‘Weak’ youth sentencing laws to pass with token scrutiny

1 week ago 2

Far-reaching changes to how the criminal justice system treats some children will be rushed through parliament with little scrutiny after the opposition derided the proposed laws as broken and flawed, but decided to vote for them anyway.

The Allan government will on Tuesday introduce its Queensland-inspired “violent crime, adult time” legislation, which means teenagers as young as 14 charged with carjacking, home invasions and other violent offences will be dealt with by adult courts and exposed to possible life sentences.

The government has allocated just one hour to debate the legislation in the lower house before it is voted on and sent to the Legislative Council. Premier Jacinta Allan on Tuesday said the upper house would sit until the legislation passed this week.

The proposed changes would dramatically increase the maximum jail sentences for children convicted of these offences, with life sentences for aggravated home invasions and carjacking.

The premier announced the reform just three weeks ago. At the time, no legislation had been drafted.

Opposition leader Jess Wilson and shadow attorney-general James Newbury said on Tuesday the proposal was weak and being rushed through parliament to avoid proper scrutiny.

“This is a premier who doesn’t believe in her own legislation,” Wilson said. “She is responding to polling and a nervous backbench rather than the needs of the community in the context of a crime crisis.”

Newbury said the legislation was “full of loopholes”. For example, a 14-year-old subject to the proposed new sentencing regime could request to be dealt with in the Children’s Court on mental health grounds.

Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny said this would only occur in exceptional cases; for example, where a 14-year-old had cognitive development issues.

“It is the intention ... that all of these crimes, all of these offences, will be heard in the County Court and subject to adult sentencing laws,” Kilkenny said on Tuesday.

She said aspects of the bill could become law immediately, and brushed off criticism that the opposition and crossbench MPs had not been given a proper opportunity to scrutinise the legislation.

“We are working and obviously briefing with all of the members of parliament,” Kilkenny said, adding that “the bill does exactly what we said it would do”.

“I think this is what the community expects. This is what the community deserves.

“We know that when these crimes and these offences are in the adult court, it is much more likely there will be a jail term, and it is much more likely the jail term will be longer.”

The opposition also wants the change to apply to more offences, including rape.

“We will be formally calling, through amendment, for the laws to be tougher because crimes like rape should not be overlooked,” Newbury said. “We will call for loopholes to be closed.”

However, a joint Coalition party room meeting on Tuesday morning voted to support the legislation regardless. “We won’t be opposing Labor’s weak laws,” Newbury said.

The government also announced an expansion of the carjacking offence, which currently requires the theft of a vehicle through the use of fear or threats.

The bill will expand this to include circumstances where a baby or child under the age of 10 is in the vehicle alone, even if the offender was not aware of their presence. The law, as it stands, treats this as theft rather than carjacking.

Allan, Kilkenny and Deputy Premier Ben Carroll, the education minister, further announced funding for the state’s new violence reduction unit. Schools will be linked with programs – including those provided by sporting organisations such as Melbourne Storm, Melbourne Victory and the Western Bulldogs – to engage children.

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