NOTHING SCARY EVER HAPPENS IN GERMANY

Intriguing details emerge about the Human Rights Commission complainant whose protest now sees Bill Leak facing government demands to explain himself.

Melissa Dinnison with boyfriend Karl Schatke

Intriguing details emerge about the Human Rights Commission complainant whose protest now sees Bill Leak facing government demands to explain himself.

It seems she’s enjoying life in peaceful, non-racist Germany:

The young woman whose complaint about a Bill Leak cartoon in The Australian triggered an investigation under section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act says she is “terrified” to return to Australia because of racism.

Melissa Dinnison, who until recently lived in Perth, made an online complaint to the Human Rights Commission in August claiming she had “experienced ­racial hatred” and been “discrim­inated against because of my race” as a result of the cartoon.

Attempts to contact Ms Dinnison have been unsuccessful. She is believed to be holidaying in Germany with boyfriend, Karl Schatke, a casual IT worker at Perth’s Curtin University who volunteered for the Greens during this year’s federal election campaign.

Dinnison's complaint was filed within hours of Leak's cartoon being published. It'll be interesting to discover if she was already in Germany at the time.

Ms Dinnison said on Facebook she was also upset with media coverage of the racial tensions in the WA town of Kalgoorlie sparked by the death of 14-year-old Aboriginal boy Elijah Doughty in August. “A little boy has been (killed) and the media representation is focused on ‘racial tension’ not the murder itself,” she wrote.

“Look at what we have become. I am terrified to come back. Just keep telling yourself that there’s racism in our communities and everyone should get over it. Our babies are dying for your right to pretend this isn’t happening.”

Melissa sounds more than a little paranoid. It’s a trait common to many Melissas.