Governor-General Won’t Take Away Bettina Arndt’s Order of Australia

So looks like Bettina Arndt isn’t going to lose her Order of Australia right away.

At a Senate estimates hearing, the Governor-General’s official secretary said that even though Governor-General David Hurley is able to take back an OAM, he’s not going to because he “always act on the advice and recommendations” of the Order of Australia Council.

Last week, the Senate voted almost unilaterally for Arndt to lose her award, with only One Nation voting against.

Let’s not forget Pauline Hanson supported Bettina Arndt in parliament, all but praising her comments #QandA

— Peter Fox 🦊🇦🇺 🔥🐨😥 (@Peter_Fox59) March 2, 2020

Arndt is a well known ‘men’s rights activist’ who actively campaigns against sexual violence advocacy. She’s most infamous for sympathising with a convicted paedophile, as well as her recent tweet about family annihilator Rowan Baxter slaughtering his family because he was “driven too far”.

She has also been incorrectly representing herself as a psychiatrist and clinical psychiatrist for the last three decades, despite never achieving the qualifications for either.

Her Twitter has been very quiet over the last couple weeks, although she did email her supporters, warning against the “lobbying by the feral mobs trying to take [her] out”.

A short list of things Bettina Arndt has said since she received her Order Of Australia.
And it’s even worse than you might have imagined.
https://t.co/j6QLrAT8CE

— Lisa Wilkinson (@Lisa_Wilkinson) February 25, 2020

The Council of the Order of Australia is still reviewing her award but it’s unlikely she’ll lose her OAM when you consider that even someone like George Pell- a straight up convicted serial paedophile and rapist- still has his.

So does an Order of Australia really mean anything if George Pell still has one?

I think the main difference between George Pell and Bettina Arndt is that Arndt received her award after we knew how bad she was, whereas Pell received his in the mid-90’s. Arndt’s award, received after years of working against women’s rights and sexual violence, validates her views on behalf of the government, and that’s just not right.

Her award and recent tweet was a topic of discussion on Q and A last night, with Nova Peris, an OAM recipient herself, saying that “for a woman to make that commentary and gloat about it… it’s horrific.”

How can we trust a society that awarded Bettina Arndt an Australia Day honour? #QandA pic.twitter.com/CR4ScoIvc0

— ABC Q+A (@QandA) March 2, 2020

Image Sources: Twitter