Page 2598 - Week 07 - Thursday, 1 August 2019
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The government is also considering a range of other measures that will assist law enforcement’s ability to target these criminals. In particular, the ACT government has committed to the establishment of ACT-specific laws to strip unexplained wealth from people suspected of being involved in serious crime, including those involved with criminal gangs. These new powers will complement existing confiscation of criminal assets laws in the ACT by deterring people from engaging in criminal activity and depriving people of their criminal profits.
The government’s promise to Canberra is that we will support our police and the criminal justice system in ways that are practical and proven to prevent crime and keep our community safe. That is what the amendments in today’s bill are intended to do.
The bill facilitates prosecutions for unauthorised possession or use of a firearm by removing the burden on the prosecution to prove that a defendant does not hold a licence or permit issued by any other state or territory. As you can imagine, Madam Assistant Speaker, obtaining information from every other state and territory to prove that a defendant does not hold a licence or permit in that state or territory causes delays and burdens that can make prosecutions unnecessarily cumbersome. The bill eliminates that burden on investigators and the prosecution, and instead places a legal burden on defendants to prove that they were authorised to use or possess a firearm by an interstate licence or permit. This amendment will increase the ACT’s ability to effectively pursue those who unlawfully possess firearms, including those connected with criminal gangs.
The amendments to the Bail Act 1992 provide appropriate statutory authority to a police officer when arresting a person in relation to a failure to comply with a condition of their bail in response to the decision in Andrews and Thomson.
The new sections do not alter the power of police to arrest without warrant; rather, the amendments provide a framework for entering premises when that arrest power is enlivened. The new framework provides that when a person to be arrested is on private premises, the police officer is to gain consensual entry, or justify their entry as necessary and reasonable. The framework is designed to provide for the appropriate process to enter a dwelling house when a person who can be lawfully arrested is inside.
Entry without consent is available only for a person on bail for relevant offences as defined in the Crimes Act, and when justified as reasonable and necessary. Additionally, entry during night hours is restricted unless justified on the basis of a risk to evidence or that it would not be practicable to arrest at a later time.
The bill also establishes the necessary machinery for the equitable sharing of proceeds under the national cooperative scheme on unexplained wealth. The national scheme is a key national measure to deprive criminals of their wealth and prevent reinvestment in crime, which will have an impact on criminal gangs. The equitable sharing arrangements provide the machinery for the distribution of proceeds among participants in an unexplained wealth action. We will continue to work with police,
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