Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the name and image of a person who has died.
FACT: Fifteen-year-old Cassius Turvey, a proud Nyoongar boy, was murdered in broad daylight. He was wearing his uniform, and on his way home from school.
FACT: His family is now living with a huge hole in their hearts, with Cassius’s mum saying it is impossible to even conjure the words that describe their loss, in such horrific circumstances.
So where is the outrage over such horror?
Has the cacophony of deafening bad news, now delivered into our social media feeds daily, increased our immunity to crime?
Does the death of a child in Western Australia not rate as highly as the death of a child on the eastern seaboard, where Parliament and corporate power reside?
I don’t know the answer to those questions, but we need to find them.
Sure, the tally on a GoFundMe page seeking Justice for Cassius belted up the charts to make $281,000 in just a few days.
And a series of rallies are being planned, with a candlelit vigil set for October 31; Cassius’ favourite day of the year – Halloween.
Stolen future
But is this where it should end?
Why isn’t this the subject of talkback discussion?
Empathy for his family is filling our hearts, as evidenced by the funds raised for his family. But what about our social media feeds? Why aren’t we all planning to don our favourite costume, this Halloween, and remember a young boy whose future has been stolen.
Cassius Turvey will never vote, or hold a driver’s licence. He will not marry, or have children of his own. He won’t travel the globe, or his own country. He won’t even graduate from school.
Tweet from @zaaron23
The details of his death will unfold in court, and that is the correct place for that to happen.
But there are plenty of other questions begging answers outside the courtroom too.
Why? Why? Why?
Mistaken identity?
WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch told Perth radio that it might be a case of mistaken identity.
“It may be a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time,’’ he said.
The wrong place at the wrong time?
Wrong place? Walking home from school, with friends, and dressed in a school uniform?
Wrong time? Broad daylight?
News about federal budgets are important. So are the policies and plans coming out of our state parliaments and local governments each day.
However, the safety of our children, surely, trumps all of that and yet this case – the case of Cassius Turvey – is not getting the headlines it should.
We need to change that. For Cassius. For his mum. For the friends who jumped off that bus with him. For our whole community.
Halloween has grown in popularity in Australia over the past decade.
In my own suburb, homes have been covered in webs and spiders and fake red paint trickling down fences for the past two weeks, in readiness for October 31.
To many – including me – it has been seen as the crass commercialisation of a tradition from somewhere else.
Not any more. If Halloween was Cassius’ favourite day of the year, I’m going to celebrate it this year.
Disguise. Treats galore. And a quiet determination to help Cassius’s life become a legacy for other children; the impetus for genuine national discussion around crime and punishment.
And above all, the safety of our children. Want to join me in celebrating Halloween?
