Dead body found in Ainslie

Vicepop said:

VicePope said :

A relative of the poor chap was bemoaning in the press the lack of government action to help him, although acknowledging that he (the greving rellie) hadn’t swung by for a long time because the chap was getting on ok and likely to become angry. It strikes me that this is not one for government, but for family/friends, with them calling in the community to help if needed.

Oh gosh, when I read this bloke ranting in the media about how “the government” didn’t solve everything while at the same time saying that he and the rest of the dead man’s family hadn’t done a thing, I was really indignant.

Evidently the guy was mentally ill, and hard to deal with, and wanted to live in the open and do his thing. OK. But for a family member to blame “the government” when his actual FAMILY did nothing, is bloody rich! For god’s sake! Come off it.

Sepi – I am not sure if I agree, but concede that the issue is really difficult and sensible people could differ. If someone pointedly lives out of the mainstream, how should welfare authorities decide whether that is because the person is mad or because the person really wants to be alone? How do they check on welfare without intruding into privacy? We are all the poorer when this kind of thing happens, or when some old soul dies unnoticed in a housing commission flat in Sydney, but would well-meaning social workers or police be causing even more pain and disruption by disturbing those who don’t want to be disturbed?

If an “outsider” is troubled, who should act? Those who notice? Those who are paid to look? Or those who are associated with the person and may notice the trouble? Where are the borders between individual responsibility and the responsibility of others and between the responsibility of families and society? This is hard stuff.

Dealing with scary, uncontrollable, sad or off the rails people should not be down to their family. That is like saying that dealing with the sick should be up to relatives. And what about people who have no family? Or what if you are the only sane one in a bad bunch – you just sacrifice your life to caring for people who won’t give you the time of day.

Society should have mechanisms for dealing with people who cannot live within the mainstream.

This case created an interesting issue that may warrant some thought.

A relative of the poor chap was bemoaning in the press the lack of government action to help him, although acknowledging that he (the greving rellie) hadn’t swung by for a long time because the chap was getting on ok and likely to become angry. It strikes me that this is not one for government, but for family/friends, with them calling in the community to help if needed. (I think it’s unreasonably onerous and would amount to trampling interference with personal privacy). But maybe that’s not a realistic position and maybe there is an expectation that government should be aware of any issue affecting the welfare of any citizen. And maybe there is a public duty to ensure that anyone, even the voluntarily alienated, is ok.

Anyway, that’s a kickoff. Please boot it somewhere, someone. I’m worried that I’m becoming curmudgeonly.

Ha ha… yeah ^^

6 weeks is a long time to be decomposing. I feel sorry for the guy who found him, would’ve been awful.

neanderthalsis said :

Affordable housing close to the CBD – A humpy on Mt Ainslie

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Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo – you’ll give Bob Winnell more ideas of how to take over the whole ACT housing development market!

Affordable housing close to the CBD – A humpy on Mt Ainslie

Sounds like he was done in by Jim Beam, Jack Daniels and Johnnie Walker.

Sounds like he wasn’t so much homesless, as his home was a humpy on Mt Anslie. Five years in residence of a stone and wood structure sounds like a home to me.

http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/news/local/general/remnants-of-cold-lonely-life-left-in-humpy/1227520.html

Just incase anyone is looking for news on this post.

The man had apparently been dead for up to 6 weeks found in his humpy just near the CSIRO building in Ainslie – he had lived there for 5 years.