A single person, maybe backed by a known PC group, has made Nowra streets a crime place with assurances no photos are taken.
What if a child is taken.
Would we be upset if our kid or grandkid was kidnapped and if we had the camera we could have retrieved them before a murder?
Hasbeen is, like me,a petrol head, and hard to read.
Some humor does not translate well in print, is he fair dinkum?
Is he willing to put up with bad drivers who lack the brains to slow down at speed cameras and not to drive through red lights, in front of him or me.
I am a privacy nut, after being sick of time after time being asked by EVERYONE to produce my drivers license, I got the proof of ID card.
My license is between me and the police or RTA.
But welcome every camera and call for more.

onthebeach,

"I have become more concerned about the loss of trust and good vibes in the Aussie community. That and the growth of fear and hysteria have no basis whatsoever in reality."

Agree

To me, those are the most pertinent sentences on this thread.

We should examine the reasons why we have lost our innocent good will, and the mechanisms in modern life which have contributed to it.

Dear Yuyutsu,

There's things like traffic lights, speed
cameras, electric wires (for homes as well
as well as the overhead ones for trams) that exist
everywhere. Quite a few synagogues also
have surveillance cameras for security reasons
and as a prevention of vandalism. I do much of
my food shopping in a Jewish neighbourhood
and I've seen people walking on the Sabbath,
stopping at traffic lights, it doesn't seem to
worry them.

I agree with Belly.

These cameras are not monitored by interfering busybodies, but are used in the case of a robbery, attack or murder, when stored information is used to identify or clear someone. 99.9% of this footage is never watched, but cameras have been shown to drastically reduce crime in most areas where they are known to exist, and I personally feel safer with them.

Dear Trevor,

<<"According to Judaism, activating an electrical current is equivalent to lighting a fire..." Even if it's not intentional or is unbeknownst to the person involved?>>

According to Judaism, an unintentional/unbeknownst breach of the Shabbat is a minor sin (a bit like a parking offence, carrying an expiation fee) while an intentional breach is a major sin (that may under some circumstances carry the death penalty).

<<Does that include brain wave activity, or is that OK if you don't think?>>

Nothing to do with what I think or don't, according to Rabbinical Jewish law ("halacha"), electricity passing through metal causes tiny sparks and is therefore considered a form of fire. I don't think the brain produces sparks when you think - but perhaps yours does...

Dear Lexi,

<<Quite a few synagogues also have surveillance cameras for security reasons and as a prevention of vandalism.>>

Yes, but orthodox synagogues do not operate them during Shabbat at times when the congregation may be present. Reform synagogues however may.

<<I do much of my food shopping in a Jewish neighbourhood and I've seen people walking on the Sabbath, stopping at traffic lights, it doesn't seem to worry them.>>

The prohibition is against starting and extinguishing fires on the Sabbath and Jewish holidays as well as feeding an existing fire on the Sabbath (but not during most holidays). Thus there is nothing stopping Jews from using lights that were left on in advance, or were turned on automatically. You would notice however, that the Jews, if they are orthodox, would not press the pedestrian green-light call buttons, but wait patiently until someone else (you, perhaps) pressed them.

So why did the cameras get turned off in this instance?

What’s the full story here?

There surely has to be more to it than just someone complaining about an invasion of privacy as they walk down a public street!

Could the relevant cameras see through his shop window and record what he was up in his private premises or something?