Obama contrasts Democrats' Globalism with Trump's Tribalism; Schoolgirl
win at High Court forces Council to scrap Trans policy
Newsletter published on May 10, 2020
(1) Obama contrasts Democrats' Globalism with Trump's Tribalism in pitch
to elect Biden
(2) Biden's Plan to Address LGBTQ Equality gives sexual orientation and
gender identity special legal status
(3) George Pell blames Culture War for his wrongful imprisonment
(4) Schoolgirl's win at High Court forces Council to scrap 'transgender
toilets plan' in schools
(5) Liz Truss upholds single-sex spaces, stops children from making
irreversible changes
(6) Rugby Australia sacks Raelene Castle - victory for Israel Folau
(1) Obama contrasts Democrats' Globalism with Trump's Tribalism in pitch
to elect Biden
MAY 10, 2020 / 4:36 AM
In leaked call, Obama describes Trump handling of virus as chaotic
Steve Holland
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former President Barack Obama described President
Donald Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic as "chaotic" in a
conference call with former members of his administration, a source said
on Saturday.
Obama has largely kept out of the fray even as Trump has blamed him and
his Democratic administration for a variety of problems related to
having sufficient supplies to battle the pandemic that has killed more
than 75,000 Americans.
But in his call on Friday with 3,000 members of the Obama Alumni
Association, people who served in his administration, Obama urged his
supporters to get behind Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden,
who is trying to unseat Trump in the Nov. 3 election.
The contents of the call were first reported by Yahoo News. A source
familiar with the call confirmed them to Reuters.
Obama said the election "is so important because what we're going to be
battling is not just a particular individual or a political party."
"What we're fighting against is these long-term trends in which being
selfish, being tribal, being divided, and seeing others as an enemy —
that has become a stronger impulse in American life," he said.
He said this is one reason why "the response to this global crisis has
been so anemic and spotty."
"It would have been bad even with the best of governments. It has been
an absolute chaotic disaster when that mindset — of ‘what's in it for
me' and ‘to heck with everybody else' — when that mindset is
operationalized in our government," Obama said.
"That's why, I, by the way, am going to be spending as much time as
necessary and campaigning as hard as I can for Joe Biden," he said.
Obama's office declined to comment.
White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said Trump's response to the
coronavirus "has been unprecedented" and has saved American lives.
She harked back to the Ukraine inquiry launched by Democrats in the U.S.
House of Representatives last year that led to House passage of articles
of impeachment against Trump. The Republican-led Senate acquitted Trump
early this year.
"While Democrats were pursuing a sham witch hunt against President
Trump, President Trump was shutting down travel from China. While
Democrats encouraged mass gatherings, President Trump was deploying PPE,
ventilators, and testing across the country," she said.
National polls show a tight race between Trump and Biden with six months
to go until the election. Biden leads in several battleground states.
Reporting By Steve Holland; Editing by Chris Reese
(2) Biden's Plan to Address LGBTQ Equality gives sexual orientation and
gender identity special legal status
As president, Joe Biden would smash religious freedom with 'Equality
Act' Joe Biden's equality plan will allow LGBT ideology to re-shape our
civil liberties.
Fri Apr 3, 2020 - 9:29 pm EST
April 3, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — As COVID-19 captures headlines, Joe
Biden's plan to promote equality at the expense of religious liberty has
quietly slid under the media radar. His newly unveiled policy is called
"The Plan to Address LGBTQ Equality in America and Around the World." It
has vast implications for people of faith.
In his plan, Biden solidifies the Democratic Party's lurch to the left,
leaving behind moderate faith voters whose support he, conceivably,
might have won. A quiet legion of faith voters whom Biden likely cannot
see privately confess they could be wooed by his personality and winning
smile.
Before Christians jump on the Biden bandwagon, though, they should
carefully consider what his equality policy would mean to their everyday
lives — and those of their children. His plan profoundly undermines
religious liberty, which is the right to live out religious convictions
in the public square. It leaves scarcely any aspect of life untouched.
The centerpiece of Biden's 7000-word plan is the passage of the Equality
Act, which includes the goal of overturning Trump-era religious
policies. The real rub is that sexual orientation and gender identity
are granted special legal status with the power to trump religious
convictions. Faith-based adoption and foster care agencies would not
receive federal grants unless they agreed to place children in same-sex
homes. Housing, employment, medical services — all would feel the impact
of policies that label religious conviction as discrimination, with the
power to sue in court. Some have called this "persecutory progressivism."
In Biden's plan, students would be guaranteed access to bathrooms and
locker rooms of their choosing. Conversion therapy becomes a punishable
offense. Government forms would be required to have a "third option" for
non-binary individuals. It would be legal nightmare to terminate a
pastor or Christian schoolteacher who decides to present himself as the
opposite sex or live a gay lifestyle. Women's sports would be dominated
by men on hormones.
In the last two years of Obama's administration, he was able to
recalibrate "discrimination" as anything that openly espoused
traditional marriage or insisted that a person actually is his or her
biological sex. Biden's plan is all that, and more.
Biden and his fellow Democrats seem to miss that socially conservative,
fiscally progressive voters propelled a populist named Donald Trump to
victory. Many of those conservative voters struggle with this
president's persona. But they are even more wary of being coerced into
liberal social policies that breed chaos and the demise of functioning
families.
At the time, the Obergefell decision to redefine marriage passed (by one
vote), 70% of Americans believed that a man and a woman constitute a
marital union. Those views have softened somewhat, but they have not
disappeared. Who wants his church or school or foster care agency to be
accused of bigotry and hate speech because it espouses male-female
marriage and biological sex distinctions — views the majority of
Americans held until quite recently? How would this shape the lives of
the next generation?
Joe Biden appears to be headed to the Democratic nomination for
president. His equality plan will allow LGBT ideology to re-shape our
civil liberties, undermining the cultural and faith norms that
Christians, especially, hold dear. Biden might have a winsome
personality and well edited tweets.
But religious voters tempted to get behind Biden should carefully
consider what his plan would mean for their children and the freedom to
live their faith.
Paula Rinehart, LCSW, is a therapist in Raleigh, N.C.
(3) George Pell blames Culture War for his wrongful imprisonment
George Pell says 'culture wars' contributed to him being wrongfully
jailed for child sexual abuse
Cardinal George Pell says he believes "culture wars" and his
conservative views on social issues contributed to him being prosecuted
and jailed on child sexual abuse charges — convictions that were
overturned by the nation's highest court last week.
The High Court last week unanimously quashed Cardinal Pell's convictions
and acquitted him of abusing two choirboys at Melbourne's St Patrick's
Cathedral in the 1990s, finding there was the significant possibility
that an innocent person had been convicted on evidence that did not
establish guilt "to the requisite standard of proof".
The 78-year-old consistently maintained his innocence throughout the
legal proceedings.
In his first television interview since being freed from prison, aired
on Sky News on Tuesday night, Cardinal Pell suggested much of the
hostility towards him may be explained by his conservative views.
"A lot of people don't like my views. I'm a social conservative," he said.
"Certainly people don't like Christians who teach Christianity,
especially on life and family and issues like that. They get very, very
cross," he said.
"The culture wars are real.
"There is a systematic attempt to remove the Judeo-Christian legal
foundations, with the examples of marriage, life, gender, sex, and
[towards] those who oppose that, unfortunately there's less rational
discussion and there's more playing the man.
"More abuse and intimidation, and that's not good for a democracy."
Asked by interviewer Andrew Bolt if he considered himself a victim of a
culture war, Cardinal Pell replied: "I think that contributed."
Hours before the interview aired, NSW Police's Counter-Terrorism Squad
visited Cardinal Pell at the western Sydney seminary where he is staying
to discuss threats to his security.
In a statement, the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney said the officers
visited Good Shepherd Seminary in Homebush to discuss threats Cardinal
Pell had received via social media since arriving in Sydney last week.
In the Sky News interview, Cardinal Pell said he felt sorry for the
former choirboy who accused him of abuse.
"Our memory is so fallible.
"I don't know what this poor fellow was up to."
Cardinal Pell said the pendulum of justice should not swing too far "so
that every accusation is regarded as gospel truth".
He said there was a risk society would move to a position where people
were found guilty by accusation.
"It's not a sign of a civilisation where you have guilt by accusation,
these things have to be tested respectfully," Cardinal Pell said.
"The pendulum 30 or 40 years ago was massively against anybody who said
that they'd been attacked.
"Nowadays, we don't want it to swing back so that every accusation is
regarded as gospel truth.
"That would be quite unjust and inappropriate."
Bolt, who has been a consistent supporter of Cardinal Pell throughout
the legal process, said the charges put against him were "so stupid not
one has survived the process".
He asked whether Cardinal Pell believed Victoria Police "had an agenda"
when pursuing charges against him.
"I don't know how you explain it but it is certainly extraordinary,"
Cardinal Pell said.
When asked if he expected Victoria Police to continue "trawling for
victims" in order to lay more charges, Cardinal Pell said he "wouldn't
be entirely surprised".
"But who knows, that's their business," he said.
Asked at a press conference on Tuesday whether Victoria Police had a
vendetta against Cardinal Pell, Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton said:
"I don't have any comments to make at all in respect to Cardinal Pell."
Pell hits out at ABC coverage During the interview Bolt asked Cardinal
Pell: "Does the ABC's role in your persecution concern you?"
"Yes it does," Cardinal Pell replied.
"Because, I mean, it's partly financed by Catholic taxes."
The exterior of the Good Shepherd seminary in western Sydney. PHOTO:
Cardinal Pell has been staying at a Catholic Church property in western
Sydney. (AAP: Dean Lewins) Cardinal Pell said he believed in the
principle of free speech but accused the ABC of presenting only one view.
"I acknowledge the right of those who differ from me to state their
views," he said.
"But in a national broadcaster to have an overwhelming presentation of
one view, and only one view, I think that's a betrayal of the national
interest."
In a statement issued in response to Cardinal Pell's comments, an ABC
spokesperson said the corporation had "always acted in the public
interest" in its reporting on Cardinal Pell's case.
The spokesperson said "at every stage" the ABC had sought a wide range
of opinions on the case, including from Cardinal Pell himself, his
supporters and independent experts.
The ABC's editorial director, Craig McMurtrie, has previously defended
the organisation's coverage of Cardinal Pell's case, which he argued was
"unquestionably a legitimate story, one that had to be pursued".
He said the ABC had published the Cardinal's statement and the High
Court's judgement summary in full online and on the ABC News Channel on
the day of his release.
He described the unit where he was housed in Barwon Prison, near
Geelong, as a "grim place" but said he was treated with decency and
kindness by prison officers and other inmates.
Cardinal Pell had a kettle and TV in his cell, and settled into a
routine of prayer, reading, writing and daily exercise.
He said he received about 4,000 letters.
"I never felt forsaken," he said.
But he said at his lowest moments he had wondered: "My God, what are you
up to?"
"There were thousands, if not more, people all over the world praying
for me and I seriously believe that one reason that I coped so well with
the adversity was the prayers of all these people," he said.
Cardinal Pell said the church had not contributed to his legal defence.
He said he had dipped into his superannuation and savings to cover his
legal bills, but still had some left.
He said he had also received financial support from many supporters,
"some of them wealthy people who kicked in very solidly, a lot of them
Christians and Catholics who weren't very wealthy people".
He said he had been "wounded" but "not scarred" by his ordeal.
"The solace is that I was cleared," Cardinal Pell said.
He described hearing an "enormous cheer" from his cell on Tuesday
morning when the news broke that his convictions had been overturned.
Asked about his plans for the future, Cardinal Pell said he would turn
79 in a few months' time and did not intend to become a commentator on
Australian Catholic life.
He said he hoped to visit Rome again but intended to make his home in
Sydney.
(4) Schoolgirl's win at High Court forces Council to scrap 'transgender
toilets plan' in schools
Schoolgirl, 13, forces council to scrap 'transgender toilets plan' in
schools that said pupils should be able to use whichever bathroom they
prefer
Oxfordshire County Council introduced the advice for trans pupils last year
It said they should be able to use the toilets and changing rooms they
prefer
The council has withdrawn the advice after she sought judicial review at
court
By JOE DAVIES FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 05:25 AEST, 9 May 2020 | UPDATED: 09:50 AEST, 9 May 2020
A 13-year-old schoolgirl has won a court battle to force a county
council to scrap its transgender 'toilets toolkit' which she said
threatened her safety and privacy.
She took Oxfordshire County Council to the High Court and the authority
has now confirmed the 'Trans Inclusion Toolkit' has been withdrawn.
But she said the council still hasn't apologised or admitted it was
wrong in drawing up the toolkit.
The toolkit included advice that trans pupils should be able to use
whatever toilets, changing rooms and school trip dorm rooms they prefer.
A 13-year-old schoolgirl has won a battle against Oxfordshire County
Council to withdraw a transgender 'toolkit' which allowed transgender
students to use the toilets of the gender they identify as +2 A
13-year-old schoolgirl has won a battle against Oxfordshire County
Council to withdraw a transgender 'toolkit' which allowed transgender
students to use the toilets of the gender they identify as
She said the 65-page guide threatened her safety, privacy and dignity
when she wanted to spend a penny at school.
Oxfordshire County Council produced the toolkit last year, advising
teachers in schools and colleges on how transgender students should be
treated.
The guide said that transgender children should be allowed to use the
changing rooms, dorms and toilets of their preferred gender.
That meant if child born as a boy said they identified as a girl, they
could be allowed to use the girls' toilets.
The 13-year-old girl, who hasn't been named publicly, brought a legal
challenge against the guidance, seeking a judicial review at the High Court.
She said it was unfair and made her feel powerless, and last month a
judge allowed her to challenge the county council.
At the time, she said: 'I am very surprised that the council never asked
the opinion of girls in Oxfordshire about what we thought before they
published the toolkit.
'Under these guidelines I have no right to privacy from the opposite sex
in changing rooms, loos or on residential trips.
'It makes me feel that my desire for privacy, dignity, safety and
respect is wrong.
'It makes me feel sad, powerless and confused. I don't understand how
allowing boys and girls to share private spaces is okay.'
Now the council has withdrawn the toolkit and said it will instead
follow incoming national guidance on how transgender children should be
treated instead.
Because the toolkit is no longer an official document, it means the
judicial review can no longer go ahead.
The teenager said the case 'had a very significant impact' on her and
Oxfordshire County Council have not apologised to her personally.
U-turn on trans toilets in schools: Parents force council to pull
guidance allowing transgender pupils to use girls' loos and dormitories
Warwickshire County Council said it had withdrawn its 'Trans toolkit',
which offered advice to 300 schools, and placed it under review.
Parents were furious that schools were being told to allow transitioning
pupils to 'sleep where they feel most comfortable' and use whichever
toilets they wanted.
Tessa McInnes, 50, who has two children in Warwickshire schools, told
the Times: 'The equal rights of girls are simply discounted and
disregarded in this guidance.
'If they express any discomfort about a male coming into their spaces,
the girl is presented as transphobic and told to go and change somewhere
else.
'It's outrageous and defies the Equality Act 2010.'
A spokesman for Warwickshire County Council said: 'Trans is an evolving
complex area. It is our duty to provide schools with guidance to ensure
all pupils are able to be themselves and reach their full potential in
an inclusive school environment, without fear of judgement and
discrimination.
'The toolkit was launched in January 2018 and is currently being reviewed.'
She said: 'Although they have withdrawn it now, they haven't apologised
to me or said they were wrong.
'I would like to know what Oxfordshire County Council is going to do to
make schools a safe place for girls going forward.'
Her victory was welcomed by people on social media with one user
writing: 'Thank goodness for that. Some good news.'
Another said: 'How much did all this nonsense cost to produce?
'What a waste of money at a time when councils say they don't have
enough resources to deliver their services.'
The girl's legal battle had been supported by the Safe Schools Alliance,
which crowd-funded to help pay the bills.
It is a network of parents and teachers concerned about safeguarding and
was worried about abuses which could stem from the guidance.
Spokeswoman Tanya Carter said: 'We welcome the decision from Oxfordshire
County Council to withdraw their 'Trans Inclusion Toolkit', however, we
remain deeply concerned at the widespread undermining of child
safeguarding and misrepresentation of the Equality Act that this case
has revealed.'
A human rights lawyer hired by Safe Schools Alliance said the council
'had done the right thing' in withdrawing the toolkit.
Paul Conrathe, human rights solicitor from Sinclairslaw, said: 'The High
Court has already considered the toolkit and ruled that it is arguable
that it is unlawful.'
The county council said it would soon be adopting UK-wide guidance on
transgender children which is being prepared by the Equality and Human
Rights Commission.
It said: 'Safeguarding children and young people is a critical part of
our work.
'The Trans Inclusion Toolkit, which was published in November 2019, has
been an important part of that work.
'However, the guidance in the Trans Inclusion Toolkit will soon be
superseded by guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
'We anticipate that the EHRC will provide UK-wide information and
resources to support trans and gender-questioning young people.
The girl's legal battle had been supported by the Safe Schools Alliance
(above), which crowd-funded to help pay the bills. Spokesperson Tanya
Carter said: 'We remain deeply concerned at the widespread undermining
of child safeguarding' +2 The girl's legal battle had been supported by
the Safe Schools Alliance (above), which crowd-funded to help pay the
bills. Spokesperson Tanya Carter said: 'We remain deeply concerned at
the widespread undermining of child safeguarding'
'As we will be adopting this new national guidance, we have taken the
decision to withdraw our toolkit and to withdraw from the judicial
review of the toolkit that was due to be held in the coming months.
'We are very much aware of the challenges faced by young people who feel
they are not the gender they were assigned at birth.
'We will do our utmost to safeguard these potentially vulnerable young
people and help the schools who support them as part of our critical
safeguarding work.'
A 2017 report by the LGBT charity Stonewall said that young transgender
people often suffer from worse mental health problems than their peers
and have a difficult experience of life in school.
The report said more than four in five trans young people have
self-harmed, and more than two in five trans young people have attempted
to take their own life.
(5) Liz Truss upholds single-sex spaces, stops children from making
irreversible changes
A rare victory for common sense in the trans debate
Liz Truss has promised to uphold single-sex spaces and to protect gender
non-conforming children.
JO BARTOSCH
24th April 2020
A rare victory for common sense in the trans debate
The moments I want to hug a politician are rare, particularly in these
times of social distancing. But Liz Truss's announcement this week left
me a bit gooey. Setting out her priorities as minister for women and
equalities, Truss confirmed that the protection of single-sex spaces
would be maintained. She added that adults who identify as transgender
will be protected from discrimination but with 'checks and balances' to
prevent abuse of the system. She also indicated that children who
identify as trans will be protected from making 'irreversible' decisions
about their bodies.
The response from the usual suspects has been frothing outrage. Online
magazine Pink News framed the announcement as 'an extraordinary attack
on equality'. Mermaids, a charity that describes itself as supporting
'gender-diverse children and teenagers', opined that the moves would
introduce 'a new form of inequality into British medical practice'.
However, for those who value single-sex spaces, and those who are
concerned about the medicalisation and sterilisation of gender
non-conforming children, Truss's comments were cautiously welcomed.
The Gender Recognition Act (2004) (GRA) states that those wishing to
change their legal gender must undergo a two-year waiting period before
a panel reviews their application. The process, which costs applicants
around £140, has been described by transgender campaigners as
'bureaucratic and humiliating'. Reform of the GRA was one of the first
commitments made by Maria Miller MP in her then role as chair of the
Women and Equalities Select Committee in 2015. The aim was to
'demedicalise' and 'streamline' the legal process for changing gender.
Miller's proposed reforms, which gained cross-party support, would have
made changing legal gender a matter of 'self-declaration'. In a single
administrative stroke, access to female-only services such as
rape-crisis centres, prisons and hospital wards could have been opened
to any man who claimed to feel like a woman, no matter his motivations.
In 2016, Miller said she was taken aback by what she described as an
'extraordinary' backlash to these proposals from those she derided as
'purported feminists'.
As the self-identification proposals gathered steam, a grassroots
resistance started to form. The online platform Mumsnet became the
unlikely crucible for online radicalisation. A diverse bunch, though
overwhelmingly women, came together to demand proper scrutiny. Groups,
including We Need to Talk, Women's Place UK and Standing for Women,
sprang up, bringing the fight offline and into the real world. At events
organised across the country, attendees faced physical violence, attacks
on their livelihoods and even a bomb threat.
Assisted by high-profile journalists, politicians and celebrities, for
four years, social-justice warriors attempted to prevent members of the
public from assembling to discuss their rights. Even groups dedicated to
protecting civil liberties, such as Amnesty International, helped to
shut down debate. Only a handful of Members of Parliament, most notably
David Davies, were brave enough to voice concerns. Davies said he was
even threatened with police action by a fellow Conservative MP.
The reform of the GRA seemed like a done deal. A disparate collection of
self-funded women's groups was fighting against the weight of the
establishment, including the LGBT charity giant Stonewall, which has an
annual income of around £8.7million. It has been a Davina and Goliath
battle.
After discussing the GRA online, Kellie-Jay Keen was one of those who
decided to take action. She founded Standing for Women in 2018 and has
since become a vocal campaigner for the rights of women and girls to
single-sex spaces. She told me that while she welcomes the statement by
Liz Truss, ultimately the entire act must be repealed:
'The idea that there is a legal mechanism whereby people can lie about
something as fundamental as their sex is ludicrous. That official legal
documents, such as birth certificates and driving licences, can be
retrospectively changed to reflect a delusion is dangerous. We need to
know who is male and who is female. Just look at the Covid-19 pandemic,
there is clear evidence that it affects women and men differently,
irrespective of how one chooses to identify.'
In a less politically correct era, those who today are recognised as
'trans women' would be understood to be transvestites and fetishists. It
is an uncomfortable fact that men are more violent than women – the fact
that some men wear frilly pairs of pants, claim to be oppressed and use
'she / her' pronouns does not lessen this risk. The GRA allows for the
creation of what is described by lawyers as a 'legal fiction', whereby
sex is recorded as a marker of identity rather than of biology. This has
profound implications for the collection of data, policy formation and
the safety of women and girls. It is only surprising that it has taken
so long for there to be any widespread questioning of this bizarre piece
of legislation.
No one likes admitting that perhaps their mum was right, but many
feminists of the second wave did try to warn us. In 1979, Janice Raymond
predicted in The Transexual Empire that transsexual males could
'colonise feminist identification, culture, politics and sexuality'.
Forty years later, transgender model Munroe Bergdorf took to the stage
as a keynote speaker at a London Women's March. But in 2004, when the
GRA was passed, second-wave feminism was as unfashionable as
Birkenstocks and lumberjack shirts.
For years, popular feminism sought to distance itself from earlier
grassroots women's movements. Liberal feminist organisations have
actively sided with the transgender activists to quash the resurgent
radicals in their demands for a public debate on transgenderism. Almost
three years ago, feminist academic Dr Heather Brunskell-Evans was pushed
from her post as spokeswoman on violence against women and girls for the
Women's Equality Party, after she cautioned against the social and
medical transition of children. Dr Brunskell-Evans is just one of many
heretics to have been burned by mainstream 'feminist' organisations for
deviating from the approved line.
There is some wriggle room in the wording of the statement from Liz
Truss which needs further examination. As yet there is no clarification
on whether 'single sex' spaces will be open to those who have changed
their legal gender through obtaining a Gender Recognition Certificate.
We also do not know what 'checks and balances' will prevent abuse of the
system and what counts as 'irreversible' with regard to the medication
taken by children who identify as transgender. The government's full
proposals are set to be published in summer.
Should the self-identification aspect of the proposed reforms to the GRA
be fully rejected, as has been indicated, there will undoubtedly be
legal challenges. Whatever domestic law might decree, at an
international level transgender rights have been intricately woven into
the protections originally designed for lesbian, gay and bisexual people.
Nonetheless, this week's statement from Liz Truss feels like a small
victory – a tiny glimmer of hope that despite the might of lobby groups
and the crushing stupidity of virtue-signalling politicians, the truth
will out.
Jo Bartosch is a journalist campaigning for the rights of women and girls.
(6) Rugby Australia sacks Raelene Castle - victory for Israel Folau
Raelene Castle announces she will step down as Rugby Australia chief
executive
7.30 Report
By Leigh Sales
The ongoing turmoil in Rugby Australia has continued with the
resignation of its embattled chief executive, Raelene Castle.
In a statement provided exclusively to 7.30, Ms Castle said: "I love
rugby on every level and I will always love the code and the people I
have had the honour of working with since I took this role.
"I made it clear to the board that I would stand up and take the flak
and do everything possible to serve everyone's best interests.
"In the last couple of hours, it has been made clear to me that the
board believes my no longer being the CEO would help give them the clear
air they believe they need.
"The game is bigger than any one individual — so this evening I told the
chair [Paul McLean] that I would resign from the role.
"I will do whatever is needed to ensure an orderly handover. I wish the
code and everyone who loves rugby nothing but the best and I would like
to thank the people I work with and the broader rugby community for
their enormous support."
In recent years, Rugby Australia has rolled from controversy to controversy.
It became embroiled in a protracted public and legal row with its star
player, Israel Folau, after he posted religious commentary on his social
media account at odds with the sport's values.
There was talk of a fallout with former Wallabies coach Michael Cheika;
the sport is running significant debts; the team's World Cup performance
was lacklustre; it has been unable to reach an agreement for broadcast
rights, and coronavirus has indefinitely postponed all games.
In addition, this week a number of former Wallabies captains sent a
letter to the board demanding a change of administration, saying the
sport had "lost its way".
In an interview with 7.30 recorded just before the board made it clear
to Ms Castle that her position was no longer tenable, she was asked if
the sport needed a change of leadership to give it a clean slate.
"Do I think the sports lost its way? No, I don't," she said.
"I am very keen to have a chat to [the former Wallaby captains].
"The board and I have invited them to come and have a chat to us,
hopefully so that we can explain some of the work that's been done to
try and reshape the sport over the last wee while, and also take on
board the positive ideas that they've got to give to us."
Rugby Australia has yet to comment.
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