Wednesday, 1 November 2023

 Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:08): Today the government has introduced legislation into this house to keep Victorians safe from the worst of the criminals, truly evil individuals, who will remain behind bars where they belong. The changes that have been introduced today will further restrict parole for prisoners convicted of murder, killing children and serious sex offences, sparing victims and their loved ones the pain of repeatedly reliving their trauma if these prisoners become eligible to make a parole application. We are also taking steps through these changes to ensure that convicted murderer Paul Denyer will never be a risk to community safety again under these proposals.

We saw earlier this year how his bid for parole has forced victims’ families and loved ones to relive their trauma, to relive their suffering on an ongoing basis. We have always said, and I want to acknowledge here also my colleague the member for Frankston, that the families of Natalie Russell, Elizabeth Stevens and Debbie Fream should not have to constantly relive their grief and their pain. I want to pay tribute to these families and their loved ones. Their resilience in the face of unspeakable tragedy is just remarkable. We also hope that these changes we have announced will give them some closure. It is important to protect families of other victims too of serious and violent crimes by giving the adult parole board the powers to declare restricted prisoners, meaning that they are unable to apply for release for between five and 10 years after serving the non-parole period of their sentence. In this state, as we have seen, parole is a privilege not a right, and the families affected by the terrible crimes of our most violent offenders deserve certainty and they deserve comfort. We have the toughest parole laws in the country, and we are making them even stronger.