Dr. Xanthe Weston

It's like the horse's head on the bed.

It's got that kind of element of mafioso to it.

Doesn't it?

You expect people to have those guns with those round barrels on them.

And the hats and the suits.

It is a bit like that in Melbourne at the moment, isn't it?

Yeah, it's like the gang wars all over again.

And the police have obviously set up task forces to try and deal with this.

They'll be trying to investigate where that WhatsApp message has come from, but we know WhatsApp is incredibly difficult to trace.

They'll be trying to figure out exactly what the game plan is here without any ransoms being demanded as yet.

But yeah, I think the young people, we've really got to worry about are young people getting involved in these crimes.

Because even if you take out those small pieces, they're the ones who are going to get caught.

But they're going to be dozens, hundreds of others willing to step up into those places.

Certainly as a university lecturer, I saw significant changes in the students that came to university after COVID.

I mean, I've been doing it, God, I'm not going to say how many years now, long time, right?

So I had a big period pre-COVID, then I obviously taught through the COVID years and then the post-COVID years.

And there was a huge shift.

I mean, trying to get students back into the classroom.

So many had anxiety, depression issues, social anxiety.

They couldn't come into a room with other people.