❓ Opposition questions the government's stance on 'no body, no parole' laws, criticising the Attorney General's dismissive comments. The government defends its current approach, relying on the Attorney General's discretion.
AnsweredQoN 16Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
NO BODY,
NO PAROLE — ATTORNEY GENERAL 'S COMMENTS
16. Mr D.A. TEMPLEMAN to the
Minister for Police:
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker; this is a very important
question. I refer to comments made yesterday by the Attorney General in regard
to the petition for no body, no parole laws by Margaret and Ray Dodd, who are
campaigning for these laws, in which he said, ''It seems to be me to be
a beat up based on a lady's grief'' and ''It is simply a
non-issue.'' Is the government's law and order policy to
belittle a mother searching for closure by calling this a non-issue?
NO PAROLE — ATTORNEY GENERAL 'S COMMENTS
16. Mr D.A. TEMPLEMAN to the
Minister for Police:
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker; this is a very important
question. I refer to comments made yesterday by the Attorney General in regard
to the petition for no body, no parole laws by Margaret and Ray Dodd, who are
campaigning for these laws, in which he said, ''It seems to be me to be
a beat up based on a lady's grief'' and ''It is simply a
non-issue.'' Is the government's law and order policy to
belittle a mother searching for closure by calling this a non-issue?
AnswerView source ↗
With respect to the no body, no parole legislation that the
opposition has said it is committed to, in this state it is actually somewhat
unnecessary. Under the Sentence Administration Act 2003, the parole board can
make a recommendation to the Attorney General of the state with respect to the
release of someone on parole, should they be in jail for a murder with the body
perhaps not having been recovered. In those circumstances our Attorney General
assures me that he would deny the release order for parole, because one of the
considerations he would make in making a decision to release somebody on parole
is whether they had shown a sufficient act of contrition or remorse by
revealing the location of the body of the victim they had murdered, and them
not having done so would preclude them from having him consider them for
parole. The way that this Liberal–National government works is that we
put an Attorney General of strong moral character into the role —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Members!
Mrs L.M. HARVEY :
He is an Attorney General who is willing to make the tough decision not to
release into the community those offenders who have not shown sufficient
remorse for their crimes. That is the way we do things. If the opposition feels
that it needs to have legislation to bind our Attorneys General to act in a
particular way, if it feels it needs to bind the Attorney General by
legislation, it is up to the opposition. We work on putting the right people in
the right jobs to make the tough decisions, and our Attorney General assures me
he will.
opposition has said it is committed to, in this state it is actually somewhat
unnecessary. Under the Sentence Administration Act 2003, the parole board can
make a recommendation to the Attorney General of the state with respect to the
release of someone on parole, should they be in jail for a murder with the body
perhaps not having been recovered. In those circumstances our Attorney General
assures me that he would deny the release order for parole, because one of the
considerations he would make in making a decision to release somebody on parole
is whether they had shown a sufficient act of contrition or remorse by
revealing the location of the body of the victim they had murdered, and them
not having done so would preclude them from having him consider them for
parole. The way that this Liberal–National government works is that we
put an Attorney General of strong moral character into the role —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Members!
Mrs L.M. HARVEY :
He is an Attorney General who is willing to make the tough decision not to
release into the community those offenders who have not shown sufficient
remorse for their crimes. That is the way we do things. If the opposition feels
that it needs to have legislation to bind our Attorneys General to act in a
particular way, if it feels it needs to bind the Attorney General by
legislation, it is up to the opposition. We work on putting the right people in
the right jobs to make the tough decisions, and our Attorney General assures me
he will.
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