Page 4298 - Week 14 - Thursday, 24 October 1991
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I was fortunate enough to participate in some of the seminars and some of the discussions that took place at the national conference that my colleague Mr Collaery was referring to when he was the Deputy Chief Minister and Minister responsible for that area. It was very interesting to talk to people who had been involved in developing these sorts of programs throughout Australia. It was interesting to see what they had been able to achieve in improving and upgrading the attitudes of some of our younger people. They were sent back into society much better and much more appreciative of the damage that they had been doing.
Mr Speaker, you and other members may recall that last year the Alliance Government provided some funds to enable the Australian Trust for Conservation Volunteers to establish an office here in Canberra. The Australian Trust for Conservation Volunteers provides a service, at some payment of course, to councils and organisations around Australia to plant trees, to repair land degradation, et cetera. These sorts of people, I suggest, would be qualified to provide the sort of supervision that is required by these people who have been fined and have chosen not to pay the fines.
When I was investigating things in relation to the litter legislation I found out that it was not possible for community service orders to be inflicted on people who had not been sentenced to a term of imprisonment. As my colleague Mr Collaery has already indicated, we hope to bring forward shortly amendments to the children's services legislation to make it possible for these sorts of community service orders to be awarded to those under the age of 18. I might also add, Mr Speaker, that it would not be inappropriate for similar sorts of orders to be awarded to those just over the age of 18 who may engage in similar practices, particularly vandalism and damage to the environment.
I reiterate the comments of my colleague Mr Collaery: The Rally does not support, except as a last resort, the incarceration of our young children. Quite frankly, regardless of how tough they are, incarceration is really not going to resolve the issue. It is not going to provide them with an alternative. Prison for people of that age only makes sure that what comes out at the other end of the sausage machine is just another crim, probably an even better crim. That is the last thing that this society wants, Mr Speaker.
On that basis I suggest that the Rally will be opposing the amendment put forward by Mr Stefaniak. We believe that we should approach this problem in a much more appropriate way, to ensure that young people who are less advantaged than some of us are given opportunities to prove, in the right circumstances, that they can make a contribution to society.
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