❓ A parliamentary question regarding the introduction of a child sex offender register in Western Australia. The Premier rejects the proposal, citing potential dangers and past incidents of misidentification.
AnsweredQoN 653Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CHILD SEX OFFENDER REGISTER 653. Mr M.J. COWPER to the Premier: I refer to the bungling of the case into the sick and sadistic murderer Dante Arthurs. (1) Will the Premier support opposition plans to introduce a child sex offender register to protect our children? (2) If not, why is he unwilling to protect our children and to prevent parents and the people of Western Australia from knowing when paedophiles move into their communities? Mr A.J. CARPENTER
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for the question. May I take the opportunity of welcoming students from Guildford Grammar School to the Parliament this afternoon. (1) No, I will not support a public register. (2) I have explained the reasons innumerable times in the Parliament and in public. I think that anybody who is interested in sensible public policy shares the view that I hold, as does the Commissioner of Police and a whole range of other people. As far as I have been able to ascertain, everywhere in the world that a public register of child sex offenders has been introduced, it has ended in catastrophe. It has ended with people who are perfectly innocent of any crime having their lives threatened and sometimes taken. We have had an example in Western Australia that reinforces my apprehension about this matter. That example was provided by no other than the leader of the state opposition, Hon Paul Omodei, the member for Warren-Blackwood. The member for Warren-Blackwood, the leader of the Liberal Party in this Parliament, falsely identified a perfectly innocent man in his home town of Manjimup, I think it was, as being a multiple sex offender and demanded that that man be acted against by the appropriate authorities. The basis for his claim was that the particular individual resembled a multiple sex offender. The leader of the state Liberal Party put that man’s life at risk - a perfectly innocent man who happened to have committed the crime, in the Leader of the Opposition’s eyes, of resembling a multiple sex offender. If ever there should be an example to any right-thinking person in Western Australia of the dangers of producing a public register of sex offenders, it has been provided by the Liberal Party leader himself. He is a very lucky man that somebody did not decide, as has happened elsewhere in the world, to take the law into his or her own hands and do something to that perfectly innocent man who was going about his life in a perfectly innocent way in a country town in Western Australia. The Leader of the Opposition is very lucky that nobody in Western Australia has emulated the behaviour of people in all parts of the world where such registers have occurred and gone to the home of a perfectly innocent person whom they falsely believed was a child sex offender and killed him. That has happened all over the world where such registers have been introduced, and as long as I sit in this seat, it will not happen in this state.
CHILD SEX OFFENDER REGISTER
I refer to the bungling of the case into the sick and sadistic murderer Dante Arthurs. (1) Will the Premier support opposition plans to introduce a child sex offender register to protect our children? (2) If not, why is he unwilling to protect our children and to prevent parents and the people of Western Australia from knowing when paedophiles move into their communities? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: I thank the member for the question. May I take the opportunity of welcoming students from Guildford Grammar School to the Parliament this afternoon. (1) No, I will not support a public register. (2) I have explained the reasons innumerable times in the Parliament and in public. I think that anybody who is interested in sensible public policy shares the view that I hold, as does the Commissioner of Police and a whole range of other people. As far as I have been able to ascertain, everywhere in the world that a public register of child sex offenders has been introduced, it has ended in catastrophe. It has ended with people who are perfectly innocent of any crime having their lives threatened and sometimes taken. We have had an example in Western Australia that reinforces my apprehension about this matter. That example was provided by no other than the leader of the state opposition, Hon Paul Omodei, the member for Warren-Blackwood. The member for Warren-Blackwood, the leader of the Liberal Party in this Parliament, falsely identified a perfectly innocent man in his home town of Manjimup, I think it was, as being a multiple sex offender and demanded that that man be acted against by the appropriate authorities. The basis for his claim was that the particular individual resembled a multiple sex offender. The leader of the state Liberal Party put that man’s life at risk - a perfectly innocent man who happened to have committed the crime, in the Leader of the Opposition’s eyes, of resembling a multiple sex offender. If ever there should be an example to any right-thinking person in Western Australia of the dangers of producing a public register of sex offenders, it has been provided by the Liberal Party leader himself. He is a very lucky man that somebody did not decide, as has happened elsewhere in the world, to take the law into his or her own hands and do something to that perfectly innocent man who was going about his life in a perfectly innocent way in a country town in Western Australia. The Leader of the Opposition is very lucky that nobody in Western Australia has emulated the behaviour of people in all parts of the world where such registers have occurred and gone to the home of a perfectly innocent person whom they falsely believed was a child sex offender and killed him. That has happened all over the world where such registers have been introduced, and as long as I sit in this seat, it will not happen in this state.
(1) Will the Premier support opposition plans to introduce a child sex offender register to protect our children? (2) If not, why is he unwilling to protect our children and to prevent parents and the people of Western Australia from knowing when paedophiles move into their communities? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: I thank the member for the question. May I take the opportunity of welcoming students from Guildford Grammar School to the Parliament this afternoon. (1) No, I will not support a public register. (2) I have explained the reasons innumerable times in the Parliament and in public. I think that anybody who is interested in sensible public policy shares the view that I hold, as does the Commissioner of Police and a whole range of other people. As far as I have been able to ascertain, everywhere in the world that a public register of child sex offenders has been introduced, it has ended in catastrophe. It has ended with people who are perfectly innocent of any crime having their lives threatened and sometimes taken. We have had an example in Western Australia that reinforces my apprehension about this matter. That example was provided by no other than the leader of the state opposition, Hon Paul Omodei, the member for Warren-Blackwood. The member for Warren-Blackwood, the leader of the Liberal Party in this Parliament, falsely identified a perfectly innocent man in his home town of Manjimup, I think it was, as being a multiple sex offender and demanded that that man be acted against by the appropriate authorities. The basis for his claim was that the particular individual resembled a multiple sex offender. The leader of the state Liberal Party put that man’s life at risk - a perfectly innocent man who happened to have committed the crime, in the Leader of the Opposition’s eyes, of resembling a multiple sex offender. If ever there should be an example to any right-thinking person in Western Australia of the dangers of producing a public register of sex offenders, it has been provided by the Liberal Party leader himself. He is a very lucky man that somebody did not decide, as has happened elsewhere in the world, to take the law into his or her own hands and do something to that perfectly innocent man who was going about his life in a perfectly innocent way in a country town in Western Australia. The Leader of the Opposition is very lucky that nobody in Western Australia has emulated the behaviour of people in all parts of the world where such registers have occurred and gone to the home of a perfectly innocent person whom they falsely believed was a child sex offender and killed him. That has happened all over the world where such registers have been introduced, and as long as I sit in this seat, it will not happen in this state.
(2) If not, why is he unwilling to protect our children and to prevent parents and the people of Western Australia from knowing when paedophiles move into their communities? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: I thank the member for the question. May I take the opportunity of welcoming students from Guildford Grammar School to the Parliament this afternoon. (1) No, I will not support a public register. (2) I have explained the reasons innumerable times in the Parliament and in public. I think that anybody who is interested in sensible public policy shares the view that I hold, as does the Commissioner of Police and a whole range of other people. As far as I have been able to ascertain, everywhere in the world that a public register of child sex offenders has been introduced, it has ended in catastrophe. It has ended with people who are perfectly innocent of any crime having their lives threatened and sometimes taken. We have had an example in Western Australia that reinforces my apprehension about this matter. That example was provided by no other than the leader of the state opposition, Hon Paul Omodei, the member for Warren-Blackwood. The member for Warren-Blackwood, the leader of the Liberal Party in this Parliament, falsely identified a perfectly innocent man in his home town of Manjimup, I think it was, as being a multiple sex offender and demanded that that man be acted against by the appropriate authorities. The basis for his claim was that the particular individual resembled a multiple sex offender. The leader of the state Liberal Party put that man’s life at risk - a perfectly innocent man who happened to have committed the crime, in the Leader of the Opposition’s eyes, of resembling a multiple sex offender. If ever there should be an example to any right-thinking person in Western Australia of the dangers of producing a public register of sex offenders, it has been provided by the Liberal Party leader himself. He is a very lucky man that somebody did not decide, as has happened elsewhere in the world, to take the law into his or her own hands and do something to that perfectly innocent man who was going about his life in a perfectly innocent way in a country town in Western Australia. The Leader of the Opposition is very lucky that nobody in Western Australia has emulated the behaviour of people in all parts of the world where such registers have occurred and gone to the home of a perfectly innocent person whom they falsely believed was a child sex offender and killed him. That has happened all over the world where such registers have been introduced, and as long as I sit in this seat, it will not happen in this state.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: I thank the member for the question. May I take the opportunity of welcoming students from Guildford Grammar School to the Parliament this afternoon. (1) No, I will not support a public register. (2) I have explained the reasons innumerable times in the Parliament and in public. I think that anybody who is interested in sensible public policy shares the view that I hold, as does the Commissioner of Police and a whole range of other people. As far as I have been able to ascertain, everywhere in the world that a public register of child sex offenders has been introduced, it has ended in catastrophe. It has ended with people who are perfectly innocent of any crime having their lives threatened and sometimes taken. We have had an example in Western Australia that reinforces my apprehension about this matter. That example was provided by no other than the leader of the state opposition, Hon Paul Omodei, the member for Warren-Blackwood. The member for Warren-Blackwood, the leader of the Liberal Party in this Parliament, falsely identified a perfectly innocent man in his home town of Manjimup, I think it was, as being a multiple sex offender and demanded that that man be acted against by the appropriate authorities. The basis for his claim was that the particular individual resembled a multiple sex offender. The leader of the state Liberal Party put that man’s life at risk - a perfectly innocent man who happened to have committed the crime, in the Leader of the Opposition’s eyes, of resembling a multiple sex offender. If ever there should be an example to any right-thinking person in Western Australia of the dangers of producing a public register of sex offenders, it has been provided by the Liberal Party leader himself. He is a very lucky man that somebody did not decide, as has happened elsewhere in the world, to take the law into his or her own hands and do something to that perfectly innocent man who was going about his life in a perfectly innocent way in a country town in Western Australia. The Leader of the Opposition is very lucky that nobody in Western Australia has emulated the behaviour of people in all parts of the world where such registers have occurred and gone to the home of a perfectly innocent person whom they falsely believed was a child sex offender and killed him. That has happened all over the world where such registers have been introduced, and as long as I sit in this seat, it will not happen in this state.
I thank the member for the question. May I take the opportunity of welcoming students from Guildford Grammar School to the Parliament this afternoon. (1) No, I will not support a public register. (2) I have explained the reasons innumerable times in the Parliament and in public. I think that anybody who is interested in sensible public policy shares the view that I hold, as does the Commissioner of Police and a whole range of other people. As far as I have been able to ascertain, everywhere in the world that a public register of child sex offenders has been introduced, it has ended in catastrophe. It has ended with people who are perfectly innocent of any crime having their lives threatened and sometimes taken. We have had an example in Western Australia that reinforces my apprehension about this matter. That example was provided by no other than the leader of the state opposition, Hon Paul Omodei, the member for Warren-Blackwood. The member for Warren-Blackwood, the leader of the Liberal Party in this Parliament, falsely identified a perfectly innocent man in his home town of Manjimup, I think it was, as being a multiple sex offender and demanded that that man be acted against by the appropriate authorities. The basis for his claim was that the particular individual resembled a multiple sex offender. The leader of the state Liberal Party put that man’s life at risk - a perfectly innocent man who happened to have committed the crime, in the Leader of the Opposition’s eyes, of resembling a multiple sex offender. If ever there should be an example to any right-thinking person in Western Australia of the dangers of producing a public register of sex offenders, it has been provided by the Liberal Party leader himself. He is a very lucky man that somebody did not decide, as has happened elsewhere in the world, to take the law into his or her own hands and do something to that perfectly innocent man who was going about his life in a perfectly innocent way in a country town in Western Australia. The Leader of the Opposition is very lucky that nobody in Western Australia has emulated the behaviour of people in all parts of the world where such registers have occurred and gone to the home of a perfectly innocent person whom they falsely believed was a child sex offender and killed him. That has happened all over the world where such registers have been introduced, and as long as I sit in this seat, it will not happen in this state.
(1) No, I will not support a public register. (2) I have explained the reasons innumerable times in the Parliament and in public. I think that anybody who is interested in sensible public policy shares the view that I hold, as does the Commissioner of Police and a whole range of other people. As far as I have been able to ascertain, everywhere in the world that a public register of child sex offenders has been introduced, it has ended in catastrophe. It has ended with people who are perfectly innocent of any crime having their lives threatened and sometimes taken. We have had an example in Western Australia that reinforces my apprehension about this matter. That example was provided by no other than the leader of the state opposition, Hon Paul Omodei, the member for Warren-Blackwood. The member for Warren-Blackwood, the leader of the Liberal Party in this Parliament, falsely identified a perfectly innocent man in his home town of Manjimup, I think it was, as being a multiple sex offender and demanded that that man be acted against by the appropriate authorities. The basis for his claim was that the particular individual resembled a multiple sex offender. The leader of the state Liberal Party put that man’s life at risk - a perfectly innocent man who happened to have committed the crime, in the Leader of the Opposition’s eyes, of resembling a multiple sex offender. If ever there should be an example to any right-thinking person in Western Australia of the dangers of producing a public register of sex offenders, it has been provided by the Liberal Party leader himself. He is a very lucky man that somebody did not decide, as has happened elsewhere in the world, to take the law into his or her own hands and do something to that perfectly innocent man who was going about his life in a perfectly innocent way in a country town in Western Australia. The Leader of the Opposition is very lucky that nobody in Western Australia has emulated the behaviour of people in all parts of the world where such registers have occurred and gone to the home of a perfectly innocent person whom they falsely believed was a child sex offender and killed him. That has happened all over the world where such registers have been introduced, and as long as I sit in this seat, it will not happen in this state.
(2) I have explained the reasons innumerable times in the Parliament and in public. I think that anybody who is interested in sensible public policy shares the view that I hold, as does the Commissioner of Police and a whole range of other people. As far as I have been able to ascertain, everywhere in the world that a public register of child sex offenders has been introduced, it has ended in catastrophe. It has ended with people who are perfectly innocent of any crime having their lives threatened and sometimes taken. We have had an example in Western Australia that reinforces my apprehension about this matter. That example was provided by no other than the leader of the state opposition, Hon Paul Omodei, the member for Warren-Blackwood. The member for Warren-Blackwood, the leader of the Liberal Party in this Parliament, falsely identified a perfectly innocent man in his home town of Manjimup, I think it was, as being a multiple sex offender and demanded that that man be acted against by the appropriate authorities. The basis for his claim was that the particular individual resembled a multiple sex offender. The leader of the state Liberal Party put that man’s life at risk - a perfectly innocent man who happened to have committed the crime, in the Leader of the Opposition’s eyes, of resembling a multiple sex offender. If ever there should be an example to any right-thinking person in Western Australia of the dangers of producing a public register of sex offenders, it has been provided by the Liberal Party leader himself. He is a very lucky man that somebody did not decide, as has happened elsewhere in the world, to take the law into his or her own hands and do something to that perfectly innocent man who was going about his life in a perfectly innocent way in a country town in Western Australia. The Leader of the Opposition is very lucky that nobody in Western Australia has emulated the behaviour of people in all parts of the world where such registers have occurred and gone to the home of a perfectly innocent person whom they falsely believed was a child sex offender and killed him. That has happened all over the world where such registers have been introduced, and as long as I sit in this seat, it will not happen in this state.
CHILD SEX OFFENDER REGISTER
I refer to the bungling of the case into the sick and sadistic murderer Dante Arthurs. (1) Will the Premier support opposition plans to introduce a child sex offender register to protect our children? (2) If not, why is he unwilling to protect our children and to prevent parents and the people of Western Australia from knowing when paedophiles move into their communities? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: I thank the member for the question. May I take the opportunity of welcoming students from Guildford Grammar School to the Parliament this afternoon. (1) No, I will not support a public register. (2) I have explained the reasons innumerable times in the Parliament and in public. I think that anybody who is interested in sensible public policy shares the view that I hold, as does the Commissioner of Police and a whole range of other people. As far as I have been able to ascertain, everywhere in the world that a public register of child sex offenders has been introduced, it has ended in catastrophe. It has ended with people who are perfectly innocent of any crime having their lives threatened and sometimes taken. We have had an example in Western Australia that reinforces my apprehension about this matter. That example was provided by no other than the leader of the state opposition, Hon Paul Omodei, the member for Warren-Blackwood. The member for Warren-Blackwood, the leader of the Liberal Party in this Parliament, falsely identified a perfectly innocent man in his home town of Manjimup, I think it was, as being a multiple sex offender and demanded that that man be acted against by the appropriate authorities. The basis for his claim was that the particular individual resembled a multiple sex offender. The leader of the state Liberal Party put that man’s life at risk - a perfectly innocent man who happened to have committed the crime, in the Leader of the Opposition’s eyes, of resembling a multiple sex offender. If ever there should be an example to any right-thinking person in Western Australia of the dangers of producing a public register of sex offenders, it has been provided by the Liberal Party leader himself. He is a very lucky man that somebody did not decide, as has happened elsewhere in the world, to take the law into his or her own hands and do something to that perfectly innocent man who was going about his life in a perfectly innocent way in a country town in Western Australia. The Leader of the Opposition is very lucky that nobody in Western Australia has emulated the behaviour of people in all parts of the world where such registers have occurred and gone to the home of a perfectly innocent person whom they falsely believed was a child sex offender and killed him. That has happened all over the world where such registers have been introduced, and as long as I sit in this seat, it will not happen in this state.
(1) Will the Premier support opposition plans to introduce a child sex offender register to protect our children? (2) If not, why is he unwilling to protect our children and to prevent parents and the people of Western Australia from knowing when paedophiles move into their communities? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: I thank the member for the question. May I take the opportunity of welcoming students from Guildford Grammar School to the Parliament this afternoon. (1) No, I will not support a public register. (2) I have explained the reasons innumerable times in the Parliament and in public. I think that anybody who is interested in sensible public policy shares the view that I hold, as does the Commissioner of Police and a whole range of other people. As far as I have been able to ascertain, everywhere in the world that a public register of child sex offenders has been introduced, it has ended in catastrophe. It has ended with people who are perfectly innocent of any crime having their lives threatened and sometimes taken. We have had an example in Western Australia that reinforces my apprehension about this matter. That example was provided by no other than the leader of the state opposition, Hon Paul Omodei, the member for Warren-Blackwood. The member for Warren-Blackwood, the leader of the Liberal Party in this Parliament, falsely identified a perfectly innocent man in his home town of Manjimup, I think it was, as being a multiple sex offender and demanded that that man be acted against by the appropriate authorities. The basis for his claim was that the particular individual resembled a multiple sex offender. The leader of the state Liberal Party put that man’s life at risk - a perfectly innocent man who happened to have committed the crime, in the Leader of the Opposition’s eyes, of resembling a multiple sex offender. If ever there should be an example to any right-thinking person in Western Australia of the dangers of producing a public register of sex offenders, it has been provided by the Liberal Party leader himself. He is a very lucky man that somebody did not decide, as has happened elsewhere in the world, to take the law into his or her own hands and do something to that perfectly innocent man who was going about his life in a perfectly innocent way in a country town in Western Australia. The Leader of the Opposition is very lucky that nobody in Western Australia has emulated the behaviour of people in all parts of the world where such registers have occurred and gone to the home of a perfectly innocent person whom they falsely believed was a child sex offender and killed him. That has happened all over the world where such registers have been introduced, and as long as I sit in this seat, it will not happen in this state.
(2) If not, why is he unwilling to protect our children and to prevent parents and the people of Western Australia from knowing when paedophiles move into their communities? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: I thank the member for the question. May I take the opportunity of welcoming students from Guildford Grammar School to the Parliament this afternoon. (1) No, I will not support a public register. (2) I have explained the reasons innumerable times in the Parliament and in public. I think that anybody who is interested in sensible public policy shares the view that I hold, as does the Commissioner of Police and a whole range of other people. As far as I have been able to ascertain, everywhere in the world that a public register of child sex offenders has been introduced, it has ended in catastrophe. It has ended with people who are perfectly innocent of any crime having their lives threatened and sometimes taken. We have had an example in Western Australia that reinforces my apprehension about this matter. That example was provided by no other than the leader of the state opposition, Hon Paul Omodei, the member for Warren-Blackwood. The member for Warren-Blackwood, the leader of the Liberal Party in this Parliament, falsely identified a perfectly innocent man in his home town of Manjimup, I think it was, as being a multiple sex offender and demanded that that man be acted against by the appropriate authorities. The basis for his claim was that the particular individual resembled a multiple sex offender. The leader of the state Liberal Party put that man’s life at risk - a perfectly innocent man who happened to have committed the crime, in the Leader of the Opposition’s eyes, of resembling a multiple sex offender. If ever there should be an example to any right-thinking person in Western Australia of the dangers of producing a public register of sex offenders, it has been provided by the Liberal Party leader himself. He is a very lucky man that somebody did not decide, as has happened elsewhere in the world, to take the law into his or her own hands and do something to that perfectly innocent man who was going about his life in a perfectly innocent way in a country town in Western Australia. The Leader of the Opposition is very lucky that nobody in Western Australia has emulated the behaviour of people in all parts of the world where such registers have occurred and gone to the home of a perfectly innocent person whom they falsely believed was a child sex offender and killed him. That has happened all over the world where such registers have been introduced, and as long as I sit in this seat, it will not happen in this state.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: I thank the member for the question. May I take the opportunity of welcoming students from Guildford Grammar School to the Parliament this afternoon. (1) No, I will not support a public register. (2) I have explained the reasons innumerable times in the Parliament and in public. I think that anybody who is interested in sensible public policy shares the view that I hold, as does the Commissioner of Police and a whole range of other people. As far as I have been able to ascertain, everywhere in the world that a public register of child sex offenders has been introduced, it has ended in catastrophe. It has ended with people who are perfectly innocent of any crime having their lives threatened and sometimes taken. We have had an example in Western Australia that reinforces my apprehension about this matter. That example was provided by no other than the leader of the state opposition, Hon Paul Omodei, the member for Warren-Blackwood. The member for Warren-Blackwood, the leader of the Liberal Party in this Parliament, falsely identified a perfectly innocent man in his home town of Manjimup, I think it was, as being a multiple sex offender and demanded that that man be acted against by the appropriate authorities. The basis for his claim was that the particular individual resembled a multiple sex offender. The leader of the state Liberal Party put that man’s life at risk - a perfectly innocent man who happened to have committed the crime, in the Leader of the Opposition’s eyes, of resembling a multiple sex offender. If ever there should be an example to any right-thinking person in Western Australia of the dangers of producing a public register of sex offenders, it has been provided by the Liberal Party leader himself. He is a very lucky man that somebody did not decide, as has happened elsewhere in the world, to take the law into his or her own hands and do something to that perfectly innocent man who was going about his life in a perfectly innocent way in a country town in Western Australia. The Leader of the Opposition is very lucky that nobody in Western Australia has emulated the behaviour of people in all parts of the world where such registers have occurred and gone to the home of a perfectly innocent person whom they falsely believed was a child sex offender and killed him. That has happened all over the world where such registers have been introduced, and as long as I sit in this seat, it will not happen in this state.
I thank the member for the question. May I take the opportunity of welcoming students from Guildford Grammar School to the Parliament this afternoon. (1) No, I will not support a public register. (2) I have explained the reasons innumerable times in the Parliament and in public. I think that anybody who is interested in sensible public policy shares the view that I hold, as does the Commissioner of Police and a whole range of other people. As far as I have been able to ascertain, everywhere in the world that a public register of child sex offenders has been introduced, it has ended in catastrophe. It has ended with people who are perfectly innocent of any crime having their lives threatened and sometimes taken. We have had an example in Western Australia that reinforces my apprehension about this matter. That example was provided by no other than the leader of the state opposition, Hon Paul Omodei, the member for Warren-Blackwood. The member for Warren-Blackwood, the leader of the Liberal Party in this Parliament, falsely identified a perfectly innocent man in his home town of Manjimup, I think it was, as being a multiple sex offender and demanded that that man be acted against by the appropriate authorities. The basis for his claim was that the particular individual resembled a multiple sex offender. The leader of the state Liberal Party put that man’s life at risk - a perfectly innocent man who happened to have committed the crime, in the Leader of the Opposition’s eyes, of resembling a multiple sex offender. If ever there should be an example to any right-thinking person in Western Australia of the dangers of producing a public register of sex offenders, it has been provided by the Liberal Party leader himself. He is a very lucky man that somebody did not decide, as has happened elsewhere in the world, to take the law into his or her own hands and do something to that perfectly innocent man who was going about his life in a perfectly innocent way in a country town in Western Australia. The Leader of the Opposition is very lucky that nobody in Western Australia has emulated the behaviour of people in all parts of the world where such registers have occurred and gone to the home of a perfectly innocent person whom they falsely believed was a child sex offender and killed him. That has happened all over the world where such registers have been introduced, and as long as I sit in this seat, it will not happen in this state.
(1) No, I will not support a public register. (2) I have explained the reasons innumerable times in the Parliament and in public. I think that anybody who is interested in sensible public policy shares the view that I hold, as does the Commissioner of Police and a whole range of other people. As far as I have been able to ascertain, everywhere in the world that a public register of child sex offenders has been introduced, it has ended in catastrophe. It has ended with people who are perfectly innocent of any crime having their lives threatened and sometimes taken. We have had an example in Western Australia that reinforces my apprehension about this matter. That example was provided by no other than the leader of the state opposition, Hon Paul Omodei, the member for Warren-Blackwood. The member for Warren-Blackwood, the leader of the Liberal Party in this Parliament, falsely identified a perfectly innocent man in his home town of Manjimup, I think it was, as being a multiple sex offender and demanded that that man be acted against by the appropriate authorities. The basis for his claim was that the particular individual resembled a multiple sex offender. The leader of the state Liberal Party put that man’s life at risk - a perfectly innocent man who happened to have committed the crime, in the Leader of the Opposition’s eyes, of resembling a multiple sex offender. If ever there should be an example to any right-thinking person in Western Australia of the dangers of producing a public register of sex offenders, it has been provided by the Liberal Party leader himself. He is a very lucky man that somebody did not decide, as has happened elsewhere in the world, to take the law into his or her own hands and do something to that perfectly innocent man who was going about his life in a perfectly innocent way in a country town in Western Australia. The Leader of the Opposition is very lucky that nobody in Western Australia has emulated the behaviour of people in all parts of the world where such registers have occurred and gone to the home of a perfectly innocent person whom they falsely believed was a child sex offender and killed him. That has happened all over the world where such registers have been introduced, and as long as I sit in this seat, it will not happen in this state.
(2) I have explained the reasons innumerable times in the Parliament and in public. I think that anybody who is interested in sensible public policy shares the view that I hold, as does the Commissioner of Police and a whole range of other people. As far as I have been able to ascertain, everywhere in the world that a public register of child sex offenders has been introduced, it has ended in catastrophe. It has ended with people who are perfectly innocent of any crime having their lives threatened and sometimes taken. We have had an example in Western Australia that reinforces my apprehension about this matter. That example was provided by no other than the leader of the state opposition, Hon Paul Omodei, the member for Warren-Blackwood. The member for Warren-Blackwood, the leader of the Liberal Party in this Parliament, falsely identified a perfectly innocent man in his home town of Manjimup, I think it was, as being a multiple sex offender and demanded that that man be acted against by the appropriate authorities. The basis for his claim was that the particular individual resembled a multiple sex offender. The leader of the state Liberal Party put that man’s life at risk - a perfectly innocent man who happened to have committed the crime, in the Leader of the Opposition’s eyes, of resembling a multiple sex offender. If ever there should be an example to any right-thinking person in Western Australia of the dangers of producing a public register of sex offenders, it has been provided by the Liberal Party leader himself. He is a very lucky man that somebody did not decide, as has happened elsewhere in the world, to take the law into his or her own hands and do something to that perfectly innocent man who was going about his life in a perfectly innocent way in a country town in Western Australia. The Leader of the Opposition is very lucky that nobody in Western Australia has emulated the behaviour of people in all parts of the world where such registers have occurred and gone to the home of a perfectly innocent person whom they falsely believed was a child sex offender and killed him. That has happened all over the world where such registers have been introduced, and as long as I sit in this seat, it will not happen in this state.
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.