Lazy NSW police unrepentant

What do you expect of public servants? Get a gun!

POLICE Commissioner Ken Moroney has thumbed his nose at public opinion, defying calls for tougher action against street crime. His defiance came after The Daily Telegraph struggled to have a crime investigated by police despite having photographic evidence of a mugging in Sydney. Last night the victim, a 16-year-old TAFE student, revealed his fear over the attack on Tuesday night near Central railway station. His mother, Margaret Short, said her husband tried to report the crime to police but was "fobbed off".

"When my husband Don rang Central (Police Station) they wouldn't even take a statement, insisting it must come from our son. They just fobbed him off. "They said the victim has to report the crime and because our son didn't want to, they couldn't record it for him. But our son was too scared to do that." The boy told the Daily Telegraph last night: "The police said they know who it is, or have an idea, but can't guarantee anything. "I didn't want to go to police because I thought if (the culprits) found out who I was, I could get bashed or some of their mates would find me and make trouble." The boy, who last night revealed he was menaced with a knife in the attack, subsequently visited Surry Hills police yesterday.

Victims of crime said yesterday that they had given up expecting police to do anything about it. However, Mr Moroney insists his officers are doing the best they can. Figures reveal that hundreds of thousands of citizens who have been robbed, assaulted or who have had their homes invaded are not bothering to report it.

The Commissioner yesterday chose to dodge the issue by citing the state's falling crime rates. With hundreds of angry citizens inundating the Daily Telegraph website with reports of lazy police, Mr Moroney said last night it would be "unrealistic" to expect everyone to be happy. He said police internal research indicated that confidence in the police was high and that the community felt safe - but he refused to release the figures so the public can make up its own mind.

"I expect all my officers to do their best at all times. "They have an oath of office and that is their pact with the people of NSW. "Police are not perfect human beings. "Figures show the majority of crime categories are either falling or are steady. {Because people no longer to report stuff] "Does that mean that every individual who looks to police for assistance will be 100 per cent happy 100 per cent of the time? "That would be unrealistic, but I hope the public understands that we do have a committed police force who are doing the best possible job they can."

The annual Australian Bureau of Statistics survey of victims of crime for the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research for 2006 - the latest figures available - show 127,500 victims of assault did not report it in 2006, 22,800 people did not report that they had been robbed, 26,300 people did not tell police their house had been broken into and another 63,100 people did report an attempted burglary.

"The most common reasons why people don't report crime are that people don't think the police could or would do anything about it, the offence was too trivial, or nothing was stolen," BOSCAR director Dr Don Weatherburn said. Victims of Crime Assistance League executive director Robyn Cotterell-Jones said it was because they were sick of being given the brush-off. "Police are making a decision about whether a case is going to make it to prosecution and if not, they are simply not bothering to do anything with it," she said.

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Australia's PM negative on homosexual adoption

PRIME Minister John Howard says he is opposed to gay couples adopting children and heterosexual adoption is a benchmark society should maintain. But he said that didn't mean gay and lesbian people had no affection for children.

The Victorian Law Reform Commission has recommended to the Victorian Parliament that gay couples be allowed to adopt and lesbians have access to IVF treatment. Mr Howard said today he believed children should ideally have a mother and a father. "It gives children the best opportunity in life," he said on Southern Cross radio. "I know for some that sounds harsh, I don't think it's harsh, I think it's something that most people believe is the desired, the ideal outcome. "I'm not saying that gay and lesbian people don't display enormous affection to children."

The Prime Minister said limiting adoption to heterosexual couples was a benchmark Australian society should maintain. On IVF for lesbians and single women without partners, he said: "In the past we have objected to that."

The Victorian Law Reform Commission report, tabled in state parliament yesterday, said the Government should change the law to allow lesbians to access reproductive treatment, even if they are not medically infertile. "An appropriate test is whether a woman is 'in the circumstances in which she finds herself unlikely to become pregnant other than by a treatment procedure'," the report says. A court decision in 2000 found it was discriminatory to deny treatment to a woman based on whether or not she was in a relationship with a man.

Gay couples currently are unable to adopt in Victoria, but the commission says they should be able to. "The commission believes it is important the widest possible pool of people is available to help these children," the report says. "Research shows that a parent's sexuality is not a predictor of harm to children."

Felicity Marlowe, 33, said she looked forward to the changes being endorsed, as she had no legal status in the lives of 11-month-old twin boys Rafi and Callum, born to her partner of seven years, Sarah Marlowe. "It would mean a great deal to me to be able to receive that legal recognition, and in terms of the future rights of my children it is important too," said Ms Marlowe, a member of the Rainbow Families council. "The discriminatory laws that currently exist don't stop people from creating families, but they do undermine the rights ... of the children."

But Australian Families Association spokeswoman Angela Conway said the changes pandered to the gay agenda without considering the best interests of children.

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Family group slams $2.5m anti-smack campaign

A hardy perennial resurfaces in Australia

A NEW $2.5 million campaign urging parents not to smack their children has upset a family group that supports smacking. It is not illegal for parents to smack their children, but the Federal Government's "Every Child is Important" campaign argues against it. The kits in 16 languages will be available soon in various community, health and education centres.

"Hitting a child does not teach acceptable ways to behave," project material says. "Instead it may result in a repeat of the misbehaviour. "Often children are so upset or angry after being hit, they forget why they are being punished."

Family Council of Victoria secretary Bill Muehlenberg said it was wrong to use taxpayers' money to push an anti-smacking line most parents would disagree with. Mr Muehlenberg, who smacked his three boys, said in some cases with small children it was the only option. "It's usually done as a last resort, done in love, done with moderation, self-control," he said. "In other words it's not the same as abuse, which we already have laws on the books about."

But Dr Joe Tucci, CEO of the Australian Childhood Foundation that compiled the "Every Child is Important" campaign, is opposed to smacking. He says parents should work out why their child is misbehaving and address the cause. "You don't have to hit your children to teach them right from wrong," he said.

Sunrise presenter and father of four David Koch is a high-profile smacking advocate. "Smacking is very different to being abusive," he told the Herald-Sun. Koch said it was wrong to smack when you were emotional, but an out-of-control child may need it.

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Parents told to make up for school failures

PARENTS have been urged to "do the times table" with their children after almost one in four Queensland Year 7 students failed to meet the national benchmark for numeracy. Education Minister Rod Welford conceded yesterday that numeracy standards in Queensland schools weren't good enough and parents could help to address the problem. "Parents can help by doing tables with their children at home. Nine-year-olds should be learning their tables," he said.

Figures released in this week's State Budget showed just 76.2 per cent of students met the benchmark last year, down from 80.3 per cent the previous year and well short of the 82 per cent target forecast in last year's Budget. The tests, each August, also measure literacy. More than 95 per cent of Year 7 students met the national writing benchmark and 83 per cent met the reading benchmark.

The Australian Council for Educational Research's Ken Rowe said the benchmarks were minimum standards. "You can't get much lower than those benchmarks and in reality, somewhere between 40 and 60 per cent of students entering high school from government, Catholic and independent schools lack sufficient skills to engage with the secondary curriculum," Dr Rowe said. "Our priority must be teaching the teachers to teach."

Mr Welford said the "results clearly are not good enough". He said students who failed to master basic numeracy at primary school were more likely to have problems in secondary maths and he wanted the annual tests moved forwards to May to give teachers more time to help children rectify problems. "These tests should also be passed on to the students' secondary schools so that process continues," he said.

This week's Budget included a new $1.5 million numeracy initiative aimed at boosting the results. Mr Welford said the initiative aimed to "help build teacher capacity through professional development programs and the development of teacher resources and training packages".

Opposition Education spokesman Stuart Copeland said the school curriculum was "too overcrowded" for many children who needed more time on the basics. "I am also concerned that we are starting to see the effects of falling OP scores for entry to the teaching profession," Mr Copeland said. "If teachers are not being well-prepared to teach literacy and numeracy this is a damning indictment of the universities."

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