I sometimes fear that Western Australia is developing into a dysfunctional society. I don’t think it’s exaggerating to say there’s a large minority of people in this state who live outside the law and/or with little regard for it.
It’s a bigger problem than in other states. Two recent examples:
A 49-year-old farmer, William Rowe, was playing beach cricket on Christmas Day with his family at Geraldton when a group of Aborigines started harassing them. A physical altercation followed and Mr Rowe was allegedly assaulted with a cricket bat and died. His son-in-law to be also suffered serious injuries.
Last night a man was stabbed to death at a bus station.
There have been numerous examples of people being killed or seriously injured in late-night assaults in which alcohol and drugs were factors.
There are some dubious role models in Western Australia, of course. Drug addict Ben Cousins was welcomed back to the West Coast Eagles as a hero until he went off the rails again.
I’m concerned at the lack of moral leadership and the corruption of societal values. I don’t know the solution, but a good starting point would be to acknowledge we have a problem.
