Assaults and ambos: Sometimes, jail time is not the necessary solution

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Assaults and ambos: Sometimes, jail time is not the necessary solution

To submit a letter to The Age, email letters@theage.com.au. Please include your home address and telephone number.

Illustration: Andrew Dyson

Illustration: Andrew Dyson


I find it very disturbing that Daniel Andrews considers it to be acceptable for him to politicise the sentencing by a magistrate and to interfere by saying that the prosecution should appeal that sentence. Although, of course, there are plenty of votes in locking more people up, regardless of the proven negative outcomes from doing so.

What this does is encourage certain sections of the population who see revenge as a major part of sentencing, to agitate to send a young person with no prior criminal history, but with mental health issues, to prison. He will not receive the proper treatment in prison and therefore, when released, will not be obliged to receive treatment as he is at the moment with his current sentence.

If we consider ourselves to be civilised, we should try to ensure that this person does not reoffend and that he receives adequate treatment. He is much more likely to reoffend if he has been imprisoned, as prison is the best school for learning about committing crime.

Irene Bolger, Apollo Bay

One size fits all does not work

There is growing pressure, particularly in the Victorian Parliament, to override the recent decision of the judiciary to not send a young person to prison for attacking an ambulance worker and asking for the application of a mandatory jail sentence. While the action is not appropriate, it is important to acknowledge that the young offender is on the autism spectrum and I strongly believe his case should be considered on its merits. We all know "one size fits all" is not a fair approach to addressing community-legal issues and the same applies when considering mandatory sentences for crimes. The offender has apologised and no one will benefit if this young person goes to jail. It may in fact cause more harm to his development and his future contribution to society.

Let the judiciary do its job and assess each case in the light of extenuating circumstances. Let's be fair and reasonable to all our citizens.

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Pauline Semmens, Port Melbourne

Emergency workers need protection

As a long-term healthcare professional my thoughts are with the colleagues, family and friends of the paramedics involved in the case of James Haberfield. During my professional life I have seen how the respect that members of the public had for health professionals has declined and been eroded. It is now a significant and longstanding issue in the delivery of direct care in the healthcare system.

The advent of widespread abuse of illicit substances has only accentuated this issue, in particular the epidemic of ice abuse. Thinking about this decision to avoid a jail sentence in this case seems to require a mindset from the community that they accept without question that their mum/brother/partner/mate/daughter who chose these occupations for altruistic reasons, will be subjected to violence or abuse on the job.

This case is an example of something that is so common, it is frightening. I am furious and astounded that a magistrate could make a judgment with so little regard to the safety of frontline emergency workers, as if they could be dispensable, or insignificant in some way.

I'm a mental health nurse, I'm aware that many young males suffer depression. Like all of us when we're young, they make mistakes, and later feel remorseful.

Many young people who abuse illicit substances find it impossible to resist doing it again. Recurring psychosis is what paramedics dread, because once again they are also put at risk. All staff in our health system are entitled to be safe at work, and for their wellbeing to be respected. Frontline emergency workers and paramedics are skilled and trained specifically for the contribution they make to our community in an emergency. Their health matters too.

Megan Rayner, Boat Harbour, Tas

FORUM

Varying reality

On the issue of gender and the search for the "gay gene", it is interesting that people accept all sorts of variations in human characteristics including behaviours.

But some people have problems accepting variations in gender. Religious dogma would appear to account for much of this. However, variation is a reality of living things.

Leigh Ackland, Deepdene

The root cause

"Sorry, I didn't know what I was doing when I was drunk or on drugs" does not get to the nub of the problem of assault on police or ambos.

It also doesn't get to the problem of offences committed while driving under the influence. The central problem is the "decision" (addiction or otherwise) to indulge in substances in the first place that may cause grief to others. If prison creates the possibility that young people might be influenced by other lawbreakers, then other options must be made available.

What about a night "prison" for young drug and alcohol offenders staffed by mental health and social welfare personnel, teachers, doctors, ambos and police, where a youth can receive treatment, maybe learn new ways of behaving and avoid having a record that might cause further harm and propel him into future criminal behaviour.

Carol Oliver, Musk

Think of victims

What about the "catastrophic effect" on the victims and the paramedics of Victoria? A vote of "no confidence" in a legal system that cannot protect the innocent.

Michael Maine, Warrnambool

Shameful politics

Any Australian who believes in fair play would be aghast at the shameful, underhand bugging of the East Timorese embassy. It is followed by the vindictive persecution of the whistleblowers, Witness K and Bernard Collaery, who brought this despicable act to light. The government's actions are under the guise of national security, what else?

Laws manufactured under certain circumstances one day, ostensibly to fight terrorism, can easily be abused for ideological reasons the next. Scott Morrison and Christian Porter show no compunction applying these laws to serve their own machinations, disregarding what is right. Shame on them.

Marcel Hoog Antink, Portland

Teach your children

If your child hasn't done well recently in the NAPLAN testing, do something about it. Talk to your child, see that your child is reading and provide the right reading material and talk with the class teacher of your child.

The sooner all this begins the better. In a class at school there are at least four levels of reading ability. Moving up a group takes time and the sooner you begin, it will benefit your child. Continue working to achieve for your child the best ability they can achieve.

NAPLAN testing reveals to schools lots of benefits and ways they can improve all aspects of learning. In my teaching time in year 6 there were children in a session who could write six pages of delightful material. Within the same class there were some children who could only attain little more than a page.

Every child can improve and a good teacher will assist you as a parent and you as a child in all areas of education.

John Rochstein, Berwick

Handmaidens, us

Why would Australia go to any, including illegal, lengths to grab the lion's share of oil and gas in the Timor Sea, when we so readily and easily gave up most of our own reserves to foreign-owned companies? Had we become the handmaidens of the likes of Chevron, Shell and the rest?

John Marks, Werribee

Let Johnson stew

Gough Whitlam had a hostile majority in the upper house, which would not grant supply. So governor-general John Kerr dismissed him. Boris Johnson is not in quite the same situation as Whitlam. The analogy with Kristina Keneally is more apt. Trying to push a policy only barely endorsed by the British electorate, he seeks to stifle debate. Whether the Queen should have endorsed this is debatable. She is said to be politically sagacious, but it is difficult to know what her reasoning might be in this case. Perhaps the idea is to let Johnson stew in his own juice. This reader would endorse that, and happily see the whole insane idea of Brexit simmer to nothing as a consequence.

John Mathew, Melbourne

Protect atheists

The Morrison government's draft religious discrimination bill is designed to give workers added protection if they express controversial religious views outside of working hours. My hope is that this will work for those of us who don't adhere to a belief system that follows an invisible "supreme being". I would like to know if I will be able to express anti-religious views and be protected. This is a religious discrimination bill, when all said and done. If I want to call someone a "Bible-basher" or a "happy clapper" will I be protected? We are, after all, dealing with beliefs not facts.

David Legat, South Morang

What's at stake?

Let's go the whole hog with this bit of nonsense and have the religious discrimination act include burning at the stake for sacrilege. But it will need to define sacrilege, and religion for that matter, and good luck with that.

Gary Sayer, Warrnambool

No responsibility

Meshel Laurie's comments (28/8) about the serious problems created by "group work" in tertiary education weren't "generalisations" nor were they "uninformed". Group work to me represents an abdication of responsibility to properly assess academic performance. It's patronising to say that group work "helps students develop mentoring skills in the workplace". What a crock of nonsense.

In the workplace, there are serious sanctions for people who can't or won't do the work required of them. In the university setting, I have never seen any academic staff respond meaningfully to quite legitimate complaints about the unfairness of group work.

Michael McBain, Ivanhoe

Dump the sophistry

The prevalence of group assignments in undergraduate courses is to reduce the marking load – and the commensurate costs. Eight hundred students in groups of four produce 200 assignments not 800. Everything else is sophistry.

Bronwen Murdoch, South Melbourne

Found his station

In service to his country in the theatres of war, politics and diplomacy, balanced by the humility of a husband and father devoted to his family, Tim Fischer always found his true station in life ("Fischer's last train ride is just the ticket", 30/8).

Allan Gibson, Cherrybrook, NSW

Remember West Papua

The 20th anniversary of East Timor's independence ought to remind Australians of the decades-long suffering of our West Papuan neighbours, thwarted of their rightful independence under Indonesian military rule. People were shocked by the brutality of the Indonesian response to the East Timor uprising, but forget West Papua has been suffering this for nearly five decades.

David McCarthy, Coburg

Hiding to nothing

When Scott Morrison said of the G7 "we need to be in the tent and we need to know what's going on", I imagine he wasn't talking about the Australian voter. As minister for immigration it was "on water matters" that kept us in the dark. During the election he refused to answer questions because they were "bubble issues" and recently he wouldn't assess his first year as Prime Minister because that would be "narcissistic". I wonder what the next clever excuse for hiding things from the public will be.

Vivien Wertkin, St Kilda

How good are we?

Now that we have named the All-Australian team, when do we award ourselves a World Cup?

John Massie, Middle Park

AND ANOTHER THING

Timor

It is great that Australia is to fund a digital link to East Timor. Is this conscience money after Australia has stolen years of oil and gas from them?

Alan Inchley, Frankston

Religion

It seems that religious freedom is when followers of a particular religion have the freedom to discriminate against anyone who doesn't follow that religion.

Henry Herzog, St Kilda East

Please, can we have freedom from religion?

John Barton, Sandringham

Furthermore

A Tamil asylum-seeker family or Adani? Only one will enrich Australia.

Jenny Bone, Surrey Hills

After the excitement of tipping in 198 AFL matches over 23 weeks, this weekend will pass very slowly.

Phil Lipshut, Elsternwick

Australia isn't for sale, Malcolm Cameron (23/8), just on a 99-year lease. That's another matter.

Dianne Lewis, Mount Martha

Vale Tim Fischer, a politician with a moral compass that, unfortunately, is now sorely missing in politics globally.

Marcia Roche, Mill Park

Re CBD – "Home on the Yarra" – since when has Kinkora Road Hawthorn had "waterfront"?

Jan Ward, Hawthorn

It is a shock to learn that 75 per cent of a Bio Med Masters Program at Monash are international students. Why are we educating huge numbers of students from other countries? Why are we not focusing on educating our own population?

Ewa Haire, Moonee Ponds

Just when you think he can't go any lower, a reminder to Peter Dutton that an ounce of compassion goes a long way.

Annie Wilson, Inverloch

University finances highlight the government's general philosophy – if it produces income go for it, otherwise forget it.

Lance Cranage, Mount Waverley

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