❓ Mr. Papalia questions the Minister about the GPS tracking of dangerous sex offenders, expressing concern that the initiative might lead to the release of offenders who should remain imprisoned due to overcrowding. The Minister clarifies the program targets offenders already released and aims to enforce existing orders.
AnsweredQoN 239Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
DANGEROUS SEX OFFENDERS — GPS TRACKING DEVICES
239. Mr P. PAPALIA to the Minister for Corrective Services:
I refer to today's stunt-like re-announcement of GPS
tracking devices for tracking dangerous sex offenders.
(1) Is the
minister aware that when this initiative was first announced 14 months ago, the
Barnett government minister of the day said —
''Yes, it's
possible that it could increase the number of dangerous sex offenders that are
released,''
(2) In light
of the massive overcrowding and chaos in our prison system, will the minister
guarantee that no dangerous sex offender who should remain in prison will be
released because of this GPS tracking initiative?
239. Mr P. PAPALIA to the Minister for Corrective Services:
I refer to today's stunt-like re-announcement of GPS
tracking devices for tracking dangerous sex offenders.
(1) Is the
minister aware that when this initiative was first announced 14 months ago, the
Barnett government minister of the day said —
''Yes, it's
possible that it could increase the number of dangerous sex offenders that are
released,''
(2) In light
of the massive overcrowding and chaos in our prison system, will the minister
guarantee that no dangerous sex offender who should remain in prison will be
released because of this GPS tracking initiative?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Warnbro for that question.
(1)–(2)
When it was announced, it was a commitment, as I said before, of $6 million
over four years. The dangerous sex offenders who are on the tracking system
right now are people who had already been released from custody. So, they have
done their time behind bars, as sentenced by the judicial system in Western
Australia. They have done their time behind bars in custody and they have been
released, but part of their release is that they are required to obey certain
orders, such as curfews and not going within close proximity of, say, schools
or parks. These devices are being fitted to people who had already been
released, not as a condition of their parole or their release. Importantly, it
is also worth noting that when this was debated last year —
Mr P. Papalia : But
the law changed in February, which enabled this to be a condition.
Mr J.M. FRANCIS :
That is right.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Warnbro!
Mr J.M. FRANCIS :
Part of that also dealt with the penalties for breaches of those particular
conditions; for example, if the person tampers with the device, they are
subject to a 12-month sentence. There are very strict protections in place to
either prevent people from breaking their orders or punishing them if they do.
The idea is to add an extra level of protection to the community that would not
have existed otherwise, so that we cannot just make orders and say, ''Thou
shalt not go out after 10.00 pm'', but we will be able to know whether
they do go out. As I said, these devices are fitted to people who have already
been released from their custodial sentence, who are out in the community and
who, as part of their release, have to obey certain orders.
(1)–(2)
When it was announced, it was a commitment, as I said before, of $6 million
over four years. The dangerous sex offenders who are on the tracking system
right now are people who had already been released from custody. So, they have
done their time behind bars, as sentenced by the judicial system in Western
Australia. They have done their time behind bars in custody and they have been
released, but part of their release is that they are required to obey certain
orders, such as curfews and not going within close proximity of, say, schools
or parks. These devices are being fitted to people who had already been
released, not as a condition of their parole or their release. Importantly, it
is also worth noting that when this was debated last year —
Mr P. Papalia : But
the law changed in February, which enabled this to be a condition.
Mr J.M. FRANCIS :
That is right.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Warnbro!
Mr J.M. FRANCIS :
Part of that also dealt with the penalties for breaches of those particular
conditions; for example, if the person tampers with the device, they are
subject to a 12-month sentence. There are very strict protections in place to
either prevent people from breaking their orders or punishing them if they do.
The idea is to add an extra level of protection to the community that would not
have existed otherwise, so that we cannot just make orders and say, ''Thou
shalt not go out after 10.00 pm'', but we will be able to know whether
they do go out. As I said, these devices are fitted to people who have already
been released from their custodial sentence, who are out in the community and
who, as part of their release, have to obey certain orders.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.