21 April 2005

Aidan Brufort Bruford to face four charges of property damage

| johnboy
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ABC Online are reporting that former Advisor to the Chief Minister (and soon to be employee of the Chief Minister’s Department if the CM is to be believed), Aidan Brufort, is going to be charged by police for his spray stencilling ways.

ACT Policing has now confirmed Mr Bruford has been served with a summons to report to the ACT Magistrate’s court next Wednesday.

He will face a total of four charges of property damage.

Can our police contingent confirm if this sort of delay (he was caught on 07-APR-05) is normal?

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Loudon Prufrock8:25 am 25 Apr 05

Daylight savings time – another bit of bastardry from the comrades!

i apologise, i was still on daylight savings time.

let people go about their own lives with less government control and way less political correctness.

Well Shaun I think the people who’s property was damaged by the man from the Chief Minister’s office (while sending his PC message) feel the same way.

I agree totally that this guy should not have lost his job. For f*@k sake this country really needs to grow up and let people go about their own lives with less government control and way less political correctness.

Loudon Prufrock10:08 am 24 Apr 05

No! No! No! Johnboy, please do not deprive us of R***** C**** ravings. I was saving them to re-read in my twilight years together with my L Ron Howard collection and the Trotsky guide to greyhound racing.

Could you please obtain R C’s thoughts on crop circles?

Bonfire, you are an untrustworthy bastard. I was at The Canberra City Council chambers at 3 a.m. with my tin of Wattle Solarguard and you were not to be found. I had to explain to a Constable that I only intended to sniff some fumes and then had to prove it.

I feel a tad queer (and not for you RC).

Our friend commented “I love free speech”.

You need to read a little more Kant.

You also need to stop reading websites you don’t like.

And to learn to tell the difference between the general and the specific.

But frankly mate I just don’t care.

And I’ve had enough of your manner here.

Next time you post under that name or use obscenity we will delete it.

Straighten up or ship out. I care not either way.

Ah, your pseudo-intellectual moral posturing knows no limits johnboy. Your penchant for putting words into other people’s mouths and disclaiming your own words is second to none. Your confusion about democratic theory is priceless.

Anyway, here are some direct rebuttals:

You never called me a ‘lefty’? Well you AT LEAST insinuated it:

“you were sadly let out of school without a working understanding of how society actually works (rather than how lefty teachers might want it to work)”

I introduced obscenity to this website (which “we, the people” don’t thank me for)? How’s this from Mr Evil:

“Firing squad? Hang the little shit!”

Didn’t hear any pompous moralising about that language or sentiment, nor have you condemned those who have been callling for “revenge graffiti”.

And finally a little quote for you from Immanuel Kant, the philsophical father of the “free society” that you love so much:

“of all the forms of republican government (autocratic, monarchical, democratic) democracy is, of necessity, a despotism.”

Let your fertile mind chew over that one as you enjoy the nationalistic chest-thumping of Anzac Day.

RandomExpletiveDeleted –>

Note that you’ve chosen to bring obscenity into our space. We do not thank you for that.

You said:

Also, the reason I respond with insults is that there is a continual stream of ‘lefty’, ‘commie’, ‘ALP-affiliated’, ‘bleeding heart’ commentary whenever anyone takes a position against the “we, the people” line.

You have confused me with other people. I did not call you any of those things.

A minor public vandal in a political cause is fit for many jobs, but a political advisor is not one of them.

That is just my opinion, it is up to other people to decide for themselves if they agree or not. I’m just one voice on a website.

Democracy is not about elected dictatorship. Democracy in the modern world sprang from a government, already constrained in its powers, accepting further oversight in the form of elections.

Free society is a precursor to true democracy. Elected Tyranny fails even that precursor.

Winning an election confers no absolute power.

hope everyone enjoys the long weekend. im thinking of stencilling some graffitti over the weekend.

see you all at the assembly, 3AM sunday morning. BYO stencil and spraycan.

David Heidelberg3:31 pm 22 Apr 05

Big Difference there Anon

The baggage handler was actually at work when he stole a customer’s item and placed it on his head.

Aidan’s actions, although illegal, took place during his own time. Big difference.

Besides, I think that the guy with the camel on his head was funny.

So David, do you think the QANTAS baggage handler who roamed around the Sydney airport with the Camel’s head over his head shouldn’t have been sacked either, and instead should have just been dealt with by the law?

Bugger, I get it. I means may that be the last time you use the supid numbers thing.

LG – A bit slow today.

Sorry Git, I still don’t get it.

“May that be the last time I l33t”. By my understanding of the entry, it would mean “may that be the last time I elite”.

English is better…….. And universally understood on this forum.

David Heidelberg1:48 pm 22 Apr 05

The histrionics taking place are unbelievable. I’m with randomc*nt.

Stanhope didn’t endorse this guy’s work. If that were the case, he would have lobbied to have charges dropped. That didn’t happen.

The matter is being dealt with be the law, and that is where it should have ended.

@LurkerGal, all these pop cultural phenomenon can be searched at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

In particular to your current concern is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L33T

Lovely discourse on civil society johnboy, but you neglect the key to the whole idea of political liberalism: all citizens ae equal and are subject to the same treatment under the rule of law. Aidan is being subjected to the law (more rigorously than your average first-time minor offender) as well as losing his job and being slandered in the media and on websites like this. is this your idea of ‘civil society’?

Also, the reason I respond with insults is that there is a continual stream of ‘lefty’, ‘commie’, ‘ALP-affiliated’, ‘bleeding heart’ commentary whenever anyone takes a position against the “we, the people” line.

Let me also address a neat little contradiction that you have included in your last post. First you claim that I don’t understand that people don’t agree on everything. Then you claim that the Assembly represents “We, the people”. Well, both these things can’t be supported by your argument, unless you think that everyone DOES agree or that the majority should make the rules, in which case Stanhope was entitled to reject your calls for Aidan’s sacking because he won the election (that’s where “we, the people” get to express our views). Geddit? More to the point, there is nothing in the law about sacking people who are caught stencilling. Nothing. Remember that when you want to comment on “the social contract”.

In any case, I know that there are many more views on this than the simple “left”, “right” dichotomy that you paint. It’s typical of politics that this over-simplification gets peddled ad nauseum in order to stifle genuine debate.

Finally, if there are no criminals allowed in the assembly, there would be no assembly.

Ok, I can’t stand it anymore. It’s frigging everywhere and I’m going to open my mouth and reveal myself to be a fool rather than keep it closed etc etc.

What the HELL does l33t mean?????? I hate it when people replace letters with numbers because they are too ignorant to spell, but this one is everywhere lately and I’m worried I’m missing out on something.

JB, I am gay for your p0wnag3 ski11z.

May that be the last time I l33t.

Perhaps coincidence that the Ministerial Media Release Page has nothing from Ted Quinlan since before young Aidan got to know the police?

Quite right K, I don’t know where that meme snuck in but it just goes to show how dim-witted I am.

But that aside our RandomC friend needs to think a little more and shout a little less.

You started making offensive assumptions about people here. Where do you get off getting huffy when people pay you back in the same coin?

Now as you were sadly let out of school without a working understanding of how society actually works (rather than how lefty teachers might want it to work) here are some things you would do well to consider.

Firstly the outrage over Aidan Bruford is not the result of some sinister conspiracy, the matter is (I agree) far too small for a conspiracy to be formed or to bother with.

No-one is paying us to make a racket out of it, we gain nothing by it. It’s the result of pretty much everyone who isn’t associated wih the ALP (and many who are) being utterly disgusted with what has transpired.

Instead of labelling us all small minded bigots perhaps you should try and see why we feel this way?

We just think it is untenable for the Chief Minister’s advisors to be vandalising public and private property in the aid of a political cause

That the Chief Minister thinks it IS tenable speaks volumes for his probity, his trustworthyness, and his service of the best interests of the ACT rather than the ALP.

The thing you utterly fail to understand is that not all people agree on everything.

in fact a room of people who agree on everything are almost certainly wrong.

In years gone by people just killed each other when they disagreed, and no-one got very far.

Very slowly, over a very long period of time, with many lives lost along the way, our civil society emerged. Largely it revolves around ways to resolve disputes, and our elected parliaments and assemblies are a very important part of that.

So when a member of an Assembly’s staff (let alone the Chief Minister and Attorney-General) damages another citizen’s property, in service of what they believe, then that strikes at the very heart of our social contract.

It is deathly serious. It is not trivial. Frankly I wouldn’t mind if the courts did let him off with a slap of the wrist. He just has no place in our assembly.

Note that OUR ASSEMBLY. Not Jon Stanhope’s, not the ALP and the Liberals and the Greens. That Assembly belongs to we the people. And we have laws against graffiti and we agree (on balance) that it is a crime to damage another person’s property.

Just because the ALP Government in NSW is hopelessly corrupt in no way excuses similar behaiour here. Why not point to the government in Sudan as an excuse to round up and shoot people YOU disagree with here?

Incidentally while I think it a shoddy refelction on Bob Carr that Craig Knowles is still in his cabinet it is worth noting that Knowles maximum sentence was non-custodial while graffiti can see you go to the big house.

And David H, I am totally opposed to capital punishment. I also don’t care what the courts make of this. Mr Bruford simply has no place in politics if he thinks criminal acts are a valid political tool.

Here on the Riot our intrepid grafitti-er is being caller BruforT but the CT’s calling him BruforD — who’s right?
K

See my last post Prufrock. Your glib ‘commie’ accusations say more about you than they do about me, and they also give a good insight into how this whole debate has been powered. Media, law, and politics, hand in happy hand.

Loudon Prufrock4:29 pm 21 Apr 05

CONCENTRATE! I meant, mate.

Loudon Prufrock4:28 pm 21 Apr 05

Dear Random c*nt, Yes. Perhaps a wee holiday in a quiet Soviet home of tranquility could help you in your battle with unhappiness. Forget the fetid green bile people, and concentrste on completing your costume for the May Day march. Sod grim reality, comrade.

As Grandmaster of the ACT KKK, my spelling and proof-reading are expected to be 100% correct at all times: the master-race must never make mistakes! 😉

Mr Evil = p0wnzored

I’m sure you’re not Mr Evil. It was a joke.

Okay, my proof reading’s not so crash hot sometimes, but I don’t see how that makes me racist?

That you think I’m a member of Resistance is indicative of your narrow mind. I’m not a member of any group, relgion or political party, and you won’t find me under any other stereotypical label that you can think of. If you don’t want to be attacked, you shouldn’t be calling for the death penalty as if it’s a big joke.

As for whether he would have been sacked for writing something racist, well i doubt he would have had the job in the first place if he held those views. You can always pick a racist, they are usually the ones who forget to put the ‘s’ at the end of ‘Asian’ 😉 ) But if I must answer your question, and judging by how this issue has played out, I would guess that he would have been sacked, but not charged, seeing as this has been more of a political than a legal matter.

RandomC*nt why don’t you grab some of your Resistance mates and do us all a favour by going away! Iraq is nice at this time of year I believe.

Aidan was a stupid fool, and now must face the consequences for his actions. It’s his boss who made this into such a big issue by defending Aidan. Would Jon have done the same if Aidan had been spraying “Asian Out” or “Mormons are Arseholes” all around town?

I think Crikey nailed this one — the best thing Stanhope could have done was to suspend Aiden immediately pending an investigation.

Then, since the story would have no oxygen, everyone would have gone away in a couple of days, and Jon could have quietly reinstated Aiden in a month’s time.

Shame Crikey only noticed the issue a week down the track when it was too late for the bro to be saved.

damn, i forgot to refresh the page since this morning. im refering to the death by firing squad comment

if JB does it, ill join him, but only on the condition that i can carry around a sign in protest simply saying stanhope=dickhead from our very own stencil..

I’m not sure that anyone ‘expects’ anything from anyone. I think we are taught what to expect by a ravenous and vindictive group of braindead media hacks and politicians who are obsessed with nothing more than their own egos and petty squabbles. What has amazed me about this issue is the way in which the media – including WIN, The Australian (editorial space for chrissakes!), the Daily Telegraph and The ABC – and the Federal Government, showed such clear intent to destroy an individual for such a minor crime. It shocks me that anyone can seriously think about this in the context of other things that have happened and are currently happening in federal and territory politics and still be outraged by it.

But remember, mr. Evil, it’s people like Aidan who give embittered people like you the oppotunity to come onto websites like this and puke your fetid green bile all over the place, in an attempt to relieve that painful cramp in your guts that just won’t go away…

@C*nt, yes, it does alter my view. I assume charges where a warning is the usual thing. I’ll be happy to take your word for it for now.

So the next question, does his public position mean we expect better behaviour from him than a teenager and therefore the result is just? I submit that that would be discrimination.

If Aidan hadn’t been a stupid jerk by going around spraying crap on walls, then none of this would have happened, and he would still be Jon’s little office boy.

Does the clarification not alter your views? Do you not see that Aidan has been triply punished (loss of job, charges, character assassination)? And as for me needing to calm down, well, I will when people get to grips with the fact that this has been a disgraceful, embarrassing example of the interworkings of politics, law and the media in this country.

@C*nt, thanks for the clarification, it’s all I asked for. My statement was a summary from a variety of comments made in various places. I think I made it clear that I was unsure of it’s complete validity. Take a prozac and calm down.

Ah, yes, ‘bias’, as opposed to the studied objectivity and neutrality of your fine self bonfire. Are you really prepared to declare this a ‘major property offence’? If you think so, you should get out more often.

minor property offence ?

excuse me sir, i believe your bias is undone.

to teh tune of learys ‘asshole’
v a n d a l
he’s a vandal a repeat offender vandal…

Goddamnit who the hell are you people? No, don’t answer, I fear I might be sick: you’ve already pushed this guy to the point where he’s had no option to quit his job (and lose his livelihood – this is no small thing) and you’re still not satisfied?

You slavering hounds on this website should instead question the professionalism of the AFP who leaked this story to the media in the first place.

The real point here is that we’re living in a po-lice state where anyone who dares to criticise the war in Iraq will feel the full wrath of the powers that be. They will use any tool at their disposal (AFP, DPP, the media, shills on this website) to maintain the figleaf that this war is right or somehow just.

Anyone else would have been let off with a caution. Keep it REAL, idiots.

You may also have noticed that the NSW planning Minister, Craig Knowles, got a six month driving ban and a fine for drink driving last month. All well and good, very dangerous and stupid thing to do. Did he lose his job? No. Was there massive public hysteria? No. Only in the pea-brained, coddled, “I voted for a dragway”, Canberra public mind would a little political stencil be considered a major public issue.

The ‘usual’ process, RandomGit, would be the issuing of a caution in the case of a first minor property offence such as this. No charges, no summons. It’s amazing that you think the AFP, Johnny’s troop of attack dogs, would treat Aidan leniently because of political pressure. The reverse is true.

The issue I think is charged, no summoned. He wasn’t charged at the time, only once the political pressure was removed in his favour. But now the pressure has been reapplied against him, he has been charged and the brief and summons have been fast tracked to fruition.

This is based on earlier reports during the furore that charges were not laid, even days after the offence. I imagine the moment I get caught doing that stuff it’s striaght down the cop shop and charges laid in a matter of hours.

Feel free to lay out the ‘usual’ process correctly if I’m wrong.

Delay my arse.

This has to be the quickest summons service since Kev Buzzacott (Aboriginal Tent Embassy – Coat of arms theft).

A summons usually takes 6-8 weeks to be sworn and served from the time the brief goes in which is usually a good few weeks (at least) from the offence.

Firing squad? Hang the little shit!

David Heidelberg9:40 am 21 Apr 05

I want to see JB out the front of the court demanding death by firing squad!!

In defence of the AFP they get a lot of pressure, up to and including threats against family, over political issues. Once the political obstacle was broken they were free to do their job, which they would have been preparing for all the while.

My money’s on six months.

I’m taking bets on how short the good behaviour bond will be. Money back if he appears before Terrance Higgins.

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