In 2008 a man died a terrible death in the distant Goldfields of Western Australia. This week the wheels of socalled justice dispensed a $ 285,000 fine against the West Australian government. No person received any sort of punishment for the acts of neglect involved.
This man - an Aboriginal elder - was charged with exceeding the alcohol limit while driving and was to be transported from Laverton to Kalgoorlie in the heat of the day. The prisoner transport vehicle was manned by two security guards, who knew that the air conditioning in the rear prisoner pod was not working. The air conditioner in the crew cab was fine, and there were facilities for the crew to view the prisoner in the back. During the journey, the temperature was in the order of 40 c.
The transport crew were indifferent to the health of this prisoner and made no attempt to check his condition. When the van arrived at it's destination - the man was dead from heatstroke !
Incredibly, an enquiry found no fault with any person involved. The blame was finally laid at the door of the state government - and this fine was imposed !
A government is not an entity. It is not flesh and blood. Actual people had to be responsible for ordering the removal of a prisoner in the heat of the day. Actual people had to be responsible for the condition and safety of the transport used. Actual people had to have the responsibility of seeing that the prisoner arrived safely - and none of these were deemed to have been at fault.
So - as a sop to the public - a fine has been levelled at what is little more than a name registered as belonging to a legal instrument described within the country's constitution. What makes it even more of a joke is the fact that this fine will simply be a cheque drawn on one arm of government - and deposited in the account of another arm of this same institution.
For the people who caused this man's death it is " business as usual ".
Whatever happened to the notion that we must bear responsibility for our own actions ?
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