Page 2705 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 10 August 2016
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We have also made it clear that we will provide protections for our police when it comes to police assaults. That dates back to legislation introduced in this place by Mr Seselja, who was passionate about that issue, I know, and wanted to make sure that if police were assaulted during their duty the punishment fitted the crime so that it acted as a deterrent and restored some sense of authority for police when they go about doing their very difficult duty.
In line with that, what we have also said is that we will instigate coward punch legislation. We have seen the terrible attacks that have occurred; we have seen the images on CCTV. Other jurisdictions have effectively introduced what is called one punch or coward punch legislation to make it very clear that if you cowardly attack someone, unprovoked, often from behind or just go up—and what used to be called a king hit but deservedly gets called the coward punch because it is not a king hit; it is not something to be proud of—and thump someone, attack someone unprovoked, then we need to make sure that the punishment fits that cowardly attack. That, again, will help serve as a deterrent. There is no silver bullet to this stuff—and I accept that—but again the government will not act to back up police. It is just extraordinary that they would not do so.
We will also make sure that our front-line police have tasers. The police want them. At the moment they are issued only to substantive sergeants, but often a substantive sergeant will not be on duty; there will be an acting sergeant or a constable there on duty. So there is no taser available. This is about protecting our police so that they have got the suite of tools available to them, and it is about protecting our community.
There have been some tragic incidents, particularly for people affected by mental illness where the police have had no option but to discharge a firearm for their own safety or that of other people, whereas if they had had a taser they could have used a taser and then someone would not have been critically injured or killed. It is beyond me why we would not provide those tools to our police so that they have the full suite, the full complement of equipment, necessary to deal with their very dangerous and difficult job.
I move from policing to the court system. There is clearly pressure on our court system and it is good that finally in this budget we see an allocation for a fifth judge. This is something that we in the opposition have been calling for since I have been leader. It has been a long time coming but finally we have a fifth judge appointed permanently to the Supreme Court. That is good. I was there on the day of his investiture. I am not sure “investiture” is the correct term but it was great to welcome him. Certainly, from what people said, from his speech and from what I have read about him, I am sure he will be a worthy addition to the bench. That is something I congratulate the government on. I regret that it took so long for them to get there.
I am keeping a watchful eye on the Magistrates Court. It clearly is an area under significant pressure. The delays occurring in the Magistrates Court are, again, significant, and it is, I think, an area where additional resourcing will need to be considered in due course. Whoever does form government in October, I think there will be increasing pressure to look at the resourcing of the Magistrates Court as part of future budgets down the track.
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