❓ Question regarding the application of the Liberal-National government's home burglary laws and their effectiveness in addressing home break-ins. The Minister defends the laws and highlights a case where the mandatory minimum sentence was applied.
AnsweredQoN 23Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CRIMINAL LAW AMENDMENT (HOME BURGLARY AND OTHER
OFFENCES) BILL
23. Mr C.D. HATTON to the Minister for
Police:
Can the minister please advise the house how the Liberal–National
government's home burglary laws are being applied to tackle the problem
of home break-ins?
OFFENCES) BILL
23. Mr C.D. HATTON to the Minister for
Police:
Can the minister please advise the house how the Liberal–National
government's home burglary laws are being applied to tackle the problem
of home break-ins?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Balcatta for his question and his unwavering
support for the Criminal Law Amendment (Home Burglary and Other Offences) Bill
when it went through this Parliament late last year. That bill has been in
operation since last November. It was legislation we brought to this place in
response to the community's frustration about the three strikes and you
are in legislation, which was clearly not working. When we looked at how it
worked, we all knew that there would be three court appearances that may
reflect a considerably larger number of home burglary convictions than three.
We changed the counting rules so that it is for three offences on three
separate days so that every adult will go to prison for a mandatory minimum
term of two years.
Mr J.R. Quigley interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member
for Butler. I call you to order for the first time.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : I always welcome interjections from the
future Attorney General of the state, should the state fall into the hands of
the Labor opposition —
Several members interjected.
Mr C.J. Barnett : Don't worry, he will never be
Attorney General.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : Let us go back to the focus of that
legislation. Our focus as a Liberal–National government —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
That is enough.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : Our focus as a Liberal–National
government has always been on appropriate consequences for offenders who commit
crimes and are convicted of those offences. Our focus is always on the victims
of crime. I was most alarmed, member for Balcatta, when I read in the paper
recently that an offender from the eastern goldfields had recently been sent to
prison for a mandatory minimum term of two years for offences of breaking into
a home and stealing a wallet, car keys and a motor vehicle. He used the motor
vehicle for a few days, rolled it on its side and trashed it so that it was
completely unrecoverable. This offender has been sentenced to a mandatory term
of two years.
The presiding judge was critical in
his assessment of our mandatory penalty. He said that that crime was not
serious enough to warrant the sentence. What about the victims? That is why we
brought that legislation in—the victims were so frustrated at seeing no
consequences for offenders who commit these offences.
Ms
M.M. Quirk interjected.
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : The member for Girrawheen should hold her head in shame. We
had 35 hours of debate in this chamber. That legislation was significantly
delayed while we listened to those opposite talk to us about the dangers of
mandatory sentencing and about the effects it would have. Here is an effect —
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen, I call you to order for the first time.
Member for Warnbro, you are getting tiresome now.
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : Here is an effect: a person who has broken into a home, stolen
a wallet and car keys and trashed an innocent victim's motor vehicle to
the point at which it is unrecoverable is now behind bars for two years. That
is an effect I am happy with, that is the effect we want and that is the reason
we brought this legislation through Parliament in Western Australia.
support for the Criminal Law Amendment (Home Burglary and Other Offences) Bill
when it went through this Parliament late last year. That bill has been in
operation since last November. It was legislation we brought to this place in
response to the community's frustration about the three strikes and you
are in legislation, which was clearly not working. When we looked at how it
worked, we all knew that there would be three court appearances that may
reflect a considerably larger number of home burglary convictions than three.
We changed the counting rules so that it is for three offences on three
separate days so that every adult will go to prison for a mandatory minimum
term of two years.
Mr J.R. Quigley interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member
for Butler. I call you to order for the first time.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : I always welcome interjections from the
future Attorney General of the state, should the state fall into the hands of
the Labor opposition —
Several members interjected.
Mr C.J. Barnett : Don't worry, he will never be
Attorney General.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : Let us go back to the focus of that
legislation. Our focus as a Liberal–National government —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
That is enough.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : Our focus as a Liberal–National
government has always been on appropriate consequences for offenders who commit
crimes and are convicted of those offences. Our focus is always on the victims
of crime. I was most alarmed, member for Balcatta, when I read in the paper
recently that an offender from the eastern goldfields had recently been sent to
prison for a mandatory minimum term of two years for offences of breaking into
a home and stealing a wallet, car keys and a motor vehicle. He used the motor
vehicle for a few days, rolled it on its side and trashed it so that it was
completely unrecoverable. This offender has been sentenced to a mandatory term
of two years.
The presiding judge was critical in
his assessment of our mandatory penalty. He said that that crime was not
serious enough to warrant the sentence. What about the victims? That is why we
brought that legislation in—the victims were so frustrated at seeing no
consequences for offenders who commit these offences.
Ms
M.M. Quirk interjected.
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : The member for Girrawheen should hold her head in shame. We
had 35 hours of debate in this chamber. That legislation was significantly
delayed while we listened to those opposite talk to us about the dangers of
mandatory sentencing and about the effects it would have. Here is an effect —
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen, I call you to order for the first time.
Member for Warnbro, you are getting tiresome now.
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : Here is an effect: a person who has broken into a home, stolen
a wallet and car keys and trashed an innocent victim's motor vehicle to
the point at which it is unrecoverable is now behind bars for two years. That
is an effect I am happy with, that is the effect we want and that is the reason
we brought this legislation through Parliament in Western Australia.
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