The Public Relations Institute has a code of ethics Sam Dastyari might find useful
Fallen Labor star Sam Dastyari may have found a job in public relations. The Australian, yesterday:
Outgoing NSW senator Sam Dastyari is in discussions with Essential Media Communications — a firm that does a lot of union PR work — to take on a campaigning role in his first job on the way to an attempted public rehabilitation.
The Public Relations Institute of Australia has a code of ethics:
Members shall deal fairly and honestly with their employers, clients and prospective clients, with their fellow workers including superiors and subordinates, with public officials, the communication media, the general public and with fellow members of PRIA. Members shall avoid conduct ... likely to bring discredit upon themselves, the institute, their employers or clients. Members shall not knowingly disseminate false or misleading information and shall take care to avoid doing so inadvertently.
Sound advice but too late perhaps. ABC news online, December 11:
Senator Dastyari is again being pressured to go because of a report in Fairfax Media that he urged Labor’s deputy Tanya Plibersek not to meet pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong. Fairfax said it had confirmed this with multiple sources who say the intervention by one of her colleagues surprised Ms Plibersek. Labor health spokeswoman Catherine King said Senator Dastyari should reflect on his future. “We have been very, very clear about the matter of Sam Dastyari, that his political career is, in essence, going nowhere,” she said.
And there’s probably no point in asking the Home Affairs Minister for a reference. Peter Dutton in The Australian, December 10:
My prediction is there will be a lot more that comes out in relation to Mr Dastyari. He’s a shady figure. If he’s a double agent he shouldn’t be in the Australian Senate.
What’s in a headbutt? The Australian yesterday:
A Hobart DJ has pleaded guilty to headbutting Tony Abbott but is seeking to avoid jail time, arguing that little harm was caused.
Little harm? The Smithsonian website, January 10, 2013:
(A) study in the International Journal of Legal Medicine aims to “collect basic biomechanical data and assess the injury risk associated with a headbutt” ... A “typical headbutt” probably won’t kill the recipient, although in some cases, lethal injuries do occur. And as for the victim’s face, well, the bony parts can easily get injured.
The Australian reported Test batsman Cameron Bancroft’s experience on November 28 last year:
Yeah, (Jonny Bairstow) just greeted me with a headbutt kind of thing. I was expecting a handshake, but it wasn’t the greeting of choice that I was expecting. As I say, a handshake or a hug or something like that would have been something I would have expected more than a headbutt.
VFL umpire Graham Carbery found himself at the centre of the “Carman incident” in 1980 when Phil Carman of Collingwood entered Australian football’s hall of infamy. The Sydney Morning Herald published Carbery’s obituary, October 3, last year:
“Fabulous Phil” Carman was one of the league’s top players. There was an on-field contretemps and suddenly Carman headbutted Carbery. No player had ever assaulted an umpire like that ... Carman got a 20-week suspension. The case went off to the Supreme Court.
ABC news online reflects on a “seismic headbutt (that) shook up the world of football”, July 20, 2016:
Time seemed to freeze as Zinedine Zidane held his opponent’s gaze, locked, loaded and unleashed an extraordinary headbutt straight into Materazzi’s sternum. It earned Zidane — one of the most decorated players of his time ... a red card.