Thursday, 15 August 2019

 Mr O’DONOHUE (Eastern Victoria) (18:27): I raise a matter for the attention of the Attorney-General, and the action I would seek from the minister is for her to review the current sentencing laws for child sex offenders and paedophiles to ensure they reflect the horrific trauma these crimes inflict on victims and reflect the community’s expectations about punishment of these particular offenders. President, as you would be aware and as the minister would be aware, one of the policies the opposition took to the last election was a mandatory sentencing policy, and part of that was a particular subset policy for child sex offenders. Child sex offenders obviously do inflict horrific trauma and cause enormous grief, not just to the victims, but often to families, loved ones and the communities where these horrific crimes take place.

I raise this issue on the adjournment tonight not just out of concern for this issue but because of a friend of mine who has contacted me and asked me to raise this issue in the Parliament for the attention of the minister. It is a person who I know very well and respect very much who has described to me a situation of someone that this person knows, where the children of this person have suffered this horrific crime. From what I have been told, the consequences for these children have been enormous and for the family have been enormous. I am sure all of us as members of the community are concerned to make sure that sentencing reflects these heinous crimes and reflects the community’s expectations, but I raise this because of this approach from someone that I know and respect very much. As I say, the action I seek is for the minister to review the current sentencing laws as they pertain to child sex offenders and paedophiles to ensure they reflect the trauma these crimes cause to victims and to ensure that the sentencing reflects the expectations of the community.