They really need to solve the issue of crime and unemployment in the country towns, especially for aboriginal kids. The relationship between poverty and crime is fairly straightforward, and the best way to reduce this sort of insanity is get better employment back. The way the Tomkins 'restrained' the kid was rather stupid, as if the kid died or got a serious injury, they would have been completely screwed, regardless of whether the kid robbed them or not. After all, you have no right to kill a burglar in your house unless he was actually attacking you (then it would be manslaughter).
That said, the media love to blow things out of proportion (case in point: Schiavo). They will happily do this here. The job of the media is not to tell the truth, it is to make money. Simple as that - that is how it works. If you do not make money, you don't get to make up more fancy jingles, you get even less people watching, and you make even less until your company dies. The solution? Sensationalise your stories, making people read them, and making you money.