COMMENT
Media organisations and newspapers are cowering under threat of prosecution by the Anti-discrimination Commission should they identify the ethnic origin of criminals when reporting their misdeeds. So much for the abortive attempt to rehabilitate Section 18c.
It matters not to the racist zealots of the loathed Anti-discrimination Commission that young Aborigines are by far the main perpetrators of rampant, serious assaults and other crime in the Cairns area.
Some white criminals exist but tourists bearing the brunt of robbery, assault and battery are taking home stories that a visit to Cairns is just not worth it.
If you go out at night, or now it seems even in broad daylight you are likely to be assaulted.
Worse still the average age and gender of assailants has shocked hardened policemen on the beat.
In the past week a 37 year old Japanese tourist was approached by three youths and asked for cigarettes but when he refused he was bashed with a tree branch. The juveniles then tried to steal his back pack without success. Paramedics arrived to find the man suffering “serious bleeding.”
Three of the four 13 year old muggers, some or all of indigenous appearance, have been caught and since charged but will be dealt with under the juvenile justice act. Police are still looking for the fourth offender.
Unravelling this media-speak means they will be given a stern lecture perhaps by a Magistrate and released into the custody of their parents or carers, who should have made them stay home and taught them how to respect others in the first place, instead of wandering the streets in the early hours of the morning.
Meanwhile a tourist remains seriously injured and is no doubt harbouring vicious intent against the hundreds of wandering, Aboriginal and white kids in street gangs who push pedestrians off the footpath because the Aborigines proclaim ‘white bastards’ are trespassing on their land.
In a separate and unrelated incident, a 19 year old female was taken to hospital after she was allegedly attacked by three youths during an attempted robbery in the Cairns CBD.
The trio demanded her phone but was punched and kicked unconscious when she refused to hand it over.
A Manoora boy and Bentley Park girl, both aged 12, and a 16 year old girl from Mooroobool, have been charged by police.
Police are frustrated by the Magistrates Court being unable to address the youthful crime wave across the region. The ALP can take responsibility for diluting existing laws and for failing to introduce harsher penalties to curb escalating youth crime.
At least 80 motor vehicles a month are being stolen throughout the Cairns and Tablelands district and police are discovering to their horror that some thieves who led them on car chases have been as young as 12.
In years gone by, courts would give young troublemakers two options in sentencing. One was to attend a state detention facility that provided much better facilities and tucker than that at home, or to undertake a period of attendance at the renowned Petford Farm rehabilitation centre, run by indigenous couple, Geoff and Norma Guest since the late 1970’s.
Located on a remote cattle and horse property 30 klms west of Dimbulah, the facility can claim outstanding success with more than 3000 attendees over a 30 year period.
Health authorities have boasted a 70 per cent non-recidivism success rate with Aboriginal and white youth after completing the Guest courses. Many adults also passed through the drug and alcohol rehabilitation program developed by Geoff Guest OAM. His wife Norma passed away last year after a long illness.
The Petford Wellness group in more recent times, rather than taking troubled boarders, has been developing a rehabilitation curriculum for implementation into Aboriginal communities, with the notion of prevention rather than cure.
Mr Guest wants to train trainers so they can instruct intending mothers, mothers and children about proper nutrition, removal of sugar from diets and food preparation methods. He believes in the adage, ‘we are what we eat.’
Now aged 90, the intrepid Geoff Guest still breaks in horses, which have played an integral part of his outstanding rehabilitation process.
The Queensland Labor Party recently ruled against the state’s youth boot camp apparatus, in effect the Guest legacy, claiming it was too hard on participants and ineffectual.
The crime wave apologists of the socialist Labor and Greens will continue to flay Far Northern tourism with their unauthorised United Nations Human Rights obligations, causing visitors to condemn destinations such as Cairns, being dangerous and a hazard to their itineraries. – contributed
Having been born in Australia of good convict bloodlines and then leaving and then returning 40 years later, I hardy recognize this place. The Australia that I left does not exist anymore…and furthermore my natural born rights of self defense are not even recognized by the AU government, police and most Australians. I’ll will probably leave again never to return unless something drastically changes.
I think it all will backfire onto the green and labour do-gooders/ If they cannot see where the problems are, hiding criminal elements and “offenders” under the protective cover of their black or dark skin, they will be kicked into their a””es at the next elections. Decent people must wake up and stop all this politically correct bull”””t!
From my experiences, it is very true when you say: ” Police are frustrated by the Magistrates Court being unable to address the youthful crime wave across the region. The ALP can take responsibility for diluting existing laws and for failing to introduce harsher penalties to curb escalating youth crime.”
Cairnsnews, keep up good works!
Media organisations and newspapers should show some guts and bravely identify the ethnic origin of criminals when reporting their misdeeds.
Let us test the law!
Times are a changing folks!
Yours,
Dr. Paul Faigl
Toowoomba
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In my six years as a senator for Queensland there was two facilities that were exemplary in the success in helping youth ( I do not distingish between aboriginal and non-aboriginal) to find their way in life and contribute to the community that they are an important part of.
One is the wonderful youth group in Gordinvale who contribute to their town by turning up each week day to either mow lawns for the elderly or be taught how to restore old furniture, not only would that furniture be normally tossed in the dump but in turning it into useful items, the young adults are also changing their selves by adopting a strong work ethic theirselves. But importantly creating a future for theirselves.
Second to none is the life work of Geoff and Norma Guest of Pedford, to be able to stand up and say I, or we have helped the youth of our day is admirable! But to quietly give the major period of your life to helping young people of all occasionals is so rare that I personally know of no other couple, not even including my own parents (who used to bake over 3000 Christmas cakes each year during bad droughts to give to struggling farmers out west) I am not aware of any else who LIVED EACH HOUR of EVERY DAY caring for those who needed Love, Guidance and equally more important Someone who Believed in them for no other reason than Believing that giving encouragement, discipline and a healthy diet is the only way for a person to pick themselves up and also having the confidence in themself to achieve in life their own desire.
Former Senator for Queensland Len Harris.
Geoff Guest and the Peford Farm was closed down by Anna Bligh when she was State Education Minister. One student in 3000 complained. Most students were so grateful at being taught skills with horses and farming to enable them to find work when their sentence was over. That one woman could close should a valuable facility shows our system is at fault.
Each attack on a tourist means at least 20 people, their family and friends, bad mouth Cairns and rightly,so when they return home to their country, never to come to Australia again.
Our law system pussyfoots its way around crime destroying the work of the police. ‘The children’s court’ is a huge joke because these ‘children’ of 13/14/15 are committing adult crimes. Last century Aborigines were terrified of being sent to Palm Island as punishment. The entire population of Fraser were taken to Yarrabah, some 1000 miles from their lands. They were innocent of any crime. So why are we so willy nilly about dealing with crime now in 2017,.
Geoff Guest worked miracles with young Aboriginal offenders. He broke in our daughter’s horse and we saw him in action a few times. I used to a Londoner, but Geoff dismissed this when he suggested I get up onto that huge black stallion. Petrified I grasped the reins. The horse walked. Then Geoff told me to put my hands on my head!! Geoff was a comedian too!
Even at 90 Geoff would be so worth listening to. Over 30 years what he doesn’t know about young Aboriginal offenders would not be worth knowing. We can learn from Geoff and we can also build a Borstal type facility on Palm Island and get serious about youth crime so that they would fear being sent there.