Page 1692 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 1 April 2009
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
I had a very useful briefing this morning from the Department of Justice and Community Services and the Australian Federal Police. We were given an update on both the police perspective and the departmental perspective on both the current situation and future directions. That was a very useful briefing and I thank the minister for organising that for us.
In terms of what I have been reading in the press and from my own research in addition to what we were told this morning, I think there are some important things to cover. The key point we got this morning was that we should look at some of the elements of the South Australian laws. I think it is useful and instructive to look at some of those provisions in the context of thinking about what laws you want here in the ACT.
Firstly, in South Australia, there is the power to declare an organisation, and that power sits with the attorney. That can be any organisation, not just a motorcycle gang or some other gang or other group that we might be discussing at the moment. There is also a power to make control orders similar to the anti-terror laws and there is also the power to make public safety orders which can prohibit people gathering in public places or at events or in particular circumstances.
In the briefing this morning, we were also led through the potential human rights implications of the South Australian laws on freedom of association, freedom of assembly. You see the impacts on people who may belong to a group for a range of reasons and who are not involved in a criminal activity.
There are also issues on the right to a fair trial under the South Australian legislation because, the way the law is written, the control orders or the declaration can be made on the basis of intelligence gathered which does not have to be disclosed in a trial. That was my understanding of the laws in South Australia, and I personally find that quite concerning as regards the matter of a fair trial. It was interesting to look at some of the elements of the South Australian law.
When I asked about the current laws in the ACT, the Australian Federal Police indicated to me that the legislation currently available in the ACT is adequate to bring successful prosecutions at this point in time for the issues that may arise with the one known motorcycle gang in the ACT as well as with people undertaking similar activities.
I think that is an important point. I think we really need to come to these questions or these issues by looking at what is the behaviour we want to control, not what is the group or who are the people we want to control. I think it is really important that we focus on that and not start to focus on groups of particular people because I think that is a slippery slope and one that I would be very reluctant to even take the first hint of a step down.
The AFP has further indicated to me that some areas relating to group activity with a common purpose are areas where they think there may be room for law reform. I think that the motion put forward by the government provides the avenue to have
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .