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The Premier is right not to release Mason Lee report

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We can't have it both ways. 

We can't demand justice for toddler Mason Lee, and then risk prosecutions at the centre of his treatment by releasing prematurely a report into his case.

We can't say we want a government that responds to the advice of experts and then demand the same government act against that advice.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says the report will be released in full following the trials, and her decision not to release it immediately comes after a briefing to cabinet from the DPP, who advised it should not be made public yet.

It would be a folly for a premier to ignore that advice. 

(Remember Tim Carmody and how former premier Campbell Newman disregarded the expert advice of so many in his rush to appoint the chief justice? That ended well for everyone, didn't it?)

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Annastacia Palaszczuk should not release it now. To do otherwise would be foolhardy in the extreme.

But the fact that the calls for her to release the report now are so loud points to our natural distrust of politicians; we automatically believe that their reasoning is dodgy, and that it is trying to hide something.

But it also points to a remarkable societal move to judge others' actions, without knowing the full facts, and too quickly. 

Recently a father - a widower - staying at a hotel in England with his teenage daughter found himself subject to police questioning about his motives in booking accommodation with someone so young. 

"I couldn't believe it. Millie and I have stayed in lots of places over the years and this has never happened to me before," the Leeds father was reported as saying. 

"We checked in and then I had to move my car. When I got back to reception, the guy started asking me to prove I was her dad. He said it was company policy and I had to go onto Facebook to show messages I've sent to her.

"It was bizarre and really offensive. Then he told me that he'd already called police so I had to wait for them to arrive."

It only took a short amount of time for police to realise it was a case of overzealous community policing, but for that father, who lost his wife to leukaemia when his daughter was four, it was heart breaking.

We might debate the rights of a child here, but the community focus now on paedophilia and domestic violence has had an unfortunate consequence; often innocent men are now subject to unnecessary questioning, and even ridicule, when they are out and about with their children or grandchildren.

Regularly we bemoan the instant gratification that has gripped our children, but perhaps our rush to judgment, as adults, is no different.

It certainly didn't help ABC bosses this week in their gallop to paper over Natasha Exelby's hilarious - and harmless - weekend blooper.

Whether or not the ABC decided initially to punish her by taking her off air is irrelevant now, but its initial response was appalling and out-of-kilter for a crime that amounted to being caught off-guard during a live news shift.

On this occasion, the judgment handed back to the ABC was equally swift, with an Australia-wide call for her to be reinstated. 

In some hilarious and honest responses by others who have found themselves in the same situation, former prime minister Kevin Rudd tweeted, telling his followers to "check out my swearing video if you want a serious #blooper".

It was sweet reminder that judgment requires discernment and reasoning, not always a quick baying for blood.

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