Dear editor,
Your regular correspondent Ian Macgowan of Ceduna writes in defence of victims of crime (‘Where is compassion for victims?’, Eyre Peninsula Advocate, August 14) – at first glance this would seem to be a righteous position to take.
However, at second glance I am prompted to take issue with the points Mr Macgowan raises.
He opens with two sweeping generalisations, the first of which claims that degrees of compassion can be measured.
The claim is in relation to the recent parole application of James Vlassakis of the notorious Snowtown murders case, which Mr Macgowan claims shows a “total lack of respect and regard for the future safety of law-abiding citizens”.
I do not know the case well enough to make informed comments about the legal minutiae, but Mr Vlassakis would have been little more than a boy when he was involved and his guilty plea could at least partially indicate an awareness of his crime.
I have had some indirect experience of the parole system and understand that one aspect is its function to offer hope for prisoners if they can somehow be rehabilitated.
I also believe that the Parole Board comprises highly intelligent, informed individuals who take their duties very seriously.
I would say there are some crimes that are so heinous that the perpetrators should be kept incarcerated, but these are relatively few.
And let’s acknowledge that the law is not perfect and does get things wrong, even in the case of murder.
Witness the recent release of Kathleen Folbigg, wrongfully convicted of murdering her children and spending 20 years of her life in prison, to say nothing of the similar Lindy Chamberlain case.
By quoting the rather simplistic slogan ‘do the crime, do the time’, Mr Macgowan displays a rather fundamentalist approach to crime, i.e. there are goodies and baddies in society, and the latter should be locked up for as long as possible.
Problem is, who is going to decide? Politicians with similar views to Mr Macgowan or a justice system that at least purports to be independent from government?
Every crime has victims, and I suspect most of your readers would have some experience in that regard.
How many innocent traumatised victims does the daily road toll leave behind.
Yet in legal terms it seems to me to be often regarded as the price we have to pay for the privilege of driving vehicles and using the roads.
And perpetrators often seem to get off with penalties that take little account of those lost and maimed.
Mr Macgowan concludes his letter casting “shame on decision makers for showing more compassion to a murderer than to his victims” – a ridiculous statement.
We are all shaped to some extent by the society we are born into and therefore I believe are obliged to take some collective responsibility for those who commit crimes and those who are victims. Both are deserving of compassion.
Those who commit rape, murder, fraud and petty theft are all human beings too.
Nick Carroll, Streaky Bay
Residents deserve to know
Dear editor,
In the science fiction classic ‘The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’, Arthur Dent is awakened by the sound of a bulldozer which has come to demolish his house.
The previous day, Dent had sought access to the council’s planning documents for a proposed bypass.
He was advised that the plans had been available for nine months.
It transpired that the relevant documents had been made available at the bottom of a locked filing cabinet in a darkened cellar.
The cabinet was located in a disused lavatory, with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the leopard.’
I was reminded of this story when I began the torturous task of accessing information about the new Port Lincoln Airport Management Authority being initiated by the Lower Eyre Council.
Apparently, there was a review of the airport’s operations but we are not allowed to see that. It’s classified as ‘Commercial in Confidence.’
While the actual model to be used by this new subsidiary of council has now been belatedly released on the council’s website, the council appears to have taken great pains to avoid consulting with its own rate payers, preferring to limit consultation to parties with a commercial interest.
I have been unable to access details of the participants in the consultation process.
Sadly and somewhat weirdly, the council does not consider the people who elect them and pay their allowances and salaries to be stakeholders.
Stakeholders are typically defined as people, businesses or other entities which can be directly or indirectly affected by the activities of an organisation.
The consultations thus far have not even included the residents of the airport zone who may be directly affected by some aircraft activities.
It was made quite clear to council when we had the flight training protests a few years ago that the local residents wished to be represented in consultations regarding the future of the airport.
Neglecting to do this will lead inevitably to anxiety and stress within the community.
It’s a major fail in leadership and management.
Having chosen not to manage this process in a respectful and inclusive manner, the Lower Eyre Council now has to find a way to convince cynical local residents that there is no hidden agenda behind this clumsy process. Good luck with that!
Joe Morrison, North Shields
The penny has finally dropped
Dear editor,
After three-and-a-half years, the penny has finally dropped for the Ambulance Employees Association, which has now admitted that, “It has been over three years and the ramping crisis is far from fixed – in fact, it is only getting worse” (‘Ambos turn on ALP over ramping’, The Advertiser, August 12).
In a united front, the Malinauskas Labor Party, the Nurse and Midwifery Federation and the South Australian Ambulance Employees Association all made strong claims that ambulance ramping would be a priority for a new government and almost guaranteed that it would be addressed when seeking government in March/April 2022.
Media reports, whether digital, electronic, or print, headlined this concerning matter daily for well over 18 months, in a frenzied attack on the Marshall-led Liberal State Government, laying the blame squarely at their feet, despite ambulance ramping being a national and international occurrence.
In July 2022, just after the election, 3647 hours were lost to ramping, but in July 2025, this has now grown to 5866 hours, a concerning 60 per cent increase.
From being an election-winning priority to now seemingly being dumped in the too-hard basket, I question why increasing ambulance ramping levels, which places lives in danger, have been relegated behind such important events as road construction, LIV Golf, Gather Round, Adelaide 500, the Festival of Arts, and a host of other feel-good activities.
In my opinion, both health and aged care, the two most crucial government services, are currently experiencing a range of difficulties that deserve greater levels of attention and funding than they are currently receiving.
Ian Macgowan, Ceduna
