Evidence given at the Lindt inquest by a senior police officer has a name suppressed. Having absurdly asserted that the gunman had the same rights as his victims, the public should know this officer’s identity for our future information.
Bruce Watson, Mosman, NSW
Terrorists have rights too? With weakness like this, society as we know it is doomed, This police officer is a disgrace and should be sacked.
Brian Doherty, Beenleigh, Qld
Has the human race gone bonkers? What else can we think when we read that NSW police were unwilling to take action against Monis for fear of violating his rights? Of course people like him have rights. They have the right to lead their lives as they see fit, the price being that they must obey the law. If they choose to continue their medieval struggle, they forfeit that right.
Peter Bishop, Wurtulla, Qld
When Man Monis stepped over the threshold and entered the Lindt Cafe or anyone else embarks on a criminal enterprise that puts the lives of others at risk, he forfeits his rights and checks them in at the door. Having to consider his welfare and rights in the heat of the stand off, forcing the officers in charge to second guess themselves and clouding their judgement in such a tense, hair trigger situation, the extension of such rights to the likes of Man Monis places a question mark over the mental health of the proponents of such an insulting and absurd idea as well as cheapening the entire concept of human rights. We’ll never know for sure but less time spent handwringing and beard striking considering Man Monis’s rights, may have actually led to an earlier and better outcome all round.
Jim Ball, Narrabeen
I agree, Geoff Walker (Letters, 20/7), it is un-Australian to hound Pauline Hanson who has every right to express her opinion. There is no excuse for the pack mentality on Q&A on Monday night.
June S. Turner, Shenton Park, WA
Sonia Kruger has more courage and common sense than our MPs. Islam is not a race but an ideology wrapped in religion. So my comment is not a racist thought.
D. Clarnette, Rosebud, Vic
Leanne West (Letters, 20/7) may be right that the Bible, like the Koran, is incompatible with a modern, secular, pluralist society. It’s just that I haven’t seen many cases of radicalised Presbyterians committing acts of terrorism.
Shane Hughes, Windsor, Qld
Leanne West misses the point; we are a modern, secular, pluralist democracy precisely because we have reformed our responses to the early Bible.
Paul Nolan, Lota, Qld
If heterophobes have decreed that Cheltenham Girls High is to become gender-neutral, will it be renamed Cheltenham Gender Neutral High? Can I now enrol my grandsons?
Tony Herbert, Battery Point, Tas