TERROR BURDEN

PARANOIA in the wake of terror incidents in the UK is helping to drive heightened security in our own back yard.

The State Government’s decision to fund training for 1000 new security guards for the Commonwealth Games is an unfortunate sign of the times.

On the one hand it seems an over-thetop response, given the small number of people killed or injured in terror incidents in Australia compared to huge numbers dying in domestic violence cases, road accidents, drug overdoses and other tragic incidents.

But the Government has little choice. It is a matter of damned if they do and damned if they don’t, especially if some deranged individual does decide to run amok during the Games, mimicking the person or group that drove a van into innocent worshippers outside a mosque in London.

We’d prefer that instead of throwing money at what-ifs, the Government was funding additional police, doctors, teachers and transport initiatives, but sadly nothing can be left to chance.