DianeOZ

After the shocking few days of criminal activity in Perth, I had consoled myself with the fact that there didn't appear to be much child related crimes here. Thought too soon didn't I?

Over the last week it appears there have been 3 attemped child abductions in school areas in the northern suburbs (one at my sons school and one on the same street at my other sons daycare). I only found out about it yesterday when the school finally sent a note home. Out of order mate!

I don't want to get into a debate of it happens everywhere, I know it does. It's just made me feel really peculiar cos it's happened on our doorstep.

And it's bleedin well hailing and blowin' a gale out there.

Boo

suebo

Yeah it does happen everywhere, but it really hits home when it is close to you. What school was it Diane. There are a lot of bloody a55holes around. Bet they wouldn't like it if it were their kid getting abducted

DianeOZ

There was one at St Andrews Catholic School in Clarkson, one at Mindarie and allegedly one at Clarkson Primary. The kids were only aged about 7/8 yrs.

renth

The bloke tried to drag a little girl into a car. Did they ever catch that bloke who was exposing himself at Whitfords a couple of months ago?

DianeOZ

Not heard that they've caught him, so I assume he's still out there flashing..

Wilf

As you so very rightly say, it does happen everywhere, which is why it is important that people like you post about such things in Oz. I sincerely believe that many people think there is noticeably less crime in Oz and that people are "nice" not nasty like in the UK and I do not agree at all. I think for someone to leave the UK because of crime is fine but to come to Oz expecting it to be better is naive, so it is important that people really take posts such as yours to heart because being too relaxed or trusting in Oz and not being on your guard like they would be in the UK might put themselves and their family at risk.

It would be good I think if people assumed that the crime in Oz will be the same as in the UK because that is much what I believe to be the case and the figures seem to say that too - one time Oz is worse for this that and the other crime, next time it is the Uk that is worse, etc. All in all, probably very similar but I really think people hear that but do not take it to heart and think "Oz must be safer". Well, it ain't. I think those people coming from smaller towns or villages in the UK and going to the main Oz centres might be surprised to find their local experience of crime and disorder gets noticeably worse.

pommie bastard

Good post too many here think they can let the young kids run free , Perth as problems on this front like all cities.
Just dropped the wife off at the airport bloody hail and gales all the way there and back ,plus the airport was runing on a Gen because of a power out.
At 9 o'clock the power came back on so I asked the food outlet for a breakfast , only to be told we have stopped serving them , even though they had not served bugger all for the last hour, bloody Perth .

DianeOZ

I hold my hands up and am the first to admit that I thought there would be very little crime here. Before we came my brothers car was rammed by drug crazed lumatics (here in Perth) and I thought hmmm!! maybe just a one off. F'raid not.

It will take a bit of getting used to, to accept the crime levels are the same here as the Uk. I feel more nervous walking around here than I did in UK. Probably because it's still a bit unfamiliar and I'm not yet sure of the list of don't do's. Eg. my friend told me yesterday not to let the kids play in the sand dunes at Sorrento beach as that's where the weirdos hang out and also not to let them go to the toilet on their own (george michael syndrome). It is common sense but you can be tempted to let your guard down in such idylic surroundings.

Diane

Wilf

I admire your honesty in admitting the early idealism. We have probably all idealised Oz at one point (I know I did) and I would have been very happy to hear the reality if a thing like this forum had existed when I came here. Then again, there really was very little crime when I came here, so there you go. There was also much less crime in the UK then too.

What I think people may not understand or believe is the following. If you come from some town or village away from the big cities in England (and that is where most live because only a total of something like 10-12 million of England's 50 million live in London + MAnchester + Liverpool + Birmingham + Newcastle) but read the English papers and see all the crime on the telly all the time and stuff about asylum seekers, most of it is going on in the big cities and not where you actually live and yet it is all taken to heart and makes people think of their country as dangerous and scary. However, their personal experience of crime (not rumours, not what they see in papers, not what happened to their sister's mate's mate, not what they think MIGHT happen, etc) will probably be small. But they choose to move to Oz anyway because they have developed a dislike for the UK and quote problems they have heard about, not have personally experienced. Then the big irony. They move to a big city suburb in OZ (they have to to get the work) and then they are now living somewhere like the places they just used to read about and so their actual, personal experience of crime is now noticeably worse or may be one day. They might read less in the papers (Oz prefers to build itself up, not knock itself like the UK) but their chances of being a story in the paper now and not just a reader of someone else's bad luck has gone up.

DianeOZ

Spot on I think Wilf. I lived in Leicester which is a fairly major city but in comparison to the other majors in Uk, we didn't have too many horror stories although as you say, you take on board the rest of the countries problems and class them as your own. Now to have "your city" involved in the daily headlines, well it is a bit disheartening.

I want to stress here that we're not discussing this to put folk off, but the folk at this end need to talk their experiences through with people in the same position who understand. Be nice.

Kiwipaul

DianeOZ I assume you buy the local daily paper, NOT the Australian, as all states produce their own daily papers, most of your papers stories are going to be about Perth. Must admit the local Brisbane paper rarely mentions Perth at all.

Whereas in the UK all the daily papers were national papers distributed to the whole country, and so you would see very little about Leicester. I'm afraid you need to compare the Leicester Mercury with your current paper, instead of compareing it against the Times or Daily Telegraph.

pommie bastard

From the Australian Newspaper.

Black violence 'product of history'
By Misha Schubert
August 22, 2003

INDIGENOUS family violence was a "great boil on our society" and a direct product of historical events including colonisation, respected black historian Jackie Huggins said yesterday.

In an implicit repudiation of West Australian Premier Geoff Gallop's remarks that "the residue of the past is no excuse for the bad behaviour (amongst Aboriginal children) we're seeing today", Ms Huggins said the role of history could not be dismissed.

"As an historian, I must tell you that family violence is a direct product of history and the colonisation of this country – let's make no mistake about that," she told guests at the launch of ATSIC's family violence strategy in Canberra

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...5E2702,00.html

DianeOZ

Yes I do only buy The West and I did buy the Leicester Mercury as well as the tabloids. I am not dissing Australia, I am happy here, I am merely baring my soul and telling folk my view on crime moving from one city to another. There are obviously people who come from places where crime is worse who will find Australia a peace haven.



Diane

Loopy

The incident at Mindarie was supposed to have happened on Sunday afternoon (but right next to the school). A letter came home telling us about it yesterday (Thursday) and Channel 7 & 10 news were there yestrday filming. Incidents like this should be reported sooner to make parents aware and hopefully more vigilant. (yes I know they should be anyway, but gives everyone a shock & a reminder).

You should have seen the hail last night - pretty impressive, glad I wasn't out in it!!!

Loopy

Jacqui

Last week a friend's nephew collapsed at his school disco at Dudley Park Primary in Mandurah. Turned out a group of youths had got in to the kitchens and spiked the juice, so it's now a police matter. What is the point of doing that to little kids at a primary school disco? The mind boggles.