No justice in Victoria's courts

I'm guessing that the attackers were blacks or Muslims. That would be consistent with past practice. See here

A bashed girl and two boys who almost died from stab wounds are disgusted by the slap on the wrist given to their attackers. The three friends suffered horrifying injuries when gatecrashers attacked the occupants of a home in Clyde, near Cranbourne, in August last year.

The armed gang retaliated with violence when asked to leave. They left three people requiring hospital treatment and damaged two vehicles. The court case over the vicious attack saw two of the thugs escape conviction and all three given light sentences on reduced charges.

Jayden Carter, 21, almost died when he was stabbed four times, including twice in the heart. His attacker, then 17, of Narre Warren, received six months' probation. The boy, who cannot be named because of his age, was found guilty of using violence and possessing a drug of dependence (steroids), but avoided jail and a conviction.

Owen Devon was left in a pool of blood with three stab wounds, one in the spleen, one between the ribs and one under an arm. The second attacker, of Narre Warren, pleaded guilty to "aiding and abetting the stabbing" of Mr Devon and hitting Victoria Fuller in the face with a baseball bat. He also smashed two car windscreens with the bat. He avoided jail and will do 50 hours of unpaid community work over a year. The third attacker, 16 at the time, also escaped conviction and received a $1000 fine for violence.

Mr Carter, who was having a party with 20 guests, flatlined twice on the night of the stabbing and doctors believed he would not survive. He was taken to Casey Medical Centre and then flown to the Alfred hospital. "I was lying in hospital and the doctors were working on Owen next to me and he was yelling, 'Look after Jayden'. And I remember them saying, 'I don't think your friend is going to make it'," he said. "It made me feel dead."

Mr Carter described the justice system as "a joke" for allowing his attacker to walk free. "I can't even go swimming any more because the cold water makes my scars hurt, as if I'm being stabbed all over again," he said.

Ms Fuller is still being treated and has trouble eating since being "smashed" in the face. She said Premier John Brumby should stop talking tough and actually punish violent offenders. "The police did everything they could do to get a sentence and yet the guys I watched stabbing my friends are free to live their lives," she said.

Victims of crime advocate Domenic Greco said victims didn't have a voice in the Australian court system.

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Gun ownership up by 10,000 a year as NSW Government waters down laws

Gun ownership is booming again in NSW, with 40,000 new firearms registered in the past four years. The rise coincides with a deal cut by the State Government and the Shooters Party to water down tough gun laws introduced in the wake of the Port Arthur massacre.

Figures from the NSW Firearm Registry obtained by the National Coalition of Gun Control show gun ownership has risen at the rate of 10,000 a year since 2004 to 687,138 in October this year. Multiple gun ownership has also soared. The number of people receiving permits to obtain a second or subsequent firearm in 2006 was 32,616. In the first 10 months of this year, 43,095 such permits were issued.

The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics has also revealed that guns are being stolen at a rate of more than two a day. The majority are taken from homes. Despite the worrying figures, the Government and the Shooters Party have quietly agreed to a number of changes to gun laws introduced by former premier Bob Carr after the Port Arthur killings.

Shooting clubs will no longer have their licences automatically revoked for not disqualifying members who have been convicted of firearms offences. Previously, the police commissioner could immediately revoke a club's licence for not taking action against a convicted member. In another change, the mandatory 28-day waiting period before a second or third gun can be acquired has also been scrapped. The Government has also made it easier for men who have previously been the subject of apprehended violence orders to regain a gun licence.

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Some students to be taught (optionally) that there's no God

This is fair enough but I hope that there is some place in the curriculum for kids to learn something about the immense impact Christianity has had on the development of our civilization. I am myself an atheist but I sent my son to a Catholic school because I felt his education would be incomplete without an exposure to Christian ideas

Victorian state primary school students will soon be able to take religious education classes which teach there is no evidence God exists. The Humanist Society of Victoria has developed a curriculum for primary pupils that the state government accreditation body says it intends to approve, The Sunday Age newspaper reported. Accredited volunteers will be able to teach their philosophy in the class time allotted for religious instruction, the newspaper said.

As with lessons delivered by faith groups, parents will be able to request that their children do not participate. "Atheistical parents will be pleased to hear that humanistic courses of ethics will soon be available in some state schools," Victorian Humanist Society president Stephen Stuart said.

The society does not consider itself to be a religious organisation and believes ethics have "no necessary connection with religion". Humanists believe people are responsible for their own destiny and reject the notion of a supernatural force or God.

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Greek tragedy in proud Aussie heart

Maybe I am just a sentimental old fool but I found the article below by a lady of Greek descent very moving. Athens and Jerusalem are the twin foundations of our civilization so to think that a person of Greek descent would renounce their Greekness seems exceptionally sad to me

By Veneta Tsindos

It is true the ancient Greeks invented drama - and democracy too. But many Australians with relatives back in Greece might be wondering why thousands of years later such a creative nation continues in turmoil. The riots that erupted after the police shooting of teenager Alexis Grigoropoulos are a sign of pent-up frustration, in a country of political corruption and unequal wealth. You could say our cousins are still acting like "drama queens" and kings.

The whole Greek tragedy makes me cringe. But why? I live here in Australia. I am "Australian," a true "fair dinkum Aussie" born as a second generation in this country - not a Greek. So why do I still feel ashamed that Greeks can behave badly, using fire, riots and rebellion with loud mouths and bad manners to solve problems? Because human nature inevitably dictates that Australians with a Greek heritage have such passion running through their veins and can't help feeling "this reflects badly on me".

It makes us look like violent creatures, lacking civil society, intelligence, when we are not. It's not the truth. Yet everyone's origins are so powerful that we can't help feeling typecast. And, to be truthful even those who say they don't stereotype people - including me - unfortunately can't escape that feeling.

Some say rebellion is deeply embedded in the Greek psyche and the current tragedy is testimony. Being rebellious is not a bad thing in itself - it can be good - if words are your only weapons. Words used wisely. So it's time for me to be rebellious and call on all Australians of Greek origin to drop the flag - the Greek one. Yes, by all means support Marcos Baghdatis at the tennis and the Greek soccer teams - but not at the expense of my dear and beloved Australia. It's time ethnic origins came second. We are Australian and this is our home, our love. Past blood is an add on.

The challenge of identity via the news comes only days after my four children started asking: "Mum what am I, am I Greek or Australian?" I knew revolution time had come for our household tribe. The time for me to get rid of my identity crisis - vagueness - and get it straight. What am "I" Australian or Greek? I realised the message I was giving my children, about what I was - and what they were - was confusing and perplexing for them. They don't deserve to live with such uncertainty.

My poor hubby tried to explain. He kept telling them they are Australian. Yet they needed both parents to tick the Australian identity box. "Don't ask me kids, I don't know what I am either, go ask your dad," was no longer sufficient. Mixed language - Australian one day and Greek the next - needed the sack. So did the double identity thing - Australian-Greek, Greek-Australian. It was "mucking them up", making them feel inferior, like half-castes. And our difference, origin, heritage, should not make us less Australian.

The children's questioning caught me by surprise -- I naturally assumed that they would know. Obviously I was not thinking straight. So after some deep thought, analysis and heated debate the children, hubby and I decided on "Australian" with a full stop. That's it. I had fought for "Australian with a Greek origin". But hubby felt that that was still not right. "Origin told if asked" was his view.

Maybe he doesn't have the Parthenon screaming in his ear: "look at me I'm still standing, don't forget about me. "I have history, strength, culture - I am rich!"

In one sense, we're all descendants of imports, or imports - none of us are "real" Australians unless we are Aboriginal. But we all share this land. I cannot bring myself to say that my children are more Australian than me just because they are third-generation here and I am the second. We're all proud Aussies now - and in any case, I eat more pies than they do!

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