cont'd ...

I can't understand why this man was not arrested
after he stabbed his brother that morning. Why was
he out on bail - especially as he had a history of
mental illness and family violence and the police
knew him. This incident surely could have been
prevented?

Hey Foxy,
I certainly don't wish to argue with you; but I'm not convinced.

Definition of Terrorism: the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims.

Now if we are going to stick with the proper definition then many of the people involved in protests that resort to or use violence are in fact terrorists.

Also, an Islamist could be screaming "Allahu Ackbar" and running people over as reportedly happened yesterday and this is not considered terrorism: because there is no link to a known terrorist organisation taking responsibility and making political demands upon the nation.

Now definitions aside; You tell me who the terrorist is:
The person who gets violent at a protest;
Or the person who kills multiple people screaming "Allah Ackbar".

The lack of a link to a terrorist organisation does not completely remove the idea this should not be considered at least terror-related.

Now I'm not doubting the guy had drug issues and by his rantings serious drug psychosis; but by his own statements he claimed to be a "Greek Islamic Kurdish Angel of Cult". He sat in 'The Dogs Bar' and posted "Thinking. About what to do with them", indicating an attack upon innocents as his other FB posts do, as well as quotes supportive of killing police / an indication he may have been planning on killing police.

Why can't we change that definition of terrorism to include 'religious aims'?

Also, should 'religious aims' not be considered in any way political?

Victoria and other States (except NSW) need to strengthen the bail provisions that are heavily weighed in favour of the wrongdoer and do NOT have sufficient regard for the victims of crime and the safety of the general public.

In NSW, the LNP and Labor cooperated to tighten bail provisions, but that initiative was bitterly resisted by the Greens, who remain opposed.

No bail is good bail.

As for whether or not this Melbourne atrocity was 'terror-related', we must remember that Victorian police have a phobia about even enunciating the words 'terrorism' and 'Islam'. The big question is, how the hell did this lunatic get to set foot in in Australia? Andrew Bolt keeps bleating in his blog, "Who let them in?". He knows damn well who lets them in: incompetent, disgraceful Australian politicians. That's who. And, Victorians should be writing/emailing to their federal members, asking how dare they permit such people to come to their country!

And yes, Foxy. How could this person still be walking around after his morning stabbing activities? Someone in Melbourne needs to be dragged up to explain that. INDIVIDUALS supposedly responsible for public safety should be publicly held responsible for the slaughter of a young family. Their responsiblity should be hammered in to them, and they should be made pay dearly for their incompetence.

What I don't get is this man was doing "wheelies"
outside Flinders Street Station before driving
two blocks to the Bourke Street Mall. People,
taxi drivers,
(and police) were standing by watching him.
Surely someone could have rammed a car (or tram)
into this guy and stopped him? Instead they simply
watched while others sat in their cars and
watched this guy go on his rampage. I would have
crashed my car into his had I been there. I would
have thought that the police are trained for this
kind of situation. Or at least they should be.
Lives could have been saved by quicker action.

Police Commissioner Graham Ashton said:

"He is not related to any counter-terrorism or any
terrorism related activities. He is not on our
books as having any connection with terrorism and
we're not regarding this as a terrorism related
incident. We have mental health and drug related
issues in the background of this particular person.
He has been coming to our attention more recently over
recent days in relation to assaults, family violence
related assaults."

The man should not have been out on bail.
I feel so sorry for the families of those who have
died and also for those still traumatised by this
event. We need to look more closely though and make
sure that our police officers get better training
for events such as these in the future. An analysis
of this particular situation needs to be done.
An investigation into what happened and why needs
to be made so that this can be prevented in the
future. Tougher action is needed.

In other places in the world the police would have shot him dead before he managed to murder innocents.

However in Australia....

Remember the moans and groans from the Greens and others of similar leanings when police in Sydney shot at a car being driven by, and full of Aboriginal Australians, when it mounted the footpath and drove into people.

Yer can't win.