Homer is now going to change his moniker to “EP is alive and kicking”

‘Civil comments,’ it will be.

Regards, the friendly local post-modern oppressor.

So am I.”

Aussie is, in fact, a taxy driver. Not that there is anything wrong with that…

So am I.

“I feel sorry for the alleged victims, because they would certainly have had their own characters and reputations dragged through the mud irrespective of whether their allegations were true or not.”

If their allegations were lies, which they might well be, why ought they not have their ‘own characters and reputations’ tested. That is the system. If you want to ellege, you better be prepared for the heat in the kitchen.

But, to give these allegations some sort, or any sort, of credibility, just because Collins died, is repugnant.

I feel sorry for the alleged victims, because they would certainly have had their own characters and reputations dragged through the mud irrespective of whether their allegations were true or not. That’s the way defence lawyers conduct rape cases. I feel sorry for Bob Collins and his family because, irrespective of his guilt or innocence, lots of mud would certainly have stuck and his reputation was permanently destroyed. Many people would have taken a “where there’s smoke there’s fire” attitude given the number of accusers over such a long period and geographical spread, while others would have regarded the standard defence tactics of attacking the reputations of the alleged victims as repugnant, even if the tactic had succeeded in raising enough of a reasonable doubt to induce a jury to acquit. That’s the reality of a case like this. It seldom results in joyful vindication for any of the parties, and certainly not for their families. If you don’t understand that, then I can only presume you have never had much to do with the criminal justice system. I have no doubt Bob Collins was enough of a hard-nosed realist to have been well aware of all these dimensions of the situation. He had little to look forward to whatever the outcome of the case. It was a tragedy all round, and his death a merciful release.

Its impossible, however, to write an obituary of Bob Collins without acknowledging the elephant in the room: the sickening child sexual abuse charges he faced at his death. I have no knowledge of their truth or otherwise, although I can certainly make some fairly educated guesses. Do those events erase or negate a record of impressive achievements in public life? I guess it depends on the observer. I certainly know that I feel much sorrier for Bobs family, especially his son Robbie, and for the Aboriginal men he allegedly abused as children back in Maningrida in the 1970s, than for Bobs own tragically tarnished reputation. At least they will all now be spared the trauma of what would inevitably have been a series of very unsavoury criminal trials.

This is repugnant. It starts off okay, but then overtly concedes guilt with references to feeling ’sorry’ for the ‘Aboriginal men he allegedly abused as children back in Maningrida in the 1970s.’

Why sorry, unless you imply there is something to be ’sorry’ about!

Not sure why you say that Stewart Fist’s article is of ‘uncertain provenance’. It’s author and it’s provenance are set out at the top of the article.

If you had any knowledge of the background facts, I really don’t think you’d make such a comment (unless you have an unrevealed agenda of your own). Collins was facing charges by multiple accusers from the 1970s in Arnhemland, including prominent Aboriginal actor Tom E Lewis, as well as separate charges relating to an alleged assault on a 12 year old boy in Canberra in the early 1990s, and more recent charges of possession of child pornography material in which the police siezed computer hard drives from his home and would no doubt have presented them in evidence. Even if his lawyers had managed to achieve not guilty verdicts on all those charges, there’s no doubt whatever that a lot of mud would have stuck and everyone concerned would have been permanently traumatised. In proceedings like that, names are seldom cleared nor vindication achieved.