Looks like Australia also has a woke problem that needs to be addressed. Underdog Wins: Street Sweeper Beats Woke Council Darebin Council, dominated by Labor/Greens, promotes “equality” by banning men from a street sweeper job and shunning Australia Day for foreign flags/festivals. They fired a worker for questioning an Acknowledgement of Country, but he won his unfair dismissal case. Common sense prevails against moral superiority. This is the City of Darebin, a local government area in the northern suburbs of Melbourne. Here is Mayor Kristine Olaris and her Deputy Mayor, and here are the rest of the Councillors. As you can see, there are five Labor and three Greens councillors, of which six are female, while only two are male. That doesn’t seem to be very equal, does it? Don’t worry, according to their website, they have a commitment to equality. They achieve this in various ways. For example, as reported by 7News in 2021, “Melbourne’s Darebin council BANS MEN from applying for street sweeper job in bid to recruit ‘women, non-binary and gender non-conforming people’.” See, equality is easy—just ban men from applying! Unsurprisingly, they seem to dislike Australia Day, as reported by ABC in 2017: “Melbourne’s City of Darebin council decides to dump Australia Day ceremonies.” Instead of celebrating their own country, they instead ask pertinent questions on their website, such as, “Why is Darebin flying the Palestinian flag?” Good question. Why are they flying a foreign flag? On their Facebook page, they want you to “go rainbow against discrimination.” They have a gay couple with two boys promoting the flu vaccine. Although they don’t want you to celebrate Australia Day, of course, they happily promote Ramadan for the Muslim community, Nowruz—the Iranian New Year, Diwali—the Hindu festival of lights, and of course, Chinese New Year. As an Australian living in the City of Darebin, you’re welcome to celebrate any country in the world, except your own! But the one thing they love celebrating the most is Aboriginal people. Here’s Councillor Alexandra Sangster sporting her favourite Aboriginal t-shirt. Sangster looks so gangster. They also have a page dedicated to spending your ratepayer money on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Grants, something they promote heavily on their social media. Of course, they have an entire page dedicated to Acknowledgement of Country, acknowledging the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people as the traditional owners of the land. And you better not criticise their Acknowledgement, or you’ll lose your job! As the Australian reported, “Worker sacked for objecting to Acknowledgement of Country. Shaun Turner was dismissed by Darebin City Council after questioning why the Acknowledgement of Country was being made for the first time at a meeting of the street cleaning team.” Last year, he allegedly said: “If you need to be thanking anyone, it’s the people who have worn the uniform and fought for our country to keep us free,” “It’s getting out of hand and people are losing it, it is now being done at the opening of a postage stamp,” and “I don’t need to be welcomed into my own country.” The council accused him of speaking in a tone that was perceived as disrespectful, sarcastic and aggressive, claiming he said, “Acknowledgement of Country is not necessary,” and “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders do not deserve an acknowledgement at the start of meetings.” The council also claimed he made a derogatory comment about a colleague. In June last year, the council delivered a termination letter to Mr Turner, claiming he had “engaged in racial discrimination and vilification by inciting and encouraging hatred, serious contempt for, revulsion or serious ridicule against another person because of their race.” But in a twist of fate, as reported by 7News just recently, “Melbourne street sweeper Shaun Turner wins unfair dismissal case over Acknowledgement of Country comments.” He stood up to this woke council, and he won. The Fair Work Commission found it was unfair to sack him for objecting to an Acknowledgement of Country, with Deputy President William Clancy saying, “I am not persuaded that Mr Turner said either ‘The Acknowledgement of Country is not necessary’ or that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders ‘do not deserve an acknowledgement at the start of meetings.’ I am satisfied, however, that Mr Turner made a comment to the effect that if anyone was to be acknowledged or thanked at a toolbox meeting, it should be the servicemen and women who had fought for this country (i.e. Australia), but I do not consider that expressing such an opinion constitutes a valid reason for dismissal.” Mr Turner is now seeking reinstatement as a street sweeper—you know, a person who does actual work for the City of Darebin council. So there you go. It’s a win for common sense. The underdog won against those who claim moral superiority, and a reminder that when ordinary people push back, change can happen.