Tests needed to guide the young
Why are voluntary breath tests no longer conducted at police stations?
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My friends and I are on our P plates, which means we cannot be over 0.00. While I find it a perfectly reasonable restriction, it makes it difficult when you are to drive home the day after a party.
Recently, my friend and I were at a party which ended in the early hours of the morning. She had to unexpectedly drive to Horsham the next day to see her Dad. While she felt perfectly fine, we all knew that if she was just the slightest bit over she would lose her licence, and that simply wasn't an option.
Due to the only train from Ballarat to Horsham leaving around 8pm, driving was her only possible mode of transport. My Mum drove us around town looking for a breath test so that my friend knew whether she was able to drive or not. We went to several venues we thought would be legally obligated to have breath tests (gaming venues, pubs, the likes), and the police stations. I was absolutely shocked that the police no longer do voluntary breath tests! I read that it is to encourage people to simply not drive if there is any doubt in their mind. I feel that the police stations did not consider P platers in this decision at all.
When we wake up from a party the night before, how are we meant to know exactly when we are legally able to drive again, if you aren't providing us with the resources to check? Perhaps even a simple coin-operated breath test on the wall at the police station would be suffice to give a rough reading. My friend decided she would be fine and drove anyway.
You are forcing us to risk our licenses, rather than enabling us to take the initiative to check our blood alcohol concentration prior to driving. I feel this is absolutely absurd and an ill-thought out concept.
Chloe Waddell, Mitchell Park
Spirit of equality underpins democracy
The country is going to the polls in a few weeks time.
As history in other countries has shown, the freedom to choose or form your own government can be hard-won ones.
Australia is lucky they did not have to undergo a battle-scarred revolution to gain such freedom (the Eureka Rebellion, essentially a revolt by angry miners against greedy authorities, is the closest you get to it).
Australians are lucky too that the country values a fully democratic process when electing governments.
The 'fair-go' is given pride of place in practice and in the national psyche, and losers graciously accept the people's decision and allows for a peaceful transition of power. Conjoined to the concept of freedom is that of equality.
The road to universal suffrage for western democracies had been a long and fretful one. Even during the so-called Age of Enlightenment in the 19th and 20th centuries, women, the poor and non-white natives had to wait their turn.
Indeed, it wasn't until 1967 that all the states in the country agreed to extend suffrage to indigenous people. It may have taken quite a while for Australia to mirror the powerful and defining spirit of Christianity found in Galatians 4:28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Christ.”
But we got there in the end.
Kimmy Fam, Ballarat
ELECTION 2016
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