Saturday, 7 March 2020
Restricting Credit Card Use !
The " Newsagency " used to be an integral part of every suburban shopping centre but today they are few and far between. It is now a common sight to find an empty shop where the newsagent used to have his or her stand. The profitability is simply not there to support that kind of business anymore.
The newsagent used to sell - and deliver - the daily newspaper to most households but newsprint has been replaced by the constant news channels flowing through mobile phones and tablets. First came the end of afternoon newspapers and now even the main dailies are struggling to make a living.
Another important staple of the newsagency business was card sales. Christmas was the peak of the card giving bonanza, but card sales were buoyant for Mothers day, Fathers day, Easter and even Valentines day. The astronomical rise in postage and the development of messaging apps changed the way we respond to these national events.
Another sales bonanza for the newsagent was the resumption of the school year. We traditionally went to the newsagency for the books and bags and all the other gear the kids would need for school, but discount specialist stores have emerged to tap into that market and with heavy advertising budgets they have taken a major share of the sales.
The meagre profitable business remaining for the newsagent was as sub-agent for Lotto and seller of the ever popular " scratchies " which were convenient birthday gifts, but even that is under threat now that the Australian Banker's Association is threatening to withdraw the use of credit cards to purchase any form of gambling. Such a move would not only sound the death knell for newsagents but would probably seriously restrict the entire horse racing industry.
A long time ago the only way to legally place a bet in New South Wales was to go to a racecourse and bet with a bookie. That restriction encouraged a massive plethora of illegal SP bookies operating out of the back bar of the local pub, and depriving the government of much needed tax dividends. The government bowed to financial pressure and legislated for the creation of the TAB and a legal bet is now within reach of all who have attained their eighteenth birthday.
Unfortunately, gambling is addictive and it is a sad fact that problem gamblers sometimes deprive their families of life necessities when they fall into the clutches of their addiction. This move to restrict credit cards use will seriously inconvenience the thousands of people who gamble responsibly for pleasure and disrupt the lives of thousands who make their living from the dog and horse racing industries. Very obviously, it will also restrict the tax flow which is an important finance source for the government.
Not only newsagents will suffer if this move becomes reality. Restrictions on access to gambling will resurrect that crime element which made gambling accessible when it was illegal. We could see a resumption of the days of the " loan shark " - going door to door providing finance at usurious interest levels.
The outcome could be very different from what was intended !
Friday, 6 March 2020
That " PFAS " Debacle !
The most effective method of fighting an oil or electrical fire is to smother it with poly-fluoroalkyl chemicals which we know as " PFAS ". This is a product manufactured by the giant 3M Company and one of its characteristics is that it does not break down over time. It has long been suspected of causing harm to human health.
The problem is that no research has so far been able to determine where it has been specifically harmful to the human body and it is therefore impossible to fully counter the government claim that it is harmless. There simply is no alternative as a fire fighting weapon and PFAS runoff has contaminated countless properties adjoining airports and government defence facilities. The owners have been seeking compensation from the government and finally a settlement has been reached in regard to land adjoining defence bases at Williamstown, Oakey and Katherine. This will involve an outlay of millions of dollars and open the door to a flood of similar claims from all over Australia.
Where PFAS runoff has soaked into the soil of land adjoining a government facility it is quite clear that the owners have suffered loss. The market rejects agriculture or animal food produced on that land and it is unsalable as real estate.
This government backdown on compensation came a week after a court appointed independent umpire delivered a health report derived from his investigation. This finding reported that PFAS exposures potentially harmful health effects including high cholesterol , kidney and testicular cancer.
Observers noted the use of" potentially " rather than " specifically " because these same chemicals are widely used in two commercial products widely found in most households - Scotchguard and Teflon frying pans.
It is quite possible that some time in the future medical science may pinpoint specific risks from contamination with PFAS that are not presently detectable. That would open an ever growing scale of compensation claims because the product is widely used by city fire brigades and the runoff must affect adjoining properties. Even a car fire on a suburban street is extinguished using PFAS foam and eventually rain will disperse the residue widely onto surrounding property.
At this stage, the harm is specifically sheeted home to high volume PFAS contamination caused by major fires involving defence equipment. PFAS foam is often sprayed as a fire suppressant rather than actually fighting an existing fire and in airports the runway is sprayed before an aircraft with mechanical trouble is permitted to land. It is inevitable that the areas contaminated will widen as the years progress.
This presents us with a totally untenable situation. Perhaps the most effective method of fighting fire is still being widely used while we wait for science to collect sufficient data to prove that it is specifically harmful to those who come in contact with it.
That proverb about " shutting the stable door after the horsed has bolted " comes to mind !
The problem is that no research has so far been able to determine where it has been specifically harmful to the human body and it is therefore impossible to fully counter the government claim that it is harmless. There simply is no alternative as a fire fighting weapon and PFAS runoff has contaminated countless properties adjoining airports and government defence facilities. The owners have been seeking compensation from the government and finally a settlement has been reached in regard to land adjoining defence bases at Williamstown, Oakey and Katherine. This will involve an outlay of millions of dollars and open the door to a flood of similar claims from all over Australia.
Where PFAS runoff has soaked into the soil of land adjoining a government facility it is quite clear that the owners have suffered loss. The market rejects agriculture or animal food produced on that land and it is unsalable as real estate.
This government backdown on compensation came a week after a court appointed independent umpire delivered a health report derived from his investigation. This finding reported that PFAS exposures potentially harmful health effects including high cholesterol , kidney and testicular cancer.
Observers noted the use of" potentially " rather than " specifically " because these same chemicals are widely used in two commercial products widely found in most households - Scotchguard and Teflon frying pans.
It is quite possible that some time in the future medical science may pinpoint specific risks from contamination with PFAS that are not presently detectable. That would open an ever growing scale of compensation claims because the product is widely used by city fire brigades and the runoff must affect adjoining properties. Even a car fire on a suburban street is extinguished using PFAS foam and eventually rain will disperse the residue widely onto surrounding property.
At this stage, the harm is specifically sheeted home to high volume PFAS contamination caused by major fires involving defence equipment. PFAS foam is often sprayed as a fire suppressant rather than actually fighting an existing fire and in airports the runway is sprayed before an aircraft with mechanical trouble is permitted to land. It is inevitable that the areas contaminated will widen as the years progress.
This presents us with a totally untenable situation. Perhaps the most effective method of fighting fire is still being widely used while we wait for science to collect sufficient data to prove that it is specifically harmful to those who come in contact with it.
That proverb about " shutting the stable door after the horsed has bolted " comes to mind !
Thursday, 5 March 2020
Splitting Straws !
A curious case in a courtroom illustrates the fine line the justice system walks when it has the job of drawing a line between civil liberties obligations and the punishment of criminals. It all boils down into deciding the precise letter of the law but to many people it sounds liker splitting straws.
The police became suspicious that two brothers with lengthy crime records were using their car wash business as a front to launder the proceeds of a drug empire they were running. One of the brothers was already the subject of a firearms prohibition order which gave the police wide powers to conduct searches. When a similar order was served on the other brother because of a 2006 conviction for possession of an illegal gun it gave the police a legitimate reason to raid the car wash business.
In August, 2017 officers conducted a raid on the car wash premises and searched the operational area, office, storeroom and toilet without discovering anything of interest. They were about to wrap up the operation when a junior officer asked to search the roof space over the storeroom and his senior agreed.
A short time later the searching officer reached into the space and recovered a lunch box containing two packages of a crystalline substance. One was found to be 154 grams of methylamphetamine and the other 140 grams of cocaine, and the DNA of one of the brothers was found on the lunch box zipper. The find led to appropriate charges being laid.
This week in the New South Wales District court judge Robyn Tupman dismissed those charges on the grounds that the search had been a " reckless impropriety " because the correct search warrant had not been used to conduct the raid. A firearms prohibition order does give police the right to search for firearms, but that does not cover searches for drugs.
It seems this hinged on a comment the search leader made three weeks after the raid in which he admitted that the police had information that drugs might be secreted in the buildings roof cavity, and that was his reason for giving permission for the roof search when it was asked.
Had drugs been found in the legitimate search for firearms hidden on the premises they would have been allowable evidence, but because the police search was drugs oriented and not specifically looking for firearms the search breached the provisions of the warrant.
It is interesting to note that the police have declined to pursue this matter in the appeals court. The man whose DNA was found on that zipper is serving a nine and a half year prison sentence on other charges relating to drug manufacture and firearms possession.
Such is the precision required of investigators who must be sure that their paperwork is correct before conducting field operations !
The police became suspicious that two brothers with lengthy crime records were using their car wash business as a front to launder the proceeds of a drug empire they were running. One of the brothers was already the subject of a firearms prohibition order which gave the police wide powers to conduct searches. When a similar order was served on the other brother because of a 2006 conviction for possession of an illegal gun it gave the police a legitimate reason to raid the car wash business.
In August, 2017 officers conducted a raid on the car wash premises and searched the operational area, office, storeroom and toilet without discovering anything of interest. They were about to wrap up the operation when a junior officer asked to search the roof space over the storeroom and his senior agreed.
A short time later the searching officer reached into the space and recovered a lunch box containing two packages of a crystalline substance. One was found to be 154 grams of methylamphetamine and the other 140 grams of cocaine, and the DNA of one of the brothers was found on the lunch box zipper. The find led to appropriate charges being laid.
This week in the New South Wales District court judge Robyn Tupman dismissed those charges on the grounds that the search had been a " reckless impropriety " because the correct search warrant had not been used to conduct the raid. A firearms prohibition order does give police the right to search for firearms, but that does not cover searches for drugs.
It seems this hinged on a comment the search leader made three weeks after the raid in which he admitted that the police had information that drugs might be secreted in the buildings roof cavity, and that was his reason for giving permission for the roof search when it was asked.
Had drugs been found in the legitimate search for firearms hidden on the premises they would have been allowable evidence, but because the police search was drugs oriented and not specifically looking for firearms the search breached the provisions of the warrant.
It is interesting to note that the police have declined to pursue this matter in the appeals court. The man whose DNA was found on that zipper is serving a nine and a half year prison sentence on other charges relating to drug manufacture and firearms possession.
Such is the precision required of investigators who must be sure that their paperwork is correct before conducting field operations !
Wednesday, 4 March 2020
Rise of the Far Right !
It looks like Europe is facing a repeat of the years 2015 and 2016 when a flood of middle east migrants seeking shelter from civil war in both Syria and Iraq poured across national borders and provoked serious unrest wherever they were allowed to settle.
The plug in the neck of the bottle has been Turkey. It is clear that the Assad regime has won the civil war in Syria and with the help of Russian war planes it is mopping up the last pockets of resistance with total disregard for human life. Hospitals and refugee camps have come under attack and fleeing hordes have augmented the already crowded numbers already in Turkey awaiting settlement wherever they will be accepted.
Initially, Angela Merkel opened Germany's door and this provoked an angry backlash from the German population. Merkel is now a fading figure on the German political scene and migrants already in Germany have revived interest in far right politics. A thinly disguised replica of Hitler's old National Socialism won enough votes to establish a presence in the German parliament.
Now Turkey is threatening to unleash the hordes in its country onto a totally unprepared Europe. The Turkish government has announced that " it will not stop them leaving " and this has resulted in thousands flooding out of Turkish refugee camps and trying to cross the border into Greece. Greek border guards are trying to stop them with tear gas but the most likely outcome is that the pressure will become unstoppable and as happened in those earlier years the Greeks will give them free passage to stream into other European countries.
Europe has clearly signalled that it is unwilling to provide a new home for people of a different religion and social outlook. Few want to settle in any country other than Germany and the prospect of new hordes pouring over borders has given extreme right wing politicians offering solutions a fast growing popularity in many European countries. In many instances, this rekindles the animosity that for centuries has afflicted Jews wherever they have settled.
The timing of this new wave battering at Europe's door is unfortunate. Britain's exit from the EU remains to be finally negotiated and the remaining countries were looking forward to living the European dream of travel across national borders without the need for either passports or visas - and with a common currency. That would only be possible in a Europe with a stable population. A new migrant influx would make that dream an unreality.
The obvious answer would be the restoration of peace in the middle east that allowed those refugee hordes to return to their old homes, but that has no hope of ever becoming an eventuality. The middle east is the location of much of the world's oil supply and is too tightly wound in the machinations of the great powers. This imbroglio started centuries earlier when those great powers carved up the middle east to suit their own interests and totally disregarded both the religion and the tribal loyalties of the people that lived there.
Europe caused this problem, and now it seems that the chickens are coming home to roost !
The plug in the neck of the bottle has been Turkey. It is clear that the Assad regime has won the civil war in Syria and with the help of Russian war planes it is mopping up the last pockets of resistance with total disregard for human life. Hospitals and refugee camps have come under attack and fleeing hordes have augmented the already crowded numbers already in Turkey awaiting settlement wherever they will be accepted.
Initially, Angela Merkel opened Germany's door and this provoked an angry backlash from the German population. Merkel is now a fading figure on the German political scene and migrants already in Germany have revived interest in far right politics. A thinly disguised replica of Hitler's old National Socialism won enough votes to establish a presence in the German parliament.
Now Turkey is threatening to unleash the hordes in its country onto a totally unprepared Europe. The Turkish government has announced that " it will not stop them leaving " and this has resulted in thousands flooding out of Turkish refugee camps and trying to cross the border into Greece. Greek border guards are trying to stop them with tear gas but the most likely outcome is that the pressure will become unstoppable and as happened in those earlier years the Greeks will give them free passage to stream into other European countries.
Europe has clearly signalled that it is unwilling to provide a new home for people of a different religion and social outlook. Few want to settle in any country other than Germany and the prospect of new hordes pouring over borders has given extreme right wing politicians offering solutions a fast growing popularity in many European countries. In many instances, this rekindles the animosity that for centuries has afflicted Jews wherever they have settled.
The timing of this new wave battering at Europe's door is unfortunate. Britain's exit from the EU remains to be finally negotiated and the remaining countries were looking forward to living the European dream of travel across national borders without the need for either passports or visas - and with a common currency. That would only be possible in a Europe with a stable population. A new migrant influx would make that dream an unreality.
The obvious answer would be the restoration of peace in the middle east that allowed those refugee hordes to return to their old homes, but that has no hope of ever becoming an eventuality. The middle east is the location of much of the world's oil supply and is too tightly wound in the machinations of the great powers. This imbroglio started centuries earlier when those great powers carved up the middle east to suit their own interests and totally disregarded both the religion and the tribal loyalties of the people that lived there.
Europe caused this problem, and now it seems that the chickens are coming home to roost !
Tuesday, 3 March 2020
Decision Day !
Here we are again, at the first Tuesday in a new month and that is when the Reserve Bank of Australia meets and decides that all important interest rate decision. The pundits were hoping that the already dangerously low rate of 0.75 would be unchanged, but that was before the stock market made a calamitous correction and the Coronavirus showed signs of breaking out of isolation and raging on the world stage.
There are fears that later today the news will be that our interest rate has again been lowered and now stands at just 0.5%. The thinking seems to be that a lower interest rate will deliver more money into the hands of people with home mortgages because the rate they pay will be lower and they will splash this money around to stimulate our sagging economy.
Each previous interest rate cut had exactly the same thinking and the end result was completely different. The vast majority of borrowers simply applied that extra money into further reducing their mortgage and that predicted shopping bonanza failed to eventuate. That is evidenced by the steady stream of restaurants closing their doors and the failure of clothing chains to maintain their previous discounted offerings to remain in the black.
The more likely outcome is that the rate cut will encourage more first home buyers into the market and cause the spiral of home prices to take another upward twist. The required deposit is already at an all time low and many new buyers now have minimum equity in the home they are buying and are really gambling on ever higher prices.
Past history tends to back that gamble. Many first home buyers struggled to pay the mortgage for the first year and then placed the home back on the market - and made an immediate gain of a hundred thousand dollars because of home price inflation. The wise will remember the short lived 08 recession and the speed with which the banks foreclosed on delinquent mortgages. The house price spiral collapsed because of lack of buyers and that failed gamble left many without a home but still owing a massive mortgage debt.
Interest rates are at an unusually low level in world financial history and it is inevitable that they will restore natural balance between lending and saving. The benefit of low interest rates being a gain for borrowers is balanced by people with superannuation needing a return on their money to back living expenses. The lack of a safe return from money lodged with banks is encouraging risk taking by speculation on the share market and other risky ventures. The pressures that force interest rates to rise or fall are propelled by differing needs.
The fate of the money market will depend on which way the Reserve bank decides today. Will it deliver a win for the borrowers - or the savers ? The one thing that is very certain is that this low interest rate will be judged an anomaly and they will eventually rise to as more traditional level. The wise people will be the ones who correctly guess just when that will happen !
There are fears that later today the news will be that our interest rate has again been lowered and now stands at just 0.5%. The thinking seems to be that a lower interest rate will deliver more money into the hands of people with home mortgages because the rate they pay will be lower and they will splash this money around to stimulate our sagging economy.
Each previous interest rate cut had exactly the same thinking and the end result was completely different. The vast majority of borrowers simply applied that extra money into further reducing their mortgage and that predicted shopping bonanza failed to eventuate. That is evidenced by the steady stream of restaurants closing their doors and the failure of clothing chains to maintain their previous discounted offerings to remain in the black.
The more likely outcome is that the rate cut will encourage more first home buyers into the market and cause the spiral of home prices to take another upward twist. The required deposit is already at an all time low and many new buyers now have minimum equity in the home they are buying and are really gambling on ever higher prices.
Past history tends to back that gamble. Many first home buyers struggled to pay the mortgage for the first year and then placed the home back on the market - and made an immediate gain of a hundred thousand dollars because of home price inflation. The wise will remember the short lived 08 recession and the speed with which the banks foreclosed on delinquent mortgages. The house price spiral collapsed because of lack of buyers and that failed gamble left many without a home but still owing a massive mortgage debt.
Interest rates are at an unusually low level in world financial history and it is inevitable that they will restore natural balance between lending and saving. The benefit of low interest rates being a gain for borrowers is balanced by people with superannuation needing a return on their money to back living expenses. The lack of a safe return from money lodged with banks is encouraging risk taking by speculation on the share market and other risky ventures. The pressures that force interest rates to rise or fall are propelled by differing needs.
The fate of the money market will depend on which way the Reserve bank decides today. Will it deliver a win for the borrowers - or the savers ? The one thing that is very certain is that this low interest rate will be judged an anomaly and they will eventually rise to as more traditional level. The wise people will be the ones who correctly guess just when that will happen !
Monday, 2 March 2020
Pandemic !
Perhaps we are about to experience a Pandemic. If Covid-19 escapes isolation attempts and rages across the world it may cause a million deaths - or two million - or three ? Very distressing for the loved ones of those who die but really of little consequence in a now overcrowded world of seven billion people.
What is far more frightening is the prospect of economic upheaval that may change the ordered world we live in - forever. Our world is now integrated in what we call " globalization ". China has emerged as the world's workshop and its Communist rulers have clamped down on movement to try and stop the spread of the disease. Even a slowdown of exports out of China is going to affect manufacturing jobs in the rest of the world. Attempts to stop the spread of this disease seem likely to trigger something even more fearful - a world recession.
China is an enigma we in the west do not fully understand. When Chairman Mao won the civil war he installed a Communist state that killed millions with famine and his disastrous " great leap forward . This was followed by the disaster of the " Cultural Revolution " and finally China got a reprieve under Deng and adopted a Capitalist economy within a Communist state. Its people live under a totalitarian regime but can amass wealth and travel the world. How they would react to unemployment is a nightmare that scares their Communist masters.
Here in the west we have seen billions wiped off our stock exchange. That will flow on to superannuation funds that will reduce retirement incomes. We face the prospect of huge numbers of retired people having to reduce living standards and move to the age pension. That impact on government finance will be felt across all stratas of society.
Perhaps the greatest impact of a world recession will fall on the food supply,. A great many countries now have a population that exceeds the ability of its agricultural resources to meet their food needs, and this comes at a time when agriculture is under threat from a hotter, drier world caused by global warming. Countries that rely on imports to feed their citizens face fierce competition for dwindling world supplies.
That is a depressing scenario unfolding before our eyes and it is not caused by a pandemic, but by world efforts to prevent a pandemic. Because Covid-19 originated in Wuhan it is China that is isolating person to person contact. The curtailing of jobs in China will have an ongoing effect across the entire world. The thought of a Pandemic sweeping the world may be delivering more harm than the actual disease can impact in its worst form.
The impact with which we measure a Pandemic is the Spanish Flu that swept the world in 1918/19. It is estimate that it killed about two percent of the world population at that time. The world today has very different logistics. It is possible that attempts to provide a shield against Covid-19 could deliver an economic disaster that is felt many decades into the future.
It seems to be a case of being very careful about what we wish for !
What is far more frightening is the prospect of economic upheaval that may change the ordered world we live in - forever. Our world is now integrated in what we call " globalization ". China has emerged as the world's workshop and its Communist rulers have clamped down on movement to try and stop the spread of the disease. Even a slowdown of exports out of China is going to affect manufacturing jobs in the rest of the world. Attempts to stop the spread of this disease seem likely to trigger something even more fearful - a world recession.
China is an enigma we in the west do not fully understand. When Chairman Mao won the civil war he installed a Communist state that killed millions with famine and his disastrous " great leap forward . This was followed by the disaster of the " Cultural Revolution " and finally China got a reprieve under Deng and adopted a Capitalist economy within a Communist state. Its people live under a totalitarian regime but can amass wealth and travel the world. How they would react to unemployment is a nightmare that scares their Communist masters.
Here in the west we have seen billions wiped off our stock exchange. That will flow on to superannuation funds that will reduce retirement incomes. We face the prospect of huge numbers of retired people having to reduce living standards and move to the age pension. That impact on government finance will be felt across all stratas of society.
Perhaps the greatest impact of a world recession will fall on the food supply,. A great many countries now have a population that exceeds the ability of its agricultural resources to meet their food needs, and this comes at a time when agriculture is under threat from a hotter, drier world caused by global warming. Countries that rely on imports to feed their citizens face fierce competition for dwindling world supplies.
That is a depressing scenario unfolding before our eyes and it is not caused by a pandemic, but by world efforts to prevent a pandemic. Because Covid-19 originated in Wuhan it is China that is isolating person to person contact. The curtailing of jobs in China will have an ongoing effect across the entire world. The thought of a Pandemic sweeping the world may be delivering more harm than the actual disease can impact in its worst form.
The impact with which we measure a Pandemic is the Spanish Flu that swept the world in 1918/19. It is estimate that it killed about two percent of the world population at that time. The world today has very different logistics. It is possible that attempts to provide a shield against Covid-19 could deliver an economic disaster that is felt many decades into the future.
It seems to be a case of being very careful about what we wish for !
Sunday, 1 March 2020
Deaths in Custody !
The death penalty was abolished in Australia and it is no longer on the statute books as punishment for any type of crime, but " death by neglect " seems to be a replacement when people sentenced to prison are denied medical attention, and that seems all too common if the prisoner is Aboriginal.
The state coroner has released her findings into the death of Aboriginal man Eric Whittaker (36 ) who died of a ruptured brain aneurysm while he lay shackled in a hospital bed. It was the events that preceded Mr Whittaker's removal to hospital that drew gasps of horror in the coroner's court.
Mr Whittaker made twenty emergency calls for help over the intercom in his prison cell and officers waited for a shift change before attending to him. When an attending officer finally arrived at his cell he found the prisoner crouched at the rear and it was obvious that he had urinated, defecated and vomited on himself.. This visit occurred at 8-08 am, shortly after the 8 am changeover and the officer failed to understand that Mr Whittaker needed medical attention. Despite the prisoner shouting for help for over three hours no action was taken to bring him to the attention of the clinic staff.
The court listened to a recording of those desperate cries for help and when the prison staff finally responded and despatched him to hospital in an unconscious state he was shackled to the hospital bed by leg restraints. He became just another " death in custody " statistic.
Thirty years ago we had a Royal Commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody and it seems very little has changed. Aboriginals are still massively overrepresented in the prison population and death in custody seems to rarely invoke any sort of crime investigation. The fact that a prisoner serving a sentence died because of neglect does not seem to warrant a criminal investigation, nor is anyone personally held to account.
Such is the anonymity of the prison system. It is beset with rules and regulations but responsibility fails to rest on individual shoulders. The best outcome to come from Parklea Correctional Facility where the prelude to this death occurred is a vague promise that changes will be made to address shortcomings that occurred at the time of this death.
Prison officers do a demanding job in difficult circumstances, and they have considerable political muscle. Their union is closely associated with the police union and the one thing that strikes absolute fear into any government is the thought of a police strike. It is that thin blue line that stands between the lawmakers - and the mob !
We will not eradicate this indifference to prisoner health outcome until responsibility rests on individual shoulders. A group of officers decided not to respond to calls for help because they could leave it to those shortly arriving to commence the next shift. When that happened, there was an inadequate response to what was needed.
This Coroner's inquest system is configured to safely deliver the blame on the dysfunctional prison system itself rather than individual participants. Nothing will change until any death in custody provokes an immediate criminal investigation that results in failure of duty that in any way resulted in that death resulting in an outcome.
So far, no government has had either the courage or the integrity to apportion blame to the individuals who failed to carry out their legal duties.
The state coroner has released her findings into the death of Aboriginal man Eric Whittaker (36 ) who died of a ruptured brain aneurysm while he lay shackled in a hospital bed. It was the events that preceded Mr Whittaker's removal to hospital that drew gasps of horror in the coroner's court.
Mr Whittaker made twenty emergency calls for help over the intercom in his prison cell and officers waited for a shift change before attending to him. When an attending officer finally arrived at his cell he found the prisoner crouched at the rear and it was obvious that he had urinated, defecated and vomited on himself.. This visit occurred at 8-08 am, shortly after the 8 am changeover and the officer failed to understand that Mr Whittaker needed medical attention. Despite the prisoner shouting for help for over three hours no action was taken to bring him to the attention of the clinic staff.
The court listened to a recording of those desperate cries for help and when the prison staff finally responded and despatched him to hospital in an unconscious state he was shackled to the hospital bed by leg restraints. He became just another " death in custody " statistic.
Thirty years ago we had a Royal Commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody and it seems very little has changed. Aboriginals are still massively overrepresented in the prison population and death in custody seems to rarely invoke any sort of crime investigation. The fact that a prisoner serving a sentence died because of neglect does not seem to warrant a criminal investigation, nor is anyone personally held to account.
Such is the anonymity of the prison system. It is beset with rules and regulations but responsibility fails to rest on individual shoulders. The best outcome to come from Parklea Correctional Facility where the prelude to this death occurred is a vague promise that changes will be made to address shortcomings that occurred at the time of this death.
Prison officers do a demanding job in difficult circumstances, and they have considerable political muscle. Their union is closely associated with the police union and the one thing that strikes absolute fear into any government is the thought of a police strike. It is that thin blue line that stands between the lawmakers - and the mob !
We will not eradicate this indifference to prisoner health outcome until responsibility rests on individual shoulders. A group of officers decided not to respond to calls for help because they could leave it to those shortly arriving to commence the next shift. When that happened, there was an inadequate response to what was needed.
This Coroner's inquest system is configured to safely deliver the blame on the dysfunctional prison system itself rather than individual participants. Nothing will change until any death in custody provokes an immediate criminal investigation that results in failure of duty that in any way resulted in that death resulting in an outcome.
So far, no government has had either the courage or the integrity to apportion blame to the individuals who failed to carry out their legal duties.
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