Revisiting Hobart Tasmania

 

Cat and Fiddle - Hobart Arcade

After I discharged from the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), I headed to Hobart, Tasmania where I commenced work with the Tasmania Police.

On completion of training at the Police Training Centre, I was assigned to Hobart Police Station where a number of police officers worked beat duty.

Beat duty was foot patrol of the Hobart inner city area, with two or four men working at a time.

There were three eight-hour shifts. The day and afternoon shifts were most interesting as we got to meet a lot of people. We'd get the odd accident, emergency, shoplifting, assault, and traffic infringements.

It was an excellent opportunity for us, all young men, to meet women and arrange dates. 

The night shift, commencing at 11 pm was the worst - nothing much happened. We'd check shops and generally try to keep order if anything went wrong, which was rare.

There is an arcade in Hobart called the Cat and Fiddle Arcade. It was there in 1971 when I walked the beat and it's still there in 2023 although it's been redeveloped and much more spacious and interesting now.

This is where my colleagues set me up to have a rumble with a fellow who was a homeless bricklayer. It went like this:

My colleagues knew the bricklayer would be lying on a bench seat in the Cat and Fiddle Arcade. They knew that every time he was arrested for vagrancy (no visible means of support), he'd resist arrest.

I got a radio call to check the Cat and Fiddle Arcade and when I did, I found the fellow sleeping on the bench. I told him to move on and he refused to do so, so I placed him under arrest at which time he launched an attack; we both ended up on the floor as I tried to overcome him and get my handcuffs onto at least one wrist.

After a short while, a night patrol car with two officers pulled up and came to assist. Between us, we overcame the individual and hauled him off to the Hobart Watchhouse. I learned afterwards that all "Rookies" had been initiated in such a manner. I thought I got off lightly with nothing damaged by my ego.

Now, half a century later with 12 years of policing behind me and many other years at work, I'd have adopted a different approach. With age comes wisdom and probably a lot more compassion.

At the time, our standard instruction was to arrest these loafers.

I would be inclined now to let the poor fellow rest out of the wind and rain. Nobody else was there, so we had the place to ourselves and nobody was being harmed. Being penniless and homeless was his only offence. Now, I would work to find him alternative accommodation and a job.

It's not the role of police forces to be social workers, but we need to care for each other and helping someone out when they need it is a good thing. 

What do you think?

#Robinoz

Why Australians Should Vote "No" in the Voice to Parliament Referendum

Alice Springs was a beautiful town in Central Australia that is suffering from the impact of dysfunctional indigenous Australians and their communities.

Crime has run rampant. The township has been adversely affected by crime for decades, but all towns have some level of crime. Unfortunately, the level of crime during the last couple of years has reached epidemic levels.

Neither government policies nor the under siege Northern Territory Police are able to get the situation under control.

Billions of dollars of taxpayers expenditure over decades, thousands of Aboriginal organisations, private, public and otherwise haven't resolved the problems of regional indigenous people.

Why would we expect a change to the Australian Constitution to provide better solutions?

The short answer is, it won't. What it will do is provide special access to Parliament and Government policies by 3% of the Australian population who are indigenous or part-indigenous.

My short article commenting about why I won't vote Yes in a referendum that will further divide the nation is here: https://tinyurl.com/rchenry

Let me know in the comments what you think.

#Robinoz

Another Christmas Comes and Goes

Having had 74 Christmases, it's now a tad ordinary. 

Beforehand there's all the searching for presents for those who already have everything they need and most of what they want. Then there's the decorations pulled out of their hiding places in our garage and the decisions about food; roast lamb, leg of ham, chicken? What about sweets?

After hours of preparation in the kitchen breakfast and lunch much of what has been prepared has been demolished. Then it's time for dinner well after presents have been opened, but nobody is hungry having nibbled on chocolates, cake and leftover potatoes. Toblerone anyone?

Our children are adults now and one of them has a son who turned 21 recently. We usually negotiate what each wants for Christmas now to save giving people stuff they don't like and don't want. For his birthday in late November we gave him some money so he can buy what he wants and I gave him a surprise. It was a Victorinox multi-tool.

As an electrical apprentice I expect he'll get good use out of it for years. But the real reason I gave it to him, with his name and 21st birthdate laser engraved in it is that I want him to have something that lasts long after I've taken the road from which nobody returns.

I have some things that belonged to my mother and father, the last of whom died in 1995 and I treasure them because they provide a strange link into the past when we were all living together.

But back to Christmas.

My wife and I negotiate what we want and we did the same with our two children. I got a pair of Brooks sneakers from my wife and I gave her a new Fitbit fitness tracker. There were a few extras, but nothing expensive.

That way, we got what we would have had to buy at some stage anyway and each of us was happy with our present.

Now, it's all done and dusted for another year.

All we have to do is survive New Year's Eve and we'll almost be back to normal; back on our Mediterranean eating plan and our routine that we have established since retiring.

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas.

#Robinoz

#Netexit

Will Australia Learn from the UK and European Disasters?

Will politicians in Australia learn from the disasters that long-term "green" policies have had in the UK, Europe and elsewhere.

Probably not. If we were going to learn, we would have done so some years ago when the writing was on the wall for all to see.

One of the principal managers of the International Panel on Climate Change admitted the climate change policy had nothing to do with climate and was all about redistribution of wealth - from Western countries to African countries.

It also seems to be about promoting the Lima Agreement to "flatten" Western industries and transfer some of them to African and other so-called developing countries and the UN's Agenda 2030. 

Don't forget Klaus Schwab's, World Economic Forum that also wants to impose a totalitarian one world government regime where nobody will own anything, but we'll all be happy. Maybe they plan to put something in the water. Otherwise, why would anyone be happy?

The Left is changing the world we live in for the worse and we, the silent majority need to fight back.

#Robinoz

#Netexit