Was this man really a terrorist or was he suffering from severe mental illnesses? It was reported that he was an ice addict and had other undisclosed illnesses. Questions [remain] of how and why he was allowed to be in the community without proper supervision and follow up with obligations of his parole conditions. I suggest this is more evidence of failings of our over stretched mental health system and highlights deep flaws in monitoring people on Federal Police watch lists, given he had previously been subjected to [accusations of making] violent threats to an army base in NSW. The Lindt cafe siege is another disturbing case. Sure Man Haron Monis was Muslim, but he too in my opinion was suffering from severe mental illnesses. How he was allowed to be out on bail with all the pending charges, including assisting his partner to murder his former wife and the many sexual assaults against women in NSW? One of the most compelling disclosures of this case is that the Federal Attorney General’s department had received several violent threats to the armed service men and women serving here and in the Middle East conflicts Australia is involved in. These threats, I believe, were not acted on by the Attorney General’s department.
Why? Australians should remain on a alert to a possible home terror attack, however we must keep in mind more terror is being perpetrated by family violence in Australia. Last year 71 women were killed by family violence, it is tragically looking like the numbers will be greater in 2017. Family terror is a reality, foreign terror may be a possibility. Denise Hassett, Mt Martha
Block to change After the release of the Finkel report and some encouraging noises from the Labor party, it seems the biggest road block to our energy and climate troubles in Australia, is former prime minister Tony Abbott and his minions. The report’s aims are very modest but would give some real positive signals for investment in alternative energy production. This would drive our carbon emissions down and give us a chance to actually meet our Paris agreement targets. But alas, Mr Abbott and his retinue are at it again, holding Australia back for purely selfish reasons. Time to go Mr Abbott and let the grown ups deal with this. Rupert Steiner, Balnarring Beach
Pokies politics in play for election Neil Walker neil@mpnews.com.au A PUSH against pokies is being planned in the lead up to next year’s state election by a group trying to enlist councils to the anti-pokies cause. The Alliance for Gambling Reform wants councils to support a campaign calling on both sides of politics in the lead up to next year’s state election to act on pokies reform. Alliance media and communications advisor Stephen Mayne addressed Kingston Council at a public meeting to hear council budget submissions last week. He asked council to get behind the campaign to rein in pokies losses by joining the group as a “tier one” contributor and pitch in $25,000 to the campaign. “The fact that Kingston is in the top ten in the state for pokies losses is disappointing and I know it is a concern for your council,” he said at the meeting. Mr Mayne – founder of the Crikey news site, a former City of Melbourne councillor and shareholder activist –noted $83.4 million was lost to pokies across the Kingston municipality in 2015-16. “A very large amount of money. Australia runs the world’s most addictive and dangerous poker machines so you can lose thousands of dollars an hour on our poker machines.” He said Australians “have the lamentable prize” of being the world’s biggest gamblers per capita racking up $23 billion a year in losses including “about half of that” on pokies. Mr Mayne said the alliance effectively wants to run “an auction” and lobby the Liberal and Labor parties to publicly declare their position on gambling reform before the election. “Who can put up the best reform package? That’s everything from maximum $1 bets … [to] increasing the tax which is discounted for some pokies operators, reducing the hours, the marketing to children,” he said. The Alliance for Gambling Reform website states the group is “a collaboration of organisations with a shared concern about the deeply harmful and unfair impacts of gambling and its normalisation in Australian culture. “We campaign for reforms of the gambling industry that reduce the harm it causes. We are 100 per cent funded by donations from individuals and foundations that do not have any ties with the gambling industry. We are not affiliated with any political party.” Moreland, Greater Dandenong, Monash, Whittlesea and Melbourne councils are listed as “Alliance leaders” on the alliance site. Frankston Council is listed among several councils as an “Alliance supporter”. Alliance leaders contribute financially to the group’s campaigns.
Organisations on the board are the Australian Inter-Church Gambling Taskforce, Gambling Impact Society NSW, Monash Council, The Salvation Army, The Victorian Local Government Association, Uniting Church, Victoria Inter-Church Gambling Taskforce and Whittlesea Interagency Taskforce on Gambling. Activist group GetUp! is listed as a supporter. The Reverend Tim Costello is a spokesman for the Alliance for Gambling Reform. Former state Labor MP Kelvin Thomson joined the alliance as a campaign manager late last year. Kingston councillors will consider joining the alliance campaign and contributing the requested $25,000 later this month.
Police patrol Cash handed in A “large amount” of cash was found at Frankston train station and handed in to police last Friday (9 June). A passerby found the money on a station platform. Police say the owner of the money can claim the cash by confirming the total amount found, the denominations and detailing what the money was contained in. Anyone who lost the money in the area should call Frankston Police Station on 9784 5555.
Saturday assaults Frankston police were quickly on the scene after reports of assaults and a theft in Frankston on Saturday night (17 June). Investigators have been told a man was sitting at the Frankston train station with a woman at about 5.45pm when he was allegedly struck by a teenager. The teen and his friend ran from the scene and were allegedly involved in the theft of a mobile phone and further assaults near Young St. The pair then fled the area. Police arrived a short time later and arrested a 17-year-old boy from Noble Park and a 20-year-old man from Hallam. Both have been interviewed in relation to the incident with the teen charged and bailed to appear at a Children’s Court at a later date to face assault and theft charges. The Hallam man is expected to be charged on summons for similar offences. Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or visit crimestoppers.com. au online.
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Take advantage of our shop at home service or visit our showroom at 51 Yuilles Rd, Mornington 3931 Western Port News 20 June 2017
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