A senseless tragedy. I hope the young man’s family find peace at some point.
With regard to government responses, it concerns me that the loudest voices from the public all appear to be shrieking that NTG needs to ‘do something’, i.e. to protect us – from everything and anything. While the thought of complete safety from violence is a comforting one, this is not only unrealistic in any society, but expecting this government to act in a manner that is logical, sensible and with effective solutions is, I think, to ignore the entire history of NT self-governance.
Put in a position to ‘do something’, under fear of being voted out in the next election (arguably the only motivation gov understands), it is more likely new laws will be pushed through, giving more power to police and bureaucrats and fewer liberties to the general public. To deny this is to “deny the evidence of your eyes and ears”, especially over the last 3-5 years.
Stripping back the emotions related to our current situation – NT is a basket-case, politically, socially, economically – we all know that our problems don’t stem from having not enough laws or from the Federal Government not giving us enough money. The ‘crime-crisis’ is a product of decades of governments throwing money at problems they don’t understand, of parents and families abrogating their evolutionary responsibilities to raise children to be mature and respectful members of society, of schools and their curriculums focussing on obscure and ultimately inconsequential subjects instead of practical life skills.
I would argue that drugs, alcohol and mental illness are secondary (though very important) factors – the detonators, so to speak, for the primary charge.
Expecting any government, let alone this government, to ‘do something’ that will fix these problems quickly and ‘keep us safe’ is, quite frankly, not only fanciful, but offering them the opportunity to stuff things up further. To gloat about who is tougher on crime, as if this means anything.
This road will be a long one, but we, as a community, need to stop looking for solutions from people we know to be incompetent. Voting in new clowns to replace old clowns will just dig our hole deeper. Yes, we must demand better from the people who make the laws and hold the purse strings, but we also need to demand better of ourselves and pay more attention to what our children and grandchildren are learning at school and online. To engage them in conversations about what it means to be a productive member of society – and the responsibilities and rewards that come with that.
We need to lead ourselves out of this mess – the government and the legal system must enforce real consequences for those that commit violent crimes, but otherwise, just need to get out of our way.
NT has a fake legal system which allowed the 2013-21 NTG Darwin DPP CEO Jack Karczewski to collude with the 2014-19 NTG AFP CEO Reece Kershaw (who allegedly acted corruptly in the ACT Brittany Higgins rape trial) & the NTG PH Director Michael Cauldwell (ex-AFP) who was also on the 2013-16 Darwin Waterfront Corporation Wharf One Committee who maladministered the contracts with 2013-16 NTG CWC Chair Graeme Lewis the shadowy 2009 FOUNDATION 51 Founder who was corruptly not investigated in 2015 for allegations of money laundering which included 3 recommendations including the AFP? See the pattern of white male elite dinosaurs hijacking’s democracy. Now Darwin is reflecting South Africa & Haiti with corrupt greedy politicians, real estate agents, land developers, police & judiciary – the poor boy has died in vain.
It is becoming apparent unfortunately, that the Territory does not have the competence to govern itself. Many of us looked forward with optimism to achieving self-government in 1978. Finally, the different and special characteristics of the Territory could be properly recognized and a wonderful, new community developed. However, it is clear that the task is way beyond the talent pool available to both the political and administrative classes. The Territory government structures and institutions are now badly broken and problems will escalate. It is time to request urgent assistance again from the Commonwealth in the strengthening and development (from the ground up) of governance and administrative structures in the Northern Territory. The problem is now so serious that the Federal Government needs to act and intervene.
A senseless tragedy. I hope the young man’s family find peace at some point.
With regard to government responses, it concerns me that the loudest voices from the public all appear to be shrieking that NTG needs to ‘do something’, i.e. to protect us – from everything and anything. While the thought of complete safety from violence is a comforting one, this is not only unrealistic in any society, but expecting this government to act in a manner that is logical, sensible and with effective solutions is, I think, to ignore the entire history of NT self-governance.
Put in a position to ‘do something’, under fear of being voted out in the next election (arguably the only motivation gov understands), it is more likely new laws will be pushed through, giving more power to police and bureaucrats and fewer liberties to the general public. To deny this is to “deny the evidence of your eyes and ears”, especially over the last 3-5 years.
Stripping back the emotions related to our current situation – NT is a basket-case, politically, socially, economically – we all know that our problems don’t stem from having not enough laws or from the Federal Government not giving us enough money. The ‘crime-crisis’ is a product of decades of governments throwing money at problems they don’t understand, of parents and families abrogating their evolutionary responsibilities to raise children to be mature and respectful members of society, of schools and their curriculums focussing on obscure and ultimately inconsequential subjects instead of practical life skills.
I would argue that drugs, alcohol and mental illness are secondary (though very important) factors – the detonators, so to speak, for the primary charge.
Expecting any government, let alone this government, to ‘do something’ that will fix these problems quickly and ‘keep us safe’ is, quite frankly, not only fanciful, but offering them the opportunity to stuff things up further. To gloat about who is tougher on crime, as if this means anything.
This road will be a long one, but we, as a community, need to stop looking for solutions from people we know to be incompetent. Voting in new clowns to replace old clowns will just dig our hole deeper. Yes, we must demand better from the people who make the laws and hold the purse strings, but we also need to demand better of ourselves and pay more attention to what our children and grandchildren are learning at school and online. To engage them in conversations about what it means to be a productive member of society – and the responsibilities and rewards that come with that.
We need to lead ourselves out of this mess – the government and the legal system must enforce real consequences for those that commit violent crimes, but otherwise, just need to get out of our way.
NT has a fake legal system which allowed the 2013-21 NTG Darwin DPP CEO Jack Karczewski to collude with the 2014-19 NTG AFP CEO Reece Kershaw (who allegedly acted corruptly in the ACT Brittany Higgins rape trial) & the NTG PH Director Michael Cauldwell (ex-AFP) who was also on the 2013-16 Darwin Waterfront Corporation Wharf One Committee who maladministered the contracts with 2013-16 NTG CWC Chair Graeme Lewis the shadowy 2009 FOUNDATION 51 Founder who was corruptly not investigated in 2015 for allegations of money laundering which included 3 recommendations including the AFP? See the pattern of white male elite dinosaurs hijacking’s democracy. Now Darwin is reflecting South Africa & Haiti with corrupt greedy politicians, real estate agents, land developers, police & judiciary – the poor boy has died in vain.
It is becoming apparent unfortunately, that the Territory does not have the competence to govern itself. Many of us looked forward with optimism to achieving self-government in 1978. Finally, the different and special characteristics of the Territory could be properly recognized and a wonderful, new community developed.
However, it is clear that the task is way beyond the talent pool available to both the political and administrative classes.
The Territory government structures and institutions are now badly broken and problems will escalate.
It is time to request urgent assistance again from the Commonwealth in the strengthening and development (from the ground up) of governance and administrative structures in the Northern Territory. The problem is now so serious that the Federal Government needs to act and intervene.