Kevin Hillier says by all means disagree, but don’t get personal
One of the things I’ve always loved about the people of the western suburbs is their loyalty to each other. If you’re mates, you’re mates through thick and thin and there are certain unwritten rules that go with this.
We’ve seen one of those played out very publicly of late. I’m not just talking about blokes here, either. Two recent events made me think about mateship.
Brian Lake is now a high-profile media performer and he said last week that Bob Murphy should retire and put the team before any personal agendas. He’s entitled to his opinion and, while I don’t agree with it, I’m happy for him to voice it.
It also emerged that former Olympic shooting teammates (in fact, roommates) Russell Mark and Michael Diamond were involved in a social media stoush.
The difference was that Diamond turned it into a personal attack on Russell and his business interests.
I’m happy to say Russell didn’t stoop to Diamond’s level, which showed his class. The issue was selection for the Rio Olympics and Russell argued his case on that, not on anything personal with Diamond.
In the Murphy-Lake scenario, what was disappointing was the reaction by other media commentators, in particular Luke Darcy, who called Brian a peanut.
Why become personal? Attack the issue, not the person.
I get this type of personal abuse about some of my views in this column. My dad used to say (in a more colourful way than I can write here) that opinions are like backsides – everyone has one, some are more interesting than others.
Tree vandals
Why would someone randomly rip a tree up from the nature strip or front yard of a house? I’ve been told of a few instances of this of late and I just can’t fathom what would motivate someone to do it. Have you heard of it or had it happen to you? It seems to me to be another senseless act of vandalism which defies logical explanation. Goodness knows what these people get from these acts. ■
If you have any news or events, let me know at kevin@howdypartnersmedia. com.au
