" Biffo " !

Two men had a fight on a Bondi street last Sunday - and this resulted in a nine page spread in the Daily Telegraph, complete with lurid pictures of punches being thrown and the combatants wrestling on the ground. It seems that the brawl was filmed by a passerby using a Smartphone - and bought for an  amazing sum of money by an interested news organization.

There must have been dozens - perhaps hundreds - of similar brawls across Sydney on that particular weekend, but what made this one newsworthy - was the contestants.  James Packer is Australia's richest man and he was fighting with David Gyngell, boss of the Channel Nine network and a man who commands a ten million dollar annual salary.

Amazingly, these men have been best friends for thirty-five years, and each served as best man at the others wedding.  It is thought that the fight resulted from a misunderstanding.   Packer objected to seeing a Channel Nine broadcast van parked in his street and assumed that it was on a spying mission related to his love life.  He phoned Gyngell and demanded it be removed.   In fact, it was innocently parked by it's driver - who lived nearby.

Despite the publicity this matter has received in both print and the television media, the police do not intend to hold any sort of investigation - and claim that they have received " no complaints " on which to act, but following pressure - they are now thinking of laying " Affray " charges.  Packer and Gyngell maintain that they are still on friendly terms - and the whole affair is being swept under the carpet !

Contrast that with an event that happened in western Sydney on that same weekend.   When a birthday party at Minchinbury finally broke up and the guests were back in the street a twenty-one year old male began arguing with his girlfriend.  A second twenty-one year old male intervened, a punch was thrown - and the girl's boyfriend fell and hit his head on the pavement - causing a fatality.

The new " One Punch " law swings into action and most likely the assailant will face a charge of " Assault causing death " and this carries a twenty year gaol term - extended to twenty-five years - if the assailant was intoxicated with drugs or alcohol.

This does seem to emphasise the element of  " luck " when tempers fray.   Two " Alpha males " came to blows on a Bondi street and the exchange could have easily led to tragedy in the fracas that followed.  Both were presumably sober and beyond a bit of skin and hair - no damage was done.

The western Sydney incident most likely involved alcohol because it came at the end of a birthday party.  The intervention was probably good hearted, with intent to calm an argument between two people, but it got out of hand - with fatal consequences.   Now one person is dead - and the other faces a ruined life.

One incident provoked nine pages - including banner headlines on the front page - of a Sydney newspaper.   The death in western Sydney earned a single column on page seventeen of that same issue.

Rarely do those who raise a fist in anger intend to cause death or serious injury.   Law changes were intended to try and stop intoxicated people from randomly attacking strangers on city streets, but the same laws are having unintended consequences - and luck plays a major role in most outcomes !