King Hits

I’ve never been in a fight. I’m not the macho, hot-headed type.

I get angry, to be sure. People piss me off sometimes. But with the exception of a defenceless real estate sign I beat up when I was 18 (I was pissed, I woke up my mother, I lied about it, she knew it, there were some awkward silences), I don’t channel that anger through my fists.

I may placate; I may be a “pussy”. I may have been called soft a couple of times when I’ve talked mates back from the edge of conflict. But I’m proud to say I walk away, and I always have.

Last week my colleagues at news.com.au and I launched Real Heroes Walk Away - a campaign against senseless violence. We were all horrified by what happened to Thomas Kelly. And to Luke Adams before him. And to David Mitchell and Matthew Stanley. And my brother.

Continue reading "Can’t make laws against boofheads. Can walk away." »

Parents of young adults everywhere in Sydney hate it when their children go to Kings Cross, the city’s party district. They loathe it.

They’ve got reason to. Every few Sundays local 6pm news bulletins broadcast vision of young people “going wild”, roaming the streets; the occasional fight.

And now a tragedy. Thomas Kelly, 18, was king-hit just walking down the street with a couple of female friends, one of them his new girlfriend, at 10pm on Saturday night. Totally unprovoked. He hit his head on the ground. He died last night.

Continue reading "A terrible tragedy, a young man killed by just a single hit" »