quoll

I am with you Flea - the sometimes absolutely gobsmacking non sentence for people convicted of child abuse and child pornography fills me with immense anger.

The irony is that at one stage, when running the training for mandatory reporting a few years ago, the possible penalty for mandated people failing (either wittingly or unwittingly) to report a suspected incident of abuse was higher than had ever been handed down to anyone taken to court for the actual offence.

You dont have to scratch very deep to get to the conspiracy of silence and corruption here.

Pollyana

If you would all like to get off your high horses for a while and calm down, you might remember that this is an open forum, and people are allowed to post their views in here just as much as they are in Barbie.
There is no rule that says "if you love Aus stay in the Barbie" or vice versa, and that in general is a good thing as it encourages debate.
So lets have some balanced logical discussion, into which everyone is made welcome.

Sue

..... and just to add my little bit too. We don't walk in each others shoes, therefore ALL opinions and experiences are valid and should be shared. That's why BE exists so we can support each other through the moving, the settling, the homesickness, the good, the bad, the ugly, the great, the fantastic and sometimes the moving back.

TraceyW

But you know as well as I do that people who dislike Aus and are very unhappy here cannot post their opinions in The Barbie because they hunt in packs on that forum. So this is the only place we can say what we really feel and we usually have the support from like-minded people.

I just get very confused as to why people who are not moving back to the UK would want to hovver around in this part of the forum that's all. It's a bit like vultures circling IMHO.

Ozzidoc

I apologise if you feel like I am a vulture - that is one thing I certainly am not.

I like to have an informed opinion about many topics. I try to keep in touch with what's happening on the three continents across which my life is spread, and I find that many BE fora offer this.

I cannot however offer any opinion on Neighbours/Corrie etc, as I don't even watch one hour of TV a month....life's too short!

Pollyana

Actually a lot of us do post in there, and the majority of posters in there accept us, the same as in here.

Fleaflyfloflum

Ahhh ok..well thats not me then. Even if i say so myself, I pride myself with having a sense of humour and try to see the funny side of most situations.

One thing i will say. This being a forum used and visited by a lot of people, can sometimes become stale if the same old repetitive subjects are discussed. Like it or not, i try to add a bit of diversity, bit of humour and also get the brain cells ticking by raising subjects and questions to discuss. Because it is for people wanting to move back to UK and a lot of them not happy where they are, means it highly unlikely that fluffy sugary comments on their host country are likely. This is all part of the diversity of this website isnt it?

To call someone a whinger just because you do not agree with their remarks and are attempting to discredit their opinion is somewhat immature and effectively renders discussions useless.

I feel that my OP is a valid discussion point albeit posted in a rush and anger. I note that very few (if any) of the previous posts have disagreed or put forward a strong arguement to refute what i have said!! Other than these things happen elsewhere

Corruption IS a huge part of life in Australia whether some people want to admit it or not, and it is more prevalent than a lot of other places in my opinion!!

Cookie

When I thinking of the word whinger I remembered its old alternative - 'whiner' - can't you just hear the nails scratching down a blackboard when you say it

Fleaflyfloflum

Not really, but then i tend not to think about crap like that.

I tend to focus on the content of the message

Cookie

Ahhh, I have worked in publications for 18 years so every word is important to me

Fleaflyfloflum

Good for you. May you continue for another 18yrs

geeandtee

I like to read what's going on all over the BE forum. As for this section, I follow it with interest because, although we are settled where we are, you never know what may happen in the future, and it's a useful part of the forum to find out what's involved in returning to the UK. Plus, it's interesting to read of members' experiences when they do return. Finally, there are some lovely, interesting people here too.

chance to be

Really? I cant understand that at all. I can understand when people differ about whether theft is theft, murder was justified etc etc and even if I disagree, I can kind of see where people are coming from. But adults who are the sexual preditors of children???To me its a non-discussion.
There is NO excuse, No exhonerating circumstances and they are the lowest of the low scum. Its one of the few areas where I really cant see any other viewpoint.
Yes, I know people who have been abused themselves are more likely to commit the same crime - however dreadful it was for them that they were not "saved" by someone, when they become a preditor, its not their welfare I am concerned about - its that of the victim they have made. There is something so seriously wrong with a man who abuses a child that there is no place for a left wing/softly softly approach. They are dangerous and will not stop and need to be removed from society or castrated and preferably both. Yes - they may have had a horrendius childhood but making allowances for them and then they go on to abuse others is just collusion.
What other decision could people possibly make?

quoll

I could not agree more!!!

I think the judiciary sometimes goes out of its way to almost defend these perpetrators because they know that rock spiders get a very hard time in jail.

232Bar

I'd disagree - as I I've said before I'm neither of the love it or loathe it brigade - Oz is working for us for now - that might change, but to make these forums 'silos' where only people who agree with each other can post would be detrimental to the whole effect of BE. As has been said - let the good, the bad and the ugly meet - sometimes we might even learn something from each other.