Gun laws fail safety test: Greens

THE latest domestic violence murder-suicide in Sydney should cause the Premier, Nathan Rees, to change gun laws immediately so that women [people] at risk from their estranged partners are better protected, the Greens MP Lee Rhiannon said.

Mr Rees met the National Coalition for Gun Control yesterday after agreeing to review gun laws that had made it easier for [people] men who had been the subject of apprehended violence orders to regain their licences.

"We've had a very useful discussion that canvassed a wide range of matters. We'll give a considered response to the Coalition. But I have agreed to keep up contact with them and meet with them on a regular basis," Mr Rees said.

Under NSW law, anyone who became the subject of an AVO had to wait 10 years after it expired to reapply for a gun licence, but an amendment moved by the Shooters MP Roy Smith, and approved this month, waived the 10-year waiting period.

Ms Rhiannon said although John Kudrytch, 39, who shot his former wife, Melissa Cook, 29, at a BP service station in Casula on Tuesday, did not appear to be a registered gun owner, Mr Rees needed to overturn the amendment.

[If John Kudrytch did not appear to be a registered gun owner, then why is he being used here as an example to some law that won't change his circumstances, either before or after the fact that he killed his former wife with a gun? Why not clamp down on illegal guns? Or gun use in general? Also if Kudrytch didn't use a gun would he have killed his wife with something anyway?]

Ms Rhiannon: "The Premier's review of gun laws should ask why laws put the onus on the AVO subject to surrender his/[her] gun to police rather than require police to proactively seize the firearm. Tragedies like this are becoming more prevalent with the increasing number of firearms in circulation."

[The premier should review why the man had a gun and put the onus on the illegal gun owners to surrender his/her illegal gun.]

Ms Rhiannon: She said the weakening of gun control laws by the Shooters Party, with the support of major parties, could result in more accidents, deaths and suicides from guns.

[Either Ms Rhiannon and the Kudrytch murder suicide is being exploited by the Sydney Morning Herald or Ms Rhiannon?]

[Yesterdays headline from the SMH would strongly suggest media manipulation by SMH: Police probe how killer husband got gun - Breaking News - National ...17 Dec 2008 ... Police investigating the murder of a woman gunned down by her estranged husband will investigate how he got hold of a gun. - 14 hours ago -]

Quote: The weakening of the Sydney Morning Herald's article in relation to the gender blame game is preventing their ability to a balanced article in relation to solving the problem at the root. For some reason they seem to think only men commit crime using guns? Why is that? Then they go on to use the wrong example to attack gun laws? Why is that?

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Estranged husband shoots wife dead
A woman who was shot dead by her estranged husband in Sydney's south-west yesterday had taken out an apprehended violence order against him, police said.

Police shoot teenager dead in stand-off
'Just a scared little boy'...Tyler Cassidy, who was shot dead.

Domestic murders hit 10-year high
The New South Wales Government is being urged to hold an immediate review into domestic violence homicides, with the number of women and children killed in NSW at its highest level in almost a decade.

Anti-violence plan for children
A Federal Government agency is developing a plan for anti-violence education programs for children.

Amnesty: 334 Taser Deaths Since 2001 And back in the United States, Amnesty International is calling for new limits on the use of taser stun guns by law enforcement officials. In a new report, Amnesty says 334 people have been killed by taser weapons since 2001. 90 percent of the victims were unarmed and did not appear to present a serious threat. Some of the people to be shocked by taser weapons include schoolchildren, pregnant women and an elderly person with dementia.

Sacked Victorian police squad lawless

The black suits, white shirts and team-issue black ties worn by the armed offenders squad imitated the violent criminals in the film Reservoir Dogs, the OPI report says.

THE police corruption watchdog claims some members of the former armed offenders squad took the law into their own hands.

Office of Police Integrity director Michael Strong said too many squad members believed assaulting criminals was a community service.

In a report tabled yesterday in State Parliament, Mr Strong also said some squad members believed they were a "force within the force" and above the law.

"Undoubtedly some police have been prepared to decide guilt without recourse to courts, mete out punishment to those they consider deserve it and lie on oath or turn a blind eye to protect themselves or their colleagues," he said.

Mr Strong said members of the scrapped squad had a disproportionate number of complaints compared with other Victoria Police squads.

"The armed offenders squad should be regarded as a cultural relic within Victoria Police," he said.

"Too many of its members believed that 'the end justified the means', and that bashing a 'crook', was a community service.

"The squad, through a lack of appropriate monitoring and accountability within Victoria Police, was allowed to develop its own culture, out of step with the organisation's direction."

The OPI secretly bugged an armed offenders squad interview room in 2006 and filmed members committing assaults.

Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon scrapped the elite squad within weeks of a July 2007 OPI raid on it.

Disgraced ex-squad members Robert Dabb, Mark Butterfield and Matthew Franc initially denied it was them who were caught on camera bashing a suspect.

But each of the former detectives this year pleaded guilty to assault and misleading the OPI director.

They were sentenced to intensive corrections orders involving community work, education and training of between 17 and 22 weeks.

Mr Strong said he was concerned the violence revealed on the secret tape was not an isolated or unusual occurrence, but was symptomatic of broader problems in the squad's structure and ethos.

"Lack of a stable and strong middle management clearly contributed to the fact that an unhealthy squad culture was able to continue unchecked," he said.

Victoria Police deputy commissioner Kieran Walshe said yesterday that the OPI's identification of the unhealthy culture in the armed offenders squad vindicated Ms Nixon's decision to scrap it.

"That culture does not, in my view, exist anywhere else in the organisation," he said.

But Police Association secretary designate Greg Davies said scrapping the 35-strong squad was an over-reaction.

He said only three members were dealt with in court, but disbanding the squad created the impression all the others also did something wrong.

"Those people were hard-working, honest, solid performers and were all tarred with the one brush," he said.

Mr Strong praised Victoria Police for acting swiftly to disband the squad.

"Not only has there been a significant reduction in complaints against detectives working in the area, but arrest and conviction rates have also improved," he said.

The OPI report reveals the old armed offenders squad solved only 47 per cent of cases between July 2003 and September 2006 whereas the new armed crime taskforce has a clean-up rate of 80 per cent.

There were 31 complaints lodged against armed offenders squad detectives in that 39-month period.

Camera in police cars 'to deter bashings

POLICE should install video cameras in police cars and throughout stations to deter officers from bashing suspects, the Office Of Police Integrity has recommended.

In a report tabled in Parliament yesterday into the now defunct armed offenders squad, OPI director Michael Strong said video surveillance would deter police from assaulting suspects and would protect them from false allegations of assault.

The investigation into the armed offenders squad found that the unit behaved as a force within a force, believing "that bashing a crook was a community service".

It found the squad deliberately branded itself as a separate unit within the police force that lived and worked by its own rules.

"Squad members became renowned for wearing black suits, white shirts, dark sunglasses and a team-issue black tie." The report said it was part of the image of "an unyielding clique or band, united together, separate and apart from the broader Victoria Police organisation. The outfits imitate the costumes worn by a network of violent criminals in the film Reservoir Dogs."

The OPI found the squad was poorly supervised, refused to alter its illegal behaviour and resisted any attempts at reform. It also found members were prepared to lie to cover-up assaults.

"The absence of a stable leadership and lack of diligent supervisors gave squad members free reign to use whatever police methods they liked.

"Throughout the OPI investigation into the armed offenders squad, police regularly invoked the code of silence in an attempt to frustrate the investigation," the report found.

"The investigation exposed the flagrant disregard by some members of the squad for suspects' rights."

In February 2006, the OPI began an investigation into allegations that suspects were being mistreated by detectives from the armed offenders squad. Three months later, an OPI secret camera hidden in one of the squad's interview rooms captured a suspect being bashed.

Three members of the squad, Robert Dabb, Mark Butterfield and Matthew Franc, were called to OPI hearings and denied involvement. They later resigned and earlier this year pleaded guilty to assaulting the suspect and attempting to mislead the OPI. They were sentenced to intensive corrections orders that involve community service work.

The OPI said the case exposed "the alarming willingness of some police to lie on oath or turn a blind eye to protect themselves or their colleagues".

The armed offenders squad was disbanded in 2006 and replaced with the armed crime taskforce. Figures published in the OPI report show that since the change, the solution rate has jumped from 47% to 80% and the complaint rate has dropped.

Mr Strong was critical of the Police Association's vigorous defence of the squad and its opposition to Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon's decision to disband the unit.

Police Association secretary Greg Davies rejected the criticism, saying the union believed the OPI had ignored due process during the investigation.

He said the association opposed "criminal conduct by any member of the police force".

Mr Davies said the association had been calling for cameras to be installed in all police cars for the past five years.

Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe said all crime department interview rooms were fitted with new video cameras to monitor questioning. The state's 160 divisional vans, all 24-hour police stations and new 16-hour ones had also been fitted with cameras.

He said police would examine the recommendation of fitting the 2200-vehicle fleet with video cameras. "We think it has merit but we will look at it in the context of costs."

Police Minister Bob Cameron said the report exposed an unhealthy culture that had now been broken.

But Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu said he doubted the force was rid of the problems, and it would be wrong to assume that the culture was confined to police.

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Charge gangland police suspect: OPI
VICTORIA'S police watchdog has recommended criminal charges against Paul Dale, a former policeman linked to a double underworld murder, along with several other police.

One OPI officer sacked, another suspended
Some people may form the view that it is tit for tat between the OPI and some opposition (political or other like Police Association or affiliates?) down in Victoria (See Links). Perhaps the expense claims are a way to weaken previous statements made by the OPI in relation to allegation against police?

Police-crime links linger
A SMALL number of Victorian police are maintaining improper links with organised crime figures, the state's police corruption watchdog says.

Police watchdog 'leaks like a sieve'
The Victoria Police watchdog leaks like a sieve, according to former assistant commissioner Noel Ashby, who could face criminal charges following an Office of Police Integrity (OPI) inquiry.

Police criticised as OPI hearing wraps up
The head of an Office of Police Integrity (OPI) inquiry is expected to call for stronger ethical guidelines within Victoria Police when he tables his report in Parliament.

Too many athletes just 'arrogant bullies'

AGGRESSIVE, uncompromising, arrogant, hypocritical, bullies, racist, sexist and violent … they are ways Australian athletes can be described, the sports commentator Tracey Holmes says.

The names of Australian greats Edwin Flack, Marjorie Jackson and Evonne Goolagong Cawley risk being besmirched by "a group of arrogant, alcohol-fuelled bad winners and losers", says Holmes, who will argue the affirmative in tonight's IQ2 debate, "For a sporting nation, we're not very sporting". On her side are the noted cricket writer Gideon Haigh and the Monash University lecturer Brett Hutchins.

Arguing the negative is retired cricket vice-captain Adam Gilchrist, the former Wallaby Peter FitzSimons and the broadcaster Adam Spencer.

Outlining her case Holmes says Australia's lack of sportsmanship is demonstrated in the way we consider our athletes clean and our sporting coaches traitors if they dare take their knowledge elsewhere.

We do not question our Beijing Olympic gold medal winners, she says, but we harbour doubts about Jamaica's 100-metre world record holder, Usain Bolt.

Our blindness may have allowed Shane Warne to try the claim that he failed a drug test because of a diet pill his mum gave him. We are happy to take the expertise of foreign coaches such as Robbie Deans, Guus Hiddink and the diving guru Wang Tong Xiang, yet we hounded Jessicah Schipper's 78-year-old coach for offering his services elsewhere.

Holmes writes that Australian sport has become synonymous with alcohol, saying that 30 per cent of 13-to-17-year-olds drink at sports clubs and footballers' drunken indiscretions no longer shock us.

She points out the national cricket team has never won the Spirit of Cricket Award.

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Brumby confronts booze culture on streets
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Calls for binge warnings on alcohol packaging
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Aussie motorists getting angrier: report

Australian drivers are getting angrier and they're not shy about showing other motorists exactly how they feel.

Figures released by insurance company AAMI shows driver aggression is at an all-time high with acts of revenge becoming increasingly popular.

The figures show 68 per cent of drivers had been tailgated at some point, while 32 per cent said they had been followed.

The number of motorists who considered tailgating to be an acceptable response to road rage had more than quadrupled since AAMI first canvassed road rage among drivers in 1997 when just five per cent said they had been angry enough to tailgate another driver.

Alarmingly, one in seven drivers surveyed said they had been forced off the road, while one in 10 have had their car wilfully damaged as a result of an altercation with another motorist.

Two-thirds, or 69 per cent, said they had been verbally abused, while four in five, or 83 per cent, had received rude hand gestures.

More than half (57 per cent) of those surveyed admitted to gesturing rudely or yelling at another driver when they had done something dangerous or rude.

Of those, 83 per cent thought the payback was justified.

"While many of us have sworn or gestured rudely at other drivers from time to time, it is completely unacceptable that one-fifth of drivers have become so angry with the actions of another motorist that they have resorted to tailgating," AAMI public affairs manager Geoff Hughes said.

"If this wasn't bad enough, 60 per cent of those drivers thought tailgating as retribution was entirely justifiable."

"The rise in road rage is worrying in itself, however, also concerning is the increasing number of motorists who believe this sort of retaliation is entirely acceptable," Mr Hughes said.

Brumby confronts booze culture on streets

Victorian Premier John Brumby has toured some of Melbourne's most notorious nightlife strips as his government plots its next move against rising alcoholism and street violence.

Mr Brumby visited central Melbourne, St Kilda, the Melbourne Custody Centre and the emergency department at the Royal Melbourne Hospital in Parkville on his fact-finding mission early on Saturday.

The Premier witnessed street violence and unruly behaviour during a walking tour of St Kilda with police. He also saw young, drunk men placed in custody, another thrown into a police divisional van, and a man who got a taxi home after a nasty verbal altercation with bouncers at a St Kilda venue.

The tour comes after the controversial trial of a 2am lockout - at licensed premises in four inner Melbourne municipalities - was called to a halt, ending tomorrow.

The government has yet to announce the future of the trial, which was designed to prevent revellers from entering pubs or clubs after 2am but has been substantially weakened after many venues gained exemption.

Mr Brumby the tour would help him decide how the government will tackle violence and alcohol-related problems.

"You can't beat going out and having a look. A picture tells a thousand stories," he said.

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Protection for Oxford Street gays

IT'S official - Sydney's famous Oxford Street is a homophobia-free zone.

City of Sydney council has declared the Oxford Street neighbourhood and other recognised gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender precincts free of homophobic abuse. The notion was put forward by Councillor Phillip Black this month.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore has made a pledge to collaborate with police, businesses, gay rights organisations and the community to implement the homophobic-free zone, which includes Oxford Street and parts of Darlinghurst, King Street, Newtown, and Erskineville Road, Erskineville.

"Homophobic abuse is often a precursor to violence," Cr Moore told Government News. "While all areas of NSW are technically homophobia-free zones, this strategy recognises the importance and strength of the GLBT community in our city."

Doctors given kit to deal with clinic violence

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) says GPs are likely to face violence in the workplace, and has released a kit for doctors on how to deal with the problem.

AMA national president Rosanna Capolingua says between 55 and 64 per cent of GPs are exposed to violence in the workplace each year, and can be at risk of death.

She says the kit will provide information about keeping practices safe.

"Potentially patients when they're ill, vulnerable, may have mental illness, are stressed, are maybe using substances can become violent," she said.

"We just need to ensure the environment we're working in is safest for our patients, ourselves and our staff."

Dr Capolingua says violence against GPs can include assault, stalking, verbal abuse, sexual harassment and property damage.

"We've had a couple of instances, a GP was murdered in Victoria last year in her practice, a GP when was shot when on a housecall in Western Australia," she said.

Glorifying gangsters a crime, say critics

Infamous ... Carl Williams.

THE hit television show Underbelly has turned the gangsters it is based on into cult stars - but community leaders say the glorification of crime has gone too far.

"Gangster chic" means killer Carl Williams is overwhelmed with mail in his cell at Barwon Prison in Victoria and has the maximum 5000 friends signed to his Facebook page.

NSW shadow police minister Mike Gallacher said: "Carl Williams has been portrayed as a likeable dope, when the reality is this guy is a dangerous, ruthless killer. These people were involved in a drug trade that has ruined countless lives.

"I just cannot believe that the producers of programs would now reward these sort of people with glorification and guest appearances on TV."

Williams's wife, Roberta, last week was signed up by Sydney shock jock Kyle Sandilands's talent agency with the promise of a reality TV show contract.

Until her husband's exploits in the Melbourne underworld were celebrated on Channel Nine's Underbelly she was the wife of a convicted killer. Now she is a star.

NSW Police Minister David Campbell said yesterday: "I am certain in my belief that no one should profit from their crimes."

Williams may not be profiting from the four murders for which he was jailed, but plenty of people are - including his wife, who now takes people on guided tours of Melbourne's gangland - and the people selling "I roll with Carl" T-shirts on eBay.

While they take the profits, many are warning that it is Australian society and its children who are paying the price.

NSW Teachers Federation president Maree O'Halloran, said: "Before we had heroes like John Wayne and Star Wars who did good things, but now we seem to celebrate the wrong-doers."

Criminals glorified in the Underbelly series, such as Mick Gatto and Tony Mokbel, have earnt the kind of notoriety normally accorded minor celebrities.

"If the source of someone's celebrity comes from criminal activity then to reward them for that does fly in the face of what we should do as a society," said Dr Simon Longstaff, executive director of St James Ethics Centre.

"A society that values the baubles of celebrity more than the substance of character is hardly one that is worthy of admiration.

"When drama is based on reality and is giving the impression that a life of crime is something to be admired, then I think there are problems. It is glorifying something that is wrong."

The feelings of victims and their families are in danger of being ignored as scriptwriters rush to cash in on television's true-crime wave. Similar dramatisations are planned.

Peter Rolfe, president of the Homicide Survivors After Murder Group, said: "Our problem with a series like Underbelly is that there is no thought for the victims or their families.

"Shows like this add to the distress of the victims by glorifying the actions of the criminals.

"This encourages copycat situations and it simply should not be done.

"It is a sad state of affairs when the glorification of criminals and their activities has become a business."

Quote: NSW Police Minister David Campbell said, quote: "he was certain in his belief that no one should profit from their crimes." Unquote: Yet why is it is okay for corporations to profit from others crimes? Seems media fabrication, sensationalism and down right lies don't speak the real truth anyway. So what's the point? M.O.N.E.Y. $$$$$$$$. Maree O'Halloran forgot to mention that John Wayne shot people, a lethal meme. Hardly a hero. Dr Simon Longstaff managed to duck and weave Ned Kelly and the gang? Australian folk heroes. Glorifying something that is wrong? What about war criminals and the illegal and degrading wars on Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan? Fact is people who make a mistake ought to be able to tell their stories so that others learn about those mistakes and can then avoid making the same mistakes, that's common sense. Less of those stories will be made available to the general public if no one will pay for them. No doubt! Why should prisoners work for free? Considering most of them have lost everything too accept some of the high flyers and corporate criminals like Alan Bond. Rich surprise: Alan Bond bounces back.

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Girls gone wild?
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Corby informant paid $120,000 cash, court told
A former friend of Schapelle Corby was paid "something like" $120,000 in cash by Today Tonight for a fabricated story, a defamation jury heard today.

She took a gun to kill, but jury set her free

Catherine Smith leaves court.

AS CATHERINE SMITH emerged from the darkness, she pulled back the slide on the black semi-automatic pistol, her finger firmly on the trigger.

"I'll kill you, you bastard," she allegedly said, pointing it at her former husband, Kevin Smith.

Ms Smith, 58, said it had taken 30 years of physical and sexual abuse at the hands of the man she once loved to reach breaking point. That moment came on the evening of June 14, 2006, when the mother of six was charged with shooting her former husband outside a boarding house in Manly with the intent to murder him. Two shots were fired, but nobody was hurt.

It took just 25 minutes for the District Court jury to find her not guilty of attempted murder and that she had acted in self defence.

Outside court a jubilant Ms Smith said she was pleased about the verdict. Her lawyers called it a victory for battered wives.

Ms Smith, who the court was told had been diagnosed with chronic post traumatic stress disorder as a result of the years of abuse, had earlier pleaded guilty to possessing an unlicensed firearm. However Judge Greg Hosking chose to impose no sentence or conviction against her.

Much of what Ms Smith told the court she endured over her 30-year marriage is unfit to print.

The court heard Mr Smith had threatened her at various times with guns, a skinning knife, a fire poker and tortured her with an electric cattle prod. He held guns to her throat and between her eyes and shot at her on several occasions as she ran for her life. One evening she ran more than 25 kilometres along railway tracks to escape.

As Mr Smith strode confidently into the courtroom to give his evidence Ms Smith sat with her head down. She could not look at him and her body trembled.

His mantra throughout the marriage had been "If you leave me, bitch, I'll hunt you down and kill you", the court had heard.

She said she feared he would do just that if she did not get to him first.

Despite countless complaints, statement and letters Ms Smith and her family gave to police, Mr Smith has not been charged for any offences relating to abuse. Mr Smith had repeatedly denied the allegations of abuse put to him throughout the trial, describing them as "ridiculous". He told the jury: "I do not have a violent bone in my body." He agreed to give evidence only after being offered immunity from prosecution for anything he might say. That did not include immunity from perjury.

Judge Hosking ordered that transcripts from the trial be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions to determine whether any serious indictable offences may have arisen from any of the evidence given.

Defence counsel Mark Dennis described Mr Smith as a "master manipulator", "a psychopath" and a man who was "capable of extreme violence and was prepared to take a life if the whim took him". In 2000 he was jailed for holding one of his sons and his partner for 27 hours until they revealed Ms Smith's whereabouts.

Outside court Ms Smith told reporters she thought they would still "be preyed on" by her former husband. "I just want him gone from our lives," she said.

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THE prosecution says it is a case of attempted murder, but to the defence it is about the consequences of child abuse.

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Teens who killed taxi driver jailed

Two teenage girls who killed a taxi driver in western Sydney in January last year, have been jailed for at least three-and-a-half years.

The Supreme Court has been told the girls, who were 14-years-old at the time, dragged Youbert Hormozi out of his taxi after he tried to grab one of them when they got out without paying the fare at Canley Heights.

They kicked and punched the 53-year-old before abandoning him on the road and driving-off in his taxi.

Mr Hormozi had severe coronary disease and died from a heart attack triggered by the assault.

The girls pleaded not guilty for murder but guilty for manslaughter.

The judge said the offences were serious but the sentences should reflect that they were committed by young people whose judgment was affected by drugs and alcohol.

The girls were sentenced to six years' in a juvenile detention centre, with a non-parole period of three-and-a-half years.

Australia: QLD: Beattie dismisses calls for smacking ban

Queensland Premier Peter Beattie says he has smacked all three of his children and he does not support a push for law changes in the area.

The criminal code currently contains a 'domestic discipline' defence for a parent using physical force.

But Labor MP Dean Wells says it should be removed because it is protecting parents who go too far.

He will make his case at a public forum on children's rights at Parliament House today.

Mr Beattie says he has spoken with Mr Wells about the issue but he disagrees.

"I think that any parent has the right in my view, within reason, provided there's no permanent damage or injury, to smack their child," he said.

"And if anyone wants to plead guilty, I do, I did.

"I respect Dean's view, I don't agree with him."

Australia: QLD: Beattie dismisses calls for smacking ban

Police investigate triple stabbing in Perth

Police have cordoned off an area in Northbridge in Perth, where three people were stabbed early this morning.

Police say the stabbings occurred near the intersection of Roe and Fitzgerald streets about 2:30am AWDT.

Inspector Trevor Davis says police are investigating.

"A section of that area has been cordoned off for crime scene examination," he said.

"Detectives are interviewing witnesses."

St John's Ambulance says two of the victims were brothers and one received a serious stab wound under his armpit.

They have been taken to Royal Perth Hospital.

Meanwhile in Victoria Park a woman has died after being hit by a train.

Police say she was struck about 1:30am AWDT.

In southern WA, police are trying to determine the identity of a man who died in a traffic crash on the Redmond-Hay River Road, 20 kilometres north of Albany, about 1:00am AWDT.

His death comes after that of a 15-year-old boy who was injured in Kinross on Friday.

They boy was crossing Burns Beach Road when he ran into the side of a car.

He died in Royal Perth Hospital last night from head and internal injuries.

Police investigate triple stabbing in Perth

19 charged over suburban brawl

Nineteen people have been charged with riot offences after a neighbourhood dispute in Sydney's west last night.

Police were called to Bidwill at 9:00pm AEDT after receiving reports that groups of people were armed with bottles and wooden posts.

Officers allegedly found a group of 19 men and boys - aged between 16 and 24 years old - with sticks, bottles and knives.

The men and boys have been arrested and charged, and police have confiscated the weapons.

Police have also found weapons including knives, baseball bats and machetes at a home in the area early this morning.

Two men from that house were arrested in relation to other matters.

Officers say it is believed residents of two houses in the area had been involved in a dispute for days.

Police say the brawl involved up to 60 people, but no-one was seriously injured.

Superintendent Alan Harding says tensions had been escalating between the neighbours for days.

"There's been a range of motives put forward, such as an argument between two young girls from either family, but I think its fair to say that there's been ongoing disputes between these two families and then last night we saw its expression in violence," he said.

19 charged over suburban brawl

Smacking ban too extreme, Family Association says

The Australian Family Association says a ban on smacking children is going too far.

The Australian Childhood Foundation says it would like physical punishment against children to be banned.

But Australian Family Association spokesman Damien Tudehope says the current laws are adequate.

"We have some concerns about introducing laws which have the potential of turning parents into criminals," he said.

"Certainly we don't advocate any circumstances where it's appropriate to leave permanent marks on children and to use discipline in a way where it becomes an assault on children.

"But to introduce laws which mean the Government has a role to play in deciding who and who isn't a good parent, we think that's going too far."

The Australian Childhood Foundation has released the findings of a national survey of 720 adults.

It has revealed 45 per cent of those surveyed believe it is okay to leave a mark on a child from physical punishment.

It also shows 10 per cent of respondents believe it is okay to use canes, sticks and belts to punish children.

The foundation's chief executive, Joe Tucci, says while there has been a decline in support for physical punishment, there is obviously still a large section of the community using it.

"I'd like to see Australia move towards banning the use of physical punishment against children," he said.

"That would put us in step with 15 other countries around the world and with our obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child."

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Smacking ban too extreme, Family Association says

Domestic violence is a crime and men can be victims too, although in smaller numbers.

A report released last October by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research found domestic violence had increased by 50 per cent in the previous seven years and that a surprising number of cases involved male victims.

They outnumbered female victims in cases where the victim was under15 or over 39.

September 10, 2006 12:00

Domestic violence is a crime and men can be victims too, although in smaller numbers.

Preventing Violence - Preventing Crime - Preventing A Prison Experience - Preventing Youth Suicide

Preventing Violence - Preventing Crime - Preventing A Prison Experience - Preventing Youth Suicide [updated 20 May 2006]

4 February 2006

Lack of social skills in my family brought on smacking and violence as a means to solve problems. When I learned how wrong this was it saddened me to learn that my own parents lacked the social skills needed to use dialogue for solving problems and taught me how to use violence.

Classically conditioned that violence wins. Bad lesson.

When parents have a child that is not the time to tell them there are better ways to bring up their children rather than belittling them, putting them down, or belting them into submission. You see this often at the market place. Even when I see it in the street parents by that stage cannot be told easily and there are reasons for it. They inherently know better? Once a parent has had a child they simply cannot be told how to raise their child based on their own past family experience, they think they have all that experience when it was passed down from the family 'they trusted the most' which is the one that raised them.

Then when the marriage breaks down usually because of the high value and principal of 'something' like 'raising children', or 'financial difficulty', or even a number of crisis all together, then taking into account both parents were raised by 'separate families' and could vary in alternative ideas and ideals. Then if a 'personality clash' occurs between them, they have to seek the real answers and when they find out that simple skills could have been learned earlier, either before or after the 'problem' they're usually shocked at the loss.

Also learning that their parents may have lacked those skills to pass on! Being locked out of skills can lead people into not taking full responsibility for their actions, crime, problem or learning curve. They could end up in jail!

Parents and governments must take some responsibility.

In my case the skills most needed were, self-worth, conflict resolution, violence doesn't win, better communication, and compromise.

Take the case of the thief who stole short change and killed his victim. If the offender in this case knew how much his victim was worth then he would have valued his victim - at least with as much worth and more than the twenty or so dollars stolen - that he was subsequently killed for. So it's not just responsibility that offender's need they also need worth and they don't get that from the prison system or being put down as a child.

In communication children and parents would have learned to only use constructive feedback or pay compliments when addressing someone but no put downs and the reasons for it ensures more friends even when one makes a remark about someone just because they were bored and thinking it was a funny thing to do at the time, for no decent reason of course, but because of that bad remark 'jokingly' has now lost a friend. To learn how much one is worth therefore is an important lesson (social skill). Self worth, self esteem, self-expression, public speaking etc. Hard to come by in a family where parents lack social skills or in a prison.

And do I trust myself! I never asked myself that question until after the offending violence and in prison for seven years! I suffered from hives and could not concentrate as a child as much as other children could and because of the violence in the home as well as a drunkard stepfather I was always looking for someone to trust but not myself. You can therefore see how this can prevent one's insight into one's responsibility or offending behaviour that can lead to prison. You may have heard of the hole? In short it's not good to fall into holes because it's cold, wet, and uncomfortable. You need to step around the hole and to do that you need to take responsibility for falling into holes.

Potential victims do this as well....Sometimes, setting themselves up for a fall because they too don't know how to take responsibility for looking after themselves. Just like the offenders don't.

I could not compromise when the value and principal 'seemed too high'. No skills e.g. compromise, win-win, win-lose, lose-lose. I could have learned that when I was eight years of age, as well as the above stated social skills. Lose the battle and win the war! But I never once asked myself did I trust myself, not to get into trouble, because I was an at risk child who was always trying to find someone to trust in my immature family who lacked social skills. In a crisis situation when the value and principal are high and one's emotional level is high because of it, then one's thinking level is usually low. In that type of crisis with little social skills, a person who has been classically condition to use violence as a means to solve a problem can reach for it in order to solve the problem they don't want. But without that lesson one would not reach for violence as a means, so easily.

1) Not every parent has the social skills to pass on. In fact up to at least three generations of parents in Australia today taking into account indigenous Australians.

2) If parents don't have social skills and can't be sold on better ways to raise children until after they've had children then they have to get those skills before they do have children.

If parents have not got them they cannot pass those skills on leaving the child or children more vulnerable and the community more at risk. Where do you get social skills if you cannot get them at home? They have to get them from school there is no alternative. Social skills and academic skills balanced into the curricula. Then all children can get social skills equally even if their parents don't have them to pass on.

3) That's is why up to 5% of people go to jail or hospital or the morgue - expensive results because of the push to produce tax-payers, academics, who may even leave university before they have attained good communication and conflict resolution skills.

Especially for those who do not get further education like me leaving school at age 15.

4) This cure is for the potential victims as well you know, not just for the offenders. How not to become a potential victim is written in the social skills curriculum under a few sections like for instance; Provocation, leaving one self-vulnerable, etc.

The most serious crimes also occur because the victim lacked social skills.

5) Youth Suicide - [updated 20 May 2006]

Lack of worth and knowledge can lead to youth suicide where as many as 300 people a year die in Australia of suicide then lessons have surely not been learnt!

Therefore the above argument raised about raising children better and making sure that all parents have better social skills to pass on to their children will prevent more victims. This is necessary for their survival. It will also prevent people going to jail. The money spent on police, prisons, hospitals, injury, or even death is returned to the community for better education instead of being constantly drained into a dead end.

Who wants to become a victim unnecessarily? Who wants to lose a child unnecessarily? Who wants to live a short life unnecessarily? Who wants to go to jail? If victims use things like 'shifting gears' conflict resolution in a crisis there will be no doubt, less victims. If they have those conflict resolution skills that is?

This will save lots the money spent on prisons and the victim industry. Funding returned to the community and the social skills industry and reduces the inflation of building new prisons etc because those five per cent will make it. This will prevent crime and is a cure for domestic violence for the whole community to absorb.

A lot of people spend time on post release and that is necessary but I spent my time on crime prevention because then post release is not so necessary nor are prisons.

*THE PUNISHMENT IS THE CRIME*
*FOR A WORLD WITHOUT VIOLENCE*
WHERE DOES THAT COME FROM?

a) DALAI LAMA: "LOVE, PEACE AND KINDNESS YOU CAN'T BREAK IT."
b) FREDERICK NIETZSCHE: "LOVE YOUR ENEMY."
THERE IS ALSO FORGIVENESS BUT YOU DON'T GET THE COMPLETE PROTECTION UNLESS YOU ACCEPT BOTH OF THE ABOVE CONDITIONS.
AND FOR THAT YOU MUST COME TO TERMS WITH
c) FORGIVENESS.

Thank you for your time.

Preventing Violence - Preventing Crime - Preventing A Prison Experience - Preventing Youth Suicide [updated 20 May 2006]