over his mishandling of the child sex abuse issue is due to meet next week but survivors are questioning whether further delays will be added to the glacial, five-year process.
The tribunal has been earmarked to run behind closed doors in Melbourne early next week but the process remains shrouded in secrecy, with key players being told limited information about how it will work, who has been investigated and who will appear, according to multiple sources.
The diocese of Melbourne, of which Dr Hollingworth is a member, has spent millions on its internal abuse system, Kooyoora, but the Hollingworth matter has become an embarrassment as it has suffered multiple delays and been dragged out over five years.
Dr Hollingworth, 87, was never an abuser but was pilloried over his handling of the crisis when archbishop of Brisbane and through his commentary when governor-general.
Dr Hollingworth's critics argue there is already enough public evidence to remove him from his church, including that he allowed a pedophile priest in 1993 to continue to work against a specialist's advice, for giving incorrect evidence to a 2002 abuse inquiry and blaming a victim of child sex abuse for encouraging the offending.
One survivor said they believed as many as 12 people had complained about Dr Hollingworth's behaviour while he was archbishop and governor-general but the internal inquiry would not hear evidence from all the critics.
Beth Heinrich, abused as a teenager in the 1950s by an Anglican minister and later publicly vilified by Dr Hollingworth, said the long wait for action had been traumatising, as had the secrecy that surrounded the inquiry.
"It's disgusting, it's disgraceful. It's long overdue and why it has been allowed to be deferred, I don't know," she said.
Chris Goddard said the multi-year Anglican process had failed the abuse survivors. "You could not invent a more disturbing process. It should be dealt with promptly, openly and transparently," Professor Goddard said.
There have been many delays in scheduled private hearings, with no public explanation on why. And while there has been speculation about Dr Hollingworth's health, he was seen recently at the funeral of former Howard government minister Peter Reith and elsewhere in the Melbourne community.
The Australian has been told complaints against Dr Hollingworth had progressed through Kooyoora to the Professional Standards Committee and that, under the diocese's abuse response system, can go to the Professional Standards Board, which can hold a formal hearing or make a determination.
The secrecy makes it difficult for the survivors to know what is happening.
Dr Hollingworth resigned as governor-general in 2003 after he was criticised at a Brisbane inquiry for his handling of alle?gations of child-sex abuse against pedophile priest John Linton ?Elliot.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/probe-into-botched-pedophile-response-inches-closer/news-story/4033e89538ffdeac92e1374444cd0d63
#17381379 at 2022-08-12 10:53:21 (UTC+1)
Q Research Australia #25: My Koala Hates Spam Too Edition
Former governor-general Peter Hollingworth faces judgment day over sex abuse crisis
JOHN FERGUSON - AUGUST 8, 2022
1/2
Time is running out for Peter Hollingworth over the child sex abuse crisis and Beth Heinrich wants him to be judged by his church with a biblical sense of urgency.
The former governor-general's theological licence to officiate in basic tasks such as delivering sermons and overseeing family church events in the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne has not been renewed but this is only a small part of a much bigger problem he faces.
The Anglican investigative body Kooyoora is inching closer to deciding whether Dr Hollingworth, 87, should be stripped of holy orders - defrocked - after several complaints about his conduct while archbishop of Brisbane in the late 1980s and 90s and his comments as governor-general.
Multiple victims of church abuse - like Ms Heinrich, who was abused at a hostel as a teenager in the 1950s by an Anglican minister - are relentlessly pursuing Dr Hollingworth, her victim impact statement to the inquiry a shattering account of how she was groomed and then abused from the age of 14 in NSW.
Dr Hollingworth's reputation was battered in 2002 when he suggested Ms Heinrich, at the time of the offending a child at a boarding school, had instigated sex with disgraced Anglican minister Donald Shearman.
Ms Heinrich is preparing to write a book on the intimate details of how she says Dr Hollingworth and others intensified her pain, testing her will to live and destroying her relationship with the church she loved.
"You are looking at me and perhaps I look OK on the outside, but that's not how I feel," Ms Heinrich's statement prepared for the Kooyoora tribunal reads.
"If I allowed myself to be me I would have to start cutting my arms to show people how much I was hurting. I am afraid to be me because it hurts too much. I feel like I am someone else."
While Dr Hollingworth mulls what logic and fairness suggests must be the looming end of the years-long Kooyoora inquiry, Ms Heinrich wants the elderly bishop held to account for his failures, blasting the prolonged nature of the investigation.
"Of course none of this dragged out drama is necessary," she writes. "It can easily be solved. He should find the integrity, finally do the right thing and quietly resign."
Dr Hollingworth was never an abuser, but was exposed falling short of basic community standards in his handling of the crisis.
Dr Hollingworth's critics argue there is enough evidence that suggests he should be banished from his church, including allowing a pedophile priest in 1993 to continue to preach against a specialist's advice, giving incorrect evidence to a 2002 abuse inquiry and blaming Ms Heinrich for being abused by Shearman, who is now dead.
In 2002, Dr Hollingworth told the ABC the relationship between Shearman, who was a married adult, and Ms Heinrich, was "not sex abuse".
"There was no suggestion of rape or anything like that, quite the contrary," he reportedly said.
"My information is that it was the other way around."
Dr Hollingworth met Ms Heinrich in 1996 and queried her evidence compared with the disgraced Shearman, who was later defrocked but not before being given an OBE.
In the foreword to the book she is writing, Heinrich laments: "Can you imagine how devastating it was to have Archbishop Hollingworth, who had by then become the governor-general, defame me, victim-blame me and lie about me on national TV?''
"His Australia-wide lie has never been attended and resolved. It haunts me still."
Dr Hollingworth's office rejected the premise of several questions posed by The Australian, adding that he had been ill.
The questions included whether it was his decision to no longer officiate, whether he should be defrocked and whether he had used delaying tactics to slow down the Kooyoora inquiry.
(continued)
#8375024 at 2020-03-11 06:50:46 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #7 - FIRE & FURY Edition
Child sex abuse victim says Anglican Church fobbed her off, then offered payout in exchange for silence
Anglican Church officials wrongly told a woman who was sexually abused more than 60 years ago they had to hold off resolving her complaint, then offered a payout and an apology if she agreed to a gag clause.
The church's Brisbane diocese has admitted to again failing Beth Heinrich over her 1995 complaint, which culminated in then-governor-general Peter Hollingworth publicly blaming her for a priest sexually exploiting her as a 15-year-old.
Its apology for causing her "additional trauma and distress" through "unacceptable delays" came a day after the ABC questioned its latest missteps in the case, which led to Dr Hollingworth's public downfall but still fuels calls for him to be stripped of millions of dollars of public benefits.
The diocese in January belatedly offered Ms Heinrich up to $30,000 for its mishandling of her complaint, which Dr Hollingworth dismissed repeatedly when he was archbishop of Brisbane.
The offer was a fraction of the $200,000 she sought - a figure she said was increased after independent legal advice and church officials in Melbourne advising that her original request for $50,000 was too little.
The Brisbane diocese also told her in January it was "happy to provide an apology" but this should be kept "confidential" until its Melbourne counterpart ended a separate investigation into whether Dr Hollingworth should be stripped of his Holy Orders.
Its request for secrecy contrasted with Dr Hollingworth's widely publicised 2002 comments on ABC TV's Australian Story program that it was "not sex abuse" by priest, and later bishop, Donald Shearman, but "rather the other way round".
"It was devastating for me at the time [and] I'm still really angry about it because there's been no ending to it," Ms Heinrich told the ABC.
"[Dr Hollingworth] knew the true story but he chose to lie about me and victim blame."
A church spokesman said: "The Brisbane diocese acknowledges there have been unacceptable delays in finalising a redress claim of Ms Beth Heinrich".
"The diocese apologises that this has caused her additional trauma and distress," the spokesman said.
'Most extraordinary case'
Child protection expert and University of South Australia adjunct professor Chris Goddard said Ms Heinrich's was "the most extraordinary case of so-called secondary abuse I have ever seen".
He helped Ms Heinrich prepare her testimony to the royal commission into child sexual abuse, with a 300-page presentation involving about 70 documents.
"To my knowledge [Dr Hollingworth] has never publicly apologised for the public humiliation of Beth," Professor Goddard said.
In 2005, the Bathurst Anglican diocese paid Ms Heinrich $100,000 over Mr Shearman's abuse of her while running the church hostel where she was a school boarder in the 1950s.
Ms Heinrich said she decided to press a complaint over Brisbane diocese's mishandling of the matter, after it advertised in a newspaper for survivors to come forward in the wake of the royal commission into child sex abuse in institutions.
In October 2017, the diocese told her it had "little option but to wait for the findings of the Melbourne investigation before [we] can advance and conclude the consideration of your complaints and claim".
'Happy to consider an apology'
It said any examination of her complaint "could not be safely concluded until the findings of the Melbourne committee are known, and may risk prejudicing the Melbourne investigation".
However, the diocese changed its tune in August 2018 after Ms Heinrich questioned the delay.
It told her that it "might be possible to deal with your claim on a private and confidential basis without waiting for the outcome" from Melbourne.
It said the diocese was "happy to consider an apology" but it would be "better delivered" after Melbourne's findings.
Any settlement would need to be "private and confidential" so as "not to prejudice" the other investigation, it said.
But Melbourne church officials contradicted this last November.
"I can confirm that any compensation or redress paid to you will not impact the investigation," Kooyoora Ltd executive director Fiona Boyle said in a letter.
(continued)
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-10/abuse-survivor-Beth-Heinrich-anglican-church-qld/12039190