Amartya Sen, who won the Nobel Prize for economics for his work on famine, observed that famine does not occur where there is representative democracy and a free press.
I was featured in the West Australian, after a 10 year old snake bite victim was denied vital treatment at a local hospital.
Western Australia already has the toughest firearm laws in Australia. That is no excuse for complacency, and the laws should be brought up to date. However, to be truly effective, to promote public safety instead of paperwork, the Bill should integrate the findings of the Law Reform Commission of 2016, and it should take account of experts in the field. Most importantly, the government should not block proper scrutiny of the Bill, and it should not trample on the rights of WA citizens.
Instead of law reform that will promote public safety, the government has advanced a Bill based on ideology instead of evidence. It is written without an adequate understanding of firearms, and it expects the Bill to be enforced by police the government cannot recruit, using resources they do not have.
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| Doing nothing for public safety but spending millions on paperwork! |
... If the government was sincere about public safety, it would not rush through flawed legislation and block scrutiny of the Bill. It would be look at firearms reform as part of a more important reform of our state’s approach to violence, especially domestic violence.
For more, please visit this linkthis link https://www.spectator.com.au/2024/06/wa-needs-public-safety-not-paperwork/
I'm honoured that my opinion piece was quoted in the West Australian State Parliament by Hon Louise Kingston MLC.
The bill before State Parliament is truly a wolf in sheep's clothing.
It will affect all Western Australians, not just a few as the government would have us believe.
It will take away the right to remain silent and it will make licenses contingent upon a person's beliefs, attitudes, and views.
This is a truly horrible bill that winds back every democratic reform we've had since Magna Carta.
"The Firearms Bill 2024 before Western Australia’s (WA) state Parliament is a wolf in sheep’s clothing that will violate the rights of all citizens. The Bill will effectively legislate away a person’s right to silence, and their property rights. It presumes guilt by association, discriminates on the basis of health or disability, and challenges the right to free speech and freedom of opinion."
"... the Firearms Bill’s Section 368 threatens any person with a fine if they do not “answer any question asked by a police officer under this Act.. this applies to all people, not only firearms owners, and would therefore, strip them of their right to silence."
"Section 150 allows the WA police commissioner to have regard to “the person’s views, opinions and attitudes. Free speech and freedom of thought are at the bedrock of our democratic society, so it is outrageous that the Bill could challenge them."
"In sections 148, 150, 153 and 399, the Bill also opens people to medical or disability discrimination. "
For more, please click on https://www.theepochtimes.com/opinion/new-gun-laws-will-impact-freedom-of-speech-and-thought-5645849?utm_source=ref_share&utm_campaign=copy
Given the way that non-Israeli governments in the Middle East treat their citizens, I don’t think the Palestinian people, especially women, would be truly free.
Given the way that non-Israeli governments in the Middle East treat their citizens, I don’t think the Palestinian people, especially women, would be truly free.
Every time I hear the slogan “Free Palestine,” ... I remind myself that Palestine will only be free when it becomes more like Israel.
To read more, please follow this link
Amartya Sen, who won the Nobel Prize for economics for his work on famine, observed that famine does not occur where there is representative...
