Page 3414 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 25 November 1992
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MR MOORE: And when people make untrue claims they have a way to defend themselves. My discussions with a police officer on duty one Saturday night when I went out with the police indicated that the police themselves are very pleased - as Mr Connolly interjected - to have those video cameras there. That in itself reflects a very positive attitude by our police force. To end on a very positive note, Madam Speaker, I think Mr Humphries was right to put this motion and, with those few words of caution, I am delighted to support it.
MR STEVENSON (11.06): Dr John Tomlinson has a position of authority in this community with the ACT Council of Social Service. He has been responsible for many achievements in the community for those who are underprivileged. However, in this case he has abused his authority. This was not an off the cuff statement. It was not a spur of the moment thing. It was a poem that was worked on and then sought to be published and published. John Tomlinson, whom I also know well, deserves to be condemned for supporting the very thing that he would say he works against. What he supports with the action of publishing this poem is a division in our society between the police and those people who may be influenced by his position, by his past activities, and who may read this poem as the statement of someone who should know and should be the sort of person who can be followed and believed.
On many occasions I have spoken to young people in Canberra, particularly around Garema Place, about the police. It is not rare to hear them speak disparagingly of police. I have also on rarer occasions spoken to police and heard them say things about some of the younger people. Why does this happen? If we continue to support this idea of a disconnection of separate people, we will continue to have the problems. Many times I have said to young people when they have said something about the police, "Why don't you look at it from their point of view? Why don't you try to work with the police?". Certainly, I say the same thing to police.
It is only by working together that we will make changes and have the understanding we need to live in harmony in our community. As a former policeman I well understand both viewpoints. Mr Moore mentions the frustration of someone who has been beaten. There is also a frustration by police when they arrest somebody who was part of a group of 20 people on a Saturday night and who went up to a father walking along with his wife and kids and king-hit him and put the boot in. I can well understand the frustration of police with young people who do these things. As a former policeman with nearly eight years' service, naturally enough I have come across many, having worked in the city of Sydney, particularly at night-time.
So, while there is frustration on both sides, the answer is not to do the things that were put forward in this poem. As Mr Humphries so well put it, the statements about the late Colin Winchester were absolutely appalling. Dr Tomlinson should make an apology to all concerned, and in the Green Left Weekly. This morning none of us has mentioned the Green Left Weekly. After all, Dr Tomlinson's poem would not have been read had it not been published. Is it not fair to condemn also the magazine that published his words? Many people state things that should not be published. It is the editor's responsibility to act as a censor. Naturally enough, when something is said that is as disgusting as this poem, it should be censored.
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