On the prison industry
Maire Mannik writes: “Supply and remand: why are our prison populations ballooning?“(Thursday)
The acual figures on remand are very disturbing. A few years ago a report was published by Judge Peggy Hora for the South Australian Department of Premier and Cabinet. It revealed that of those in reman,d over two thirds were either acquitted or ended up with a non custodial sentence. The ones who did receive prison sentences often ended up with one shorter than the time they had spent in remand.
It is also not uncommon for trials to be delayed for three years or more so if the prosecution offer the chance of a shorter sentence it makes sense for an innocent person to plead guilty. Then there are cases where the person has spent years in remand only to have the prosecution withdraw all charges just before the long delayed trial starts. These are all examples of grave injustice, let alone the immense cost involved.
On Wayne Swan
Marcus L’Estrange writes: Re. “Wayne Swan is the closest thing Labor has to Bernie Sanders“(Thursday)
Not quite, Helen. In 2013, when Federal Labor was in government, Wayne voted against increasing the value of the dole but for a 35% increase in MPs pay. He voted to massively tighten up DSP requirements and voted for kicking off sole parents from their pension when their child turned eight even though he knew the real unemployment figures showed one vacancy for every 20 unemployed. Many sole parents then had to sleep in their cars, couch surf, work in massage parlours and some committed suicide. Wayne has $6 million plus in his defined benefits pension scheme and owns a large number of properties. Wayne is certainly not part of the plutocratic aristocracy but he is certainly part of Labor’s “New Class” which is the dominant and wealthy class within the Labor movement and “New Class” members are on incomes most workers can only dream of.
On Turkey and Syria
Joe Boswell writes: Re. “Turkey sets the stage for its invasion of Kurdish Syria” (Thursday)
“This treaty was supplanted by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, which carved the current borders from the region, which contributed to the Armenian Genocide”
The Armenian Genocide, omitting preceding atrocities against Armenians, is conventionally dated from 1914 or 1915 to 1923. By that year the Armenians of Anatolian Turkey had almost entirely disappeared. It’s difficult to see how borders set by a treaty signed in the middle of 1923 contributed to it. If there is any link, perhaps it’s the other way around?
On Ratings-baiting (Friday 19/1/2018 Tips & Rumours): Rather than maintaining the rage against the Channel 7 interview with the UPF leader, we need to look closer at Channel 9’s decision to advertise “Married at 1st Sight” (a horrendous program anyway) by promoting a contestant (Dean) that uses language usually heard by women in domestic violence situations (for example – I’m the man and I’m in charge; she needs to respect me as a man). Channel 9 is really going backwards in their search for ratings – all the way to the Neanderthal ages – and it’s truly contemptible. Given the recent Don Burke allegations and the studio’s alleged part in the cover-up perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised.
Joe, I think that the article was very, very badly worded. What I think was meant was that the previous borders during the First World War had a very significant number of Armenians on the Russian side of the border who fought on the Russian side against the Ottomans, who then regarded Armenians on their side with extreme suspicion. Leading to the Armenian Genocide.
Further to the Wayne Swan discussion. I have followed his progress since his and Rudd’s Queensland bureaucracy days and to me he always seems to be standing in the shadows just behind the person who gets knifed.