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Monday February 13, 2012

What we're talking about

  • Troy on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' I have seen this family fighting day after day for months trying to get their kids/siblings back home. The dedication and ... more
  • Pauline on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' DHS have destroyed my own family. They failed in their duty of care to provide a baby moniter for the deaf , thousands of ... more
  • Christine on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' isn't it funny how DHS don't recognise the psychological effects of domestic violence on children and continue to allow ... more
  • Warrior princess on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' There is a family In the Cairns Area who are Foster Carers.Atherton Child Safety have threatened the carers and own ... more
  • duncan on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' i have spent time with this family. it is a house full of love. "mum", grandfather and older sblings.this cannot be an issue ... more
  • Tracey on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Family Law is different from the rest of the law in this country.. Ie. Family Law is based on probability: ie if it might ... more
  • carol annetta on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' having known this family for some time i am disgusted with the treatment she has received. it seems more of a witch hunt ... more
  • Maureen Hillary on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Derryn,I have counselled traumatized parents as a result of DHS staff.There are great staff workers who care but they ... more
  • Janet Tavener on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' I am a visitor to this country.My attention was drawn to the case of these children and their foster mother by a relative of ... more
  • sam on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Happening in Tasmania also.Wewon a court case over 8 months ago and due process still hasn't been done.We spent 17,000 ... more
  • Anne Glover on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' I just cannot believe what the DHS has put the Foster Mother, and the children through - I thought the DHS was supposed to ... more
  • Tracey on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' DHS are the most disgraceful organization I have ever had the displeasure of becoming involved with. They are so ... more
  • Vicki on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Hi Derryn,I have known this carer since primary school, she has always put others above herself. Being a carer myself I know ... more
  • Gran'ma Pam on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' As any of us with any sense know, these children should NEVER have been taken from this lady (mum) in the first place, they ... more
  • Dominic Lombardo on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' I see my daughter every six months DHS are conducting a vendetta against me I have not been told why I can only see her ... more
  • cassy houghton on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Hello Derryn,Firstly i would like to thankyou for your support and the willingness to help this beautiful family.I ... more
  • Warrior princess on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Im a carer also in Qld. I see this happen way too much from our Government. They are starting to use Carers own children as ... more
  • paul on "I'll pay the fee," says Hinch I believe what Liberal Party has done is stupid. But I feel for candidates like Joh Bauch and James Buonopane who want to ... more
  • Andrea on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Why are these public servants allowed to blatantly flout the law without the same consequences the rest of society faces? I ... more
  • birth mother on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' i am the birth morther of these 4 children and i just want to say dhs dont care they just want the kids in care so they can ... more

Martin Bryant has the right to vote?

Posted by: Derryn Hinch | 9 March, 2010 - 5:56 PM
Martin Bryant's cell in Tasmania (Image: Roger Lovell)

Paul Keating used to say the Greens were the fairies at the bottom of the garden. Sometimes I think he was being too kind.

In the Tasmanian election campaign – after which the Greens could hold the balance of power – the Greens have announced a policy giving prisoners the right to vote in elections.

That would include Martin Bryant who killed 35 people and injured 21 in 1996 in the Port Arthur Massacre.

Well, while they are at it why not give Bryant the 35 proxy votes of the people he murdered? They can't vote either.

Tasmanian Greens Leader Nick McKim is leading the push for greater rights for prisoners as a key plank of the party's policy election platform.

He told Parliament last year the right to vote was an absolute one that should be extended to all people.

"You deprive them of time with their family, the freedom to walk down the road, have a beer at the pub, go for a walk in the park, have a surf - all those kinds of things - but when you deny them the vote you take away one of the absolute fundamental rights of a citizen in our society."

Yeah, well Martin Bryant deprived Walter Mikac's family of the right 'to walk down the road, go for a walk in the park, - all those kinds of things'.

The last time his wife and two little girls walked down a road in Port Arthur, Bryant shot and killed them.

When you commit crimes so serious that you are jailed - and they have to be pretty serious these days - for a judge or magistrate to even contemplate jail, then you forfeit a lot of your rights. And the right to vote should be one of them.


Blog comments Your Say

  • "Voting" is not a legitimate right for anyone. No society on Earth offers, or even attempts to offer, a legitimate form of democracy.

    It therefore does NOT matter if Victim Martin has a vote or not. This is nothing more than a political stunt.

    That said, Victim Martin deserved an apology for his actions, as they proved he was an extreme societal torture victim. His actions negatively reflect on society and all of you, not him.

    Seer Travis Truman Monday 28 June, 2010 - 2:39 PM

  • Lesley, I find your comments utterly offensive and downright sickening. You cannot be serious can you. Try telling this to Walter Mikac who lost his wife and two daughters. Damn you Lesley.

    Jane Friday 7 May, 2010 - 6:48 AM

  • Yeah good one Lesley. Guess you'll be ready to change your mind on the twin towers and tell us the US Governement did that. Maybe you should just jog down to the end of the garden and join the fairies (Greens) cause thats where your conspiracy theories belong.

    Mark Thursday 6 May, 2010 - 10:38 PM

  • Until recently I thought Martin Bryant should rot and die in jail. I never followed the story and thought the police got it right and had indisputable evidence. I was wrong. 35 shot dead 20 with only one head shot in a few minutes. 22 wounded with 64 bullets an expert marksman did this. No dna no fingerprints linking him to this crime. He should be training army recuits. He never got a trial let alone a fair one. Questions should be asked and answered about this crime. If he is guilty prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. Enough time has passed and the truth should be told but eveyone who objects to the official verson is howled down.

    Lesley Thursday 6 May, 2010 - 11:53 AM

  • Ben, Tuesday.

    '[L]ittle own vote'.

    Funny.

    Adam

    Adam Friday 19 March, 2010 - 4:14 PM

  • A dog bites a child, it gets put down. Bryant murders 35 fellow Australians and wounds 21, and this women says he should have some rights in relation to rehabilitation. Are you serious??? I agree with Derryn, these people are lucky to be alive at the moment, little own vote. If Bryant and other prisoners of this nature ever get out of prison, then our Justice system is a joke.

    Ben Tuesday 16 March, 2010 - 10:07 AM

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