Who is the "lion of the Left"?

A while ago I noticed something interesting. It appears that, for some reason, journalist Tracey Spicer, who has become the leader of the Me Too movement in Australia, has retracted an interesting detail from an article that she wrote for the Daily Telegraph that was published on April 29th 2018, and some time after publication that article was put behind a paywall. That article is about sexual assault accusations in regard to famous or powerful Australians. I'm quite sure I read the article in the original form without paying a while ago. When I looked up the full text of the article in an online article subscription database recently, the phrase "known as a ‘lion of the Left’," was missing. Fortunately the original article was quoted in another article that is still openly readable on the internet, including a quote of the paragraph that has been snipped, the quote still having the missing phrase intact 

"“One woman who contacted me with claims of being drugged and raped says her lawyer advised her not to report it because, ‘prosecuting a rape case against such a high profile man would be harrowing’. Another woman says she was drug-raped by her uncle — an Australian media icon — after he spiked her drink. A third alleges she was raped by a legendary politician, known as a ‘lion of the Left’, at the age of 15,” Spicer wrote."

So, I'm guessing someone from "the Left" has spooked Spicer or the newspaper that she wrote for, and caused an episode of self-censorship. If someone somewhere has already reported about this retraction I'd like to know the story behind it. 

Of course, I've wondered who this person is, bearing in mind that accusations are not proof of a crime. The phrase "lion of the left" could be a quote from a written source, and I've had a stab at a phrase search on Google, but I've found that phrase has been widely used to describe various politicians. I've assumed that this "legendary politician" of the left is Australian as Spicer is operating her campaign in Australia. For a moment I wondered whether this could have been an early disclosure from the daughters of the late Australian writer Dorothy Hewett, before they started naming names last month. They named Bob Ellis and an abuser when they were underage, and though he was closely associated with the left in politics in Australia, he never got elected as a politician. Another Bob, Bob Collins, was a known child sex abuser and an Australia politician of the left, but hardly legendary and as I am aware, chose boys as victims. My money is on Bill Shorten, if the allegation is true, and I have no reason to doubt. He has already been accused of rape by a female who has alleged that she was 16 at the time, a very similar accusation. Shorten could fairly be described as a legendary Australian politician who is a lion of the left. Perhaps the choice of the phrase "lion of the left" is a hint at Shorten's legendary record as a political predator? 

Could it be true that the man who is close to becoming Australia's next Prime Minister is a paedophile rapist at least twice over? Such a state of affairs is worse than my worst nightmares. Could it be seen as a less or a more horrible possibility that the accusation about a rape of a 15 year old girl does not have Shorten as the subject, but yet another famous name on the left of Australian politics, neither Shorten nor Ellis nor Collins? If that was true, would that make the ALP a paedophile ring? 

Famous pedos list leans a bit more to the left

The left of politics in Australia and that generation of Australian libertarian, left-wing, arts and culture tossers who made big names and big careers for themselves in the 1970s have lost a lot of shine in the last month, with the horrific disclosures from the two adult daughters of the late highly respected Australian author Dorothy Hewett, detailing their perverted mother's role in their underage sexual exploitation at the hands of a great number of paedophiles in the arts-leftie culture of that tumultuous decade. One leading figure from the ALP, a speechwriter and long-time supporter but I'm guessing never sober enough to get elected, was named as one of the arts community figures who had sexual relations with both of Hewett's daughters when they were both underage, one episode explicitly described as non-consensual. I'm not at all surprised. He always was a vile person who wrote vile things, and he had a huge career in the Australian film industry and screenwriting. 

Because of these recent accusations Bob Ellis has been added to my horrible list, to join the company of two other ALP figures. A very concerning inclusion was an ALP senator from the 1980s to the 1990s. The child sex charges against him were numerous and very serious, but as is often the case when paedophiles face a court hearing over their crimes, the fat piece of scum killed himself before the victims got a chance to see justice served. 

Bob Ellis and Bob Collins had a few things in common: both called themselves "Bob", a name famous in the ALP where the over-rated ex-PM Bob Hawke is still regarded as a living legend by some. Both were important figures in the ALP, and both were mates with the ABC radio broadcaster Phillip Adams, himself associated with the ALP for many years and a huge figure in the Australian film industry in the 20th century. Adams certainly knows how to pick his mates! Were the revolting Bobs products of their time and place in history, a permissive age and a booze-soaked social set? Are there kiddie-fiddlers in every power elite? Does the right of Australian politics harbour and cover up just as many of these offenders?

It is some comfort that these men are all dead or not far from it, but the third ALP figure in my list (see below) is a present and future concern. A BIG concern. It is very likely that one day he will be Australia's Prime Minister. Great. 

My views on disclosures of sexual misconduct within the skeptic/atheist community...

...and other pieces of writing critical of this community can be read at my other blog:

http://incorrectpleasures.blogspot.com.au/