Page 588 - Week 02 - Thursday, 20 February 2020
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Safeguards, which appear in this bill as hardship relief provisions, ensure that our unexplained wealth laws and the act as a whole operate effectively and fairly. I am confident that these laws properly consider the rights of those directly affected by these laws and the need for an operationally effective scheme.
The ACT government is committed to ensuring that law enforcement has the best tools available to effectively target illegal activity. This bill achieves that. The need to continue to take a targeted approach to serious and organised crime was highlighted earlier this month by the Australian Institute of Criminology publication “Australian outlaw motorcycle gang involvement in violent and organised crime.” In particular, the high rates of profit-motivated crime among OMCG members reinforces the need for measures such as those included in this bill.
In introducing this bill I am also pleased to table the report on the Independent review of the effectiveness of ACT Policing crime scene powers and powers to target, disrupt, investigate and prosecute criminal gang members. The report was prepared by Associate Professor Terry Goldsworthy and Dr Gaelle Brotto of Bond University. A key purpose of the review was to meet the statutory obligation to examine the operation of the crime scene powers in division 10.4A of the Crimes Act 1900.
The report endorses the legislative program that the ACT government has implemented to combat serious and organised crime. In particular, I note Professor Goldsworthy’s lack of support for anti-consorting laws, which he says are ineffectual. I quote from the report:
The effects of specific consorting laws on serious and organised crime are tenuous at best. Although the success of these types of laws is mostly based on disruption, there is little evidence regarding what criminal activity is being disrupted. Enforcing these generic laws demands significant police time and resources for little output in terms of sentencing outcomes. Without a requirement of criminality being attached to the purpose of the consorting, it is difficult to argue that such laws and their enforcement are successfully targeting serious and organised crime.
The report found that the legislative responses to disrupt serious and organised crime by the ACT government are effective and proportionate, providing ACT law enforcement agencies with several effective tools with which to combat serious and organised crime.
The unexplained wealth scheme introduced in this bill is the key area of legislative reform that is identified in the Goldsworthy report as an additional measure needed to enhance law enforcement powers in the ACT. The measures in this bill target and disrupt serious and organised crime while supporting national efforts to take the profit out of crime.
As a government we take our responsibility to protect our community seriously, and we will continue to ensure that law-abiding citizens are protected from criminal behaviour. I commend this bill to the Assembly.
Debate (on motion by Mr Hanson) adjourned to the next sitting.
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