Page 5350 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 16 November 2011
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bodily harm from four years to 10 years. The bill would also affect the penalties for the aggravated forms of these offences. The aggravated form of manslaughter would carry a maximum penalty of 30 years, aggravated culpable driving causing death would carry 17 years, and culpable driving causing grievous bodily harm would carry 12 years.
Despite the lack of support shown by other members for the government’s bill on maximum penalties, the government does not propose to let party politics stand in the way of an important law reform in this area. I will not go into detail now on the amendments the government proposes to make; I will deal with those issues during the detail stage. I will, however, reiterate that the community expects the penalty to fit the crime. That is, the maximum penalty for a particular offence should reflect the seriousness of the offence relative to other less or more serious offences. I wish to ensure that serious offences against a person in the ACT carry appropriate penalties. Current penalties are significantly out of step with other jurisdictions and with the Model Criminal Code.
I also want to ensure that the concerns of the Director of Public Prosecutions about the current penalties for some of these offences are addressed. Key public officers like the DPP are in a position to provide the government with important insights into criminal justice issues. The government would not be doing its job properly if it did not consider carefully and attend to concerns raised by the Director of Public Prosecutions and other justice stakeholders who are at the coalface of the criminal justice system.
I have indicated that I will move some crucial amendments to the Crimes (Penalties) Amendment Bill that we are debating today. Importantly, I will move that clauses be added to the bill to raise the maximum penalties for the three offences of intentionally, recklessly and negligently inflicting grievous bodily harm. These clauses are necessary to ensure that the ACT scale of maximum penalties remains balanced and progresses logically according to the seriousness of each offence. The additional clauses are also necessary to address concerns about the inadequacy of the current penalty for the offence of intentionally inflicting grievous bodily harm.
I also propose to move that the clause currently in the bill amending the penalty for manslaughter be omitted. The government holds to its view that amendment to this penalty is unnecessary at this time. It is appropriate for the offence of manslaughter and the offence of intentionally inflicting grievous bodily harm to carry the same penalty, as they are offences of similar seriousness.
The amendments that I move today will also involve the removal of the objects clause of the bill. With the amendments moved by the government, this clause is no longer appropriate, as the penalty for manslaughter is no longer being increased. And the government is of the view that the clause defines the purposes of the amended bill too narrowly. In particular, it does not account for the increases in penalties to grievous bodily harm offences.
The government has indicated that it is progressively reviewing offences against the person. I note that Mrs Dunne has pointed to amendments to the Crimes Act that she intends to bring forward in the future. The government will have its mind on its own
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