If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime
And the latest campaign to change the date of Australia Day brings old foes together.
Greg Brown and Tessa Akerman report on Victoria’s youth justice crisis, The Australian, yesterday:
Escapees from a Victorian youth justice centre, armed with iron bars, tried to hijack a car carrying a seven-year-old after the fugitives gave the police the slip in two high-speed pursuits …
(This) came weeks after Youth Affairs Minister Jenny Mikakos denied she had lost control of the system.
Don’t be fooled by the riots she’s got, Jenny’s still running the prison block. 3AW, January 9, 2016:
I’m very focused on the task that’s at hand here ... We are reviewing the whole youth justice system. The system has not been looked at for decades and I’m giving it a really big shake-up.
The Victorian Libs did have a crack a few years ago, The Age, December 12, 2012:
Teenage law-breakers will get more chances to avoid jail as the Baillieu government softens its ‘’tough on crime’’ approach towards youth offenders. The government will seek more diversion programs for juvenile criminals and, in a major reversal of a pre-election promise, has shelved its controversial plan to impose minimum sentences for people as young as 16 who commit acts of gross violence.
Won’t somebody think of the violent youth offenders?, The Age, continued:
Opposition youth justice spokeswoman Jenny Mikakos said Labor welcomed the government’s rethink on young offenders, and its ‘’apparent about-face on mandatory detention’’.
“If they’re really serious about keeping kids out of prison, though, they’d reverse their decision to slash education and TAFE funding,’’ she said.
Governing is hard. Jenny Mikakos at her press conference yesterday:
We are seeing far more violent youth offenders than we have seen in the past and the system needs to change and move accordingly.
Bill Shorten yet to demand a royal commission to protect the rights of innocent Victorians, Sky News, July 30, 2016:
On Monday night (when ABC’s Four Corners ran the Don Dale youth justice scandal story), I think a lot of Australians got an overdue wake-up call. We all saw the appalling images. Chloe and I, as parents, were shocked to see that a child could be treated in this way.
The image of Australian justice now appears to be that of a 14-year-old boy hooded and strapped and restrained to a chair.
The Guardian wants to #ChangeTheDate. The Guardian Australia, yesterday:
This is not a date that unifies Australians. In fact it’s hard to think of a worse date for a party that is supposed to include us all.
Guardian columnist Julia Gillard is #NotOnBoard, The Guardian Australia, yesterday:
She said her personal view on the debate around the change of the date … was that it should remain 26 January. “I understand Australia Day for many reminds them of the bad parts of the country’s history and what it meant for indigenous people … but my personal view is the date should stay where it is,” Gillard said. “National stories are complex ... and we should never try to strip out complexities.”
Barnaby hasn’t read The Guardian lately, 2GB, yesterday:
I’m just sick of these people who every time they want to make us feel guilty about it. They don’t like Christmas, they don’t like Australia Day, they’re just miserable ... and I wish they’d crawl under a rock and hide for a little bit.