Paul,

Is that the same Ned Kelly who risked his life to save a drowning boy?

I saved two very young boys in a canal 40 years ago & I have had my eyes opened to the rorting & connivery of the Leftist elite & it's insipid followers but I don't blame the two boys for it.

Hi there INDIVIDUAL; PAUL1405 & IS MISE...

I don't know why the judiciary is soft on crimes committed against the person. Sure, with property crime, even crimes committed against, community property (vandalism) I understand. But a violent attack on a living human being, I would've thought the judiciary, DPP, the Appellant Court(s), everyone would be in lockstep, in coming down proportionally hard, upon offenders. But they don't. Why?

Ask the average copper their opinion of Ned KELLY, generally, it won't be too complimentary. As you said PAUL1405, most view his crimes as abhorrent and cold-blooded. I've heard tales, that Ned KELLY & his gang, had been badly done by, by the police of the day. Fact or fiction, I dunno?

Saving people's lives, isn't the sole preserve of outlaws either, far from it. Look at yourself INDIVIDUAL you saved two youngsters forty odd years ago. And you too IS MISE, speaking as you did, with the off-duty 'jacks' in the Crystal Palace Pub, by managing to relieve their tension & anxiety, by merely listening to them, and needless to say, by caring.

And you PAUL1405, I recall you telling us, you've helped countless young blokes over time. I think the greatest skill that we as adults can employ when dealing with adolescent's problems, it to be a good listener. Often all our youth, and young people wish to do is to be heard. I can't tell you the number of times I've had a young bloke locked-up say '...me ol' man never listens to me...'. The primary cause of a severely dislocated family - the inability to communicate. Thanks, fellas.

I cannot ever see it happening but I would agree with capital punishment for those convicted of heinous crimes. I believe these criminals have given up their right to live in our world.

Some have been mentioned and there are more. The murders of Laurern Barry and Nicole Collins come to mind, as does the murder of little Ebony Simpson.

What about the serial murderers, Catherine and David Birnie in Perth. Then there was another pair that butchered a teen girl on the Sunshine Coast, in Qld. Ivan Milatt has to get a mention.

When recalling these atrocious acts I always seem to leave one or more out that I should not. But I certainly do not envy coppers their job.

Hi Issy,

That is indeed the same Edward (Ned) Kelly who saved a boy from drowning. Its also the same Edward (Ned) Kelly who hung by his neck till dead 11th November 1880 for his crimes.

I, like most Australians, I believe, was rather ambivalent towards the Saga of Ned Kelly until I read Leo Kennedy's book, it is certainly not a sloppy work of fiction, a couple of hundred pages of facts. As some can attest I am not an apologists for the police when I spy injustice. Ned did have some legitimate beefs, but they were nothing out of the ordinary. The fact is he was born into a criminal family and easily fell in with the wrong crowd. That is not my gripe as far as the story goes. I am disgusted more so with the fact that three good men, actually four Constable Thomas McIntyre barely escaped with his life, have for 140 years been very much wrongfully maligned by many, and as a consequence their families have suffered. There is also the Ned Kelly industry which some people profit from. For example Leo Kennedy was disgusted at the opening ceremony of the Sydney Olympics, a Ned Kelly impersonator, dressed in the infamous body armour and all, was part of the action. There was no Sargent Michael Kennedy as part of the joyful festivities only his murderer.

Issy, do I detect a modicum of sympathy from you, for the long dead Ned? I'm making the point that at time we as a society don't always get it right.

A bit off topic, but who are our real folk heroes, Don Bradman to name one, a true sporting (folk) hero. Phar Lap, a Kiwi horse, and that fails him on two counts.

Paul1405,
Yes, sad indeed about this Ned Kelly folk hero stuff. You ask about true Australian heroes,
well, they're swept under the carpet & never heard of again. The ones that go above the call of duty for low pay day in & day out & then go out & do volunteer work.