Universal Bar Codes the Solution?

Howard appears to constantly reach out to the average Australian seeking to identify with their feelings, and responses. Yet here his government has been held up against what seems to be a fairly average family, and so far that family have demonstrated far more grace, understanding and tolerance than the government appears to be willing to demonstrate to date on this issue. The Canberra Times editorial on Monday (about the only day not on their website) notes that there is no requirement for Australians in Australia to demonstrate that they are citizens or residents - rather it is up to the Authorities to prove otherwise to prove lack of citizenship.

We don't have to carry around ID cards in order to walk down the street, we are allowed to speak another language other than English. But this is all compounded by the way that it appears authorities were unable to diagnose that Cornelia Rau had a mental health problem for so long.

I also wonder whether this incident may be yet another indication of problems with the availability of facilities and resources for mentally ill and disabled people in Australia (both in general, and for those people in detention centers). Do police and immigration authorities receive adequate training in how to recognize and interact with mentally ill people, and when to seek expert advice? Was it that in this case the suspicion that the person was an illegal immigrant overrode all other concerns? Was the assumption made that the unusual behaviour was simply an act?

A number of commentators have indicated that the private nature of the inquiry would appear to be restrictive in terms of scope, openness, and also in the way it can deal with witnesses. Vanstone's argument that it is concern for the privacy of the family that has influenced the manner of investigation does not appear to be in line with the family's own stated wishes. Surely a better approach is that of Peter Beattie , offering to provide evidence relevant to the handling of the situation by Qld officials, and urging a more open inquiry, although I note he is not willing to have his own State inquiry.

It may be that the situation provided challenges that the relevant systems just were not designed to deal with, but if that is the case, would it not be better for this to be openly examined?