Bondi Junction Stabbings

[Meredith1965]

This did not happen a few generations ago. We used to institutionalise the mentally ill for their safety and that of the community. Then we convinced ourselves that it was cheaper and more humane to have care in the community. You can’t fix psychotic illness via talking cures or through medication. It needs to be *constantly* managed and the person controlled.

[stui magpie]

^

Lets not go back to the days of "one flew over the Cuckoos Nest", please. Most people with mental illness are able to be treated in the community with medication and support and lead productive lives. One exception isn't a reason to change. Should we ban kitchen knives as well as lock up mentally ill people?

[Meredith1965]

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was a good story, but basically 60s hippy-libertarian propaganda. I had an uncle in Mont Park in the 70s. It was not like that at all. We do not need to lock up people for being a little strange, but by the time someone is well-known to police for violence as a result of serious mental illness, they need to be institutionalised. From Gargasoulis to this, we pay the price of libertarianism in the murder of innocents.

[What'sinaname]

[stui magpie]

Your uncle wouldn't recognise Mont Park now, it's all apartments, restaurants and shops, and my local Dan Murphys.

One of the best things Kennett did was close the institutions. Locking people up because they have mental illness is just wrong. Lock em up if they break the law, which this bloke never did until yesterday.

[stui magpie]

[Meredith1965]

[stui magpie]

He was homeless, or itinerant, no reason to lock him him up, he'd never been arrested let alone charged, and yes you really should go and have a look. My kids used to go up there and go through the old buildings, now it's completely different.

[pietillidie]

It's a horrible thought to think how unlucky life can be. Just mosying through a shopping mall. I think my wife said one poor sod was a refugee; imagine surviving whatever to be that unlucky you bump into this in Australia of all places. That said, you do wonder how on earth this was not picked up by security quick smart. They catch teens stealing makeup and miss a dishevelled lunatic with a giant knife.

Generally, though, I do think people are over-parsing a very, very unlucky and unlikely event. It's simply randomly tragic.

[Meredith1965]

[Magpietothemax]

[David]

Institutionalisation seems to be beside the point. Someone who’s homeless needs a proper place to sleep and live first and foremost. There should be enough beds and houses out there for destitute people. Then there ought to be support workers regularly checking in and providing care for the people who require it, like those with mental illness or suffering from drug addiction. Say, once a week, bring the checklist out with all the known homeless people in the area: where’s Joel, does he have enough food, is he in a bad headspace, etc. And if he’s back on the streets, find him and spend some time with him to figure out what’s going on. I don’t care how much it costs; something like this should be the basic minimum standard expected for anyone in society.

We talk about people falling through cracks, but the cracks are more like gaping chasms. That’s the problem here, not that we stopped forcibly locking up those with mental illnesses.

[pietillidie]

[stui magpie]

2 security guards were killed, 1 male 1 female and yes, the male was a Pakistani refugee.

[pietillidie]

^Crikey, both killed. That too is really bad luck. As I say, the thing I feel most looking at this from afar is just how things can happen out of the blue.