Questions without notice and ministers statements
Parole eligibility
Brad BATTIN (Berwick) (14:02): My question is to the Premier. Is it government policy that Paul Denyer should never be released?
Daniel ANDREWS (Mulgrave – Premier) (14:02): These are not issues that are quite so simplistically summed up, I would have thought. In terms of the government’s policy, it is to make changes to the adult parole system so as to ensure that, rather than having High Court challenges that might well be successful, we have an enduring set of arrangements that have victims and families at the centre of those arrangements both in terms of the way they are supported, the information they are provided and the care that is extended to them, as well as, wherever possible, certainty as to the status of inmates, those who have caused such pain and grief and tragedy to so many.
I will take this as a third opportunity to extend to the member for Berwick, on behalf of the opposition, an invitation to again be involved in the drafting and the work to deliver a minimum period between an initial application and any subsequent parole board application and, what is more, the inability of any offender who has simply refused to be involved in rehabilitation programs to apply for parole a subsequent time. We think those two reforms are both sensible. They are legally safe; they are not a make-work scheme for the High Court of Australia. They are instead a way forward, one that I hope can be a bipartisan way forward. It is a genuine invitation. If the member for Berwick wants to sit with the Attorney-General, then that is absolutely on offer. We will work with all parties, but of course the opposition, to make these changes, and we will waste no time doing it.
Brad BATTIN (Berwick) (14:04): First, in relation to the offer, thank you, Premier; I have responded to your office today to take up that invitation. I think it is too important to not do that, so thank you for that. Can the Premier provide the families, friends and victims peace of mind by telling them when this legislation to keep Paul Denyer behind bars will be introduced and debated in this Parliament?
Daniel ANDREWS (Mulgrave – Premier) (14:04): First of all, I am pleased that the opposition wants to be involved in that process. It was a genuine offer, it is accepted in genuine terms and that I think is a good thing. That is always when the Parliament is working at its best. Can I just, however, make the point to the honourable member for Berwick that I do not think it is useful to describe these changes in the way that he just has. That runs the exact risk that we are trying to avoid. Yes, there have been other inmates that have had specific legislation drafted. The issue is this: the more of these that we do, the more likely a High Court challenge is. That will take months, maybe years. That will be distressing and painful all on its own, on top of the burden that these families carry every single day. We will get this work done as fast as possible, but it has to be done properly and done in a legally safe way. A High Court challenge that runs for years is in no-one’s interest, least of all families who already live every moment of every day with the inconsolable grief of the loss of their loved ones.